Hybrid: Cinematic Mode
by Ariza Luca
Summary: In the middle of the Endercon Building Competition, Jesse, his friends, and a huge group of other people are taken to a strange house seemingly in the middle of nowhere. They are told to watch an alternative path to their future... with another person none of them were really expecting. Welcome to Hybrid: Cinematic Mode. (Rated T because I'm paranoid)
1. Hello? (It's Me)

**So... I'm bored. I decided to make a Movie Mode sort of story for Hybrid (and don't worry, I got Toni's permission to do this, I'm good xD).**

 **In the middle of the Endercon Building Competition, Jesse, his friends, and a huge group of other people are taken to a strange house seemingly in the middle of nowhere. They are told to watch an alternative path to their future... with another person none of them were really expecting.**

 **Welcome to Hybrid: Cinematic Mode.**

* * *

Jesse could only stare, Reuben oinking away in his lap.

This living room was fancy.

Like, REALLY fancy- fancy enough to be in some rich person's home. Stained glass windows, glowstone lamps, red carpet, bookshelves, several armchairs, and several couches. There was also a small glass coffee table in front of this machine on the wall, which looked like it was made of some sort of glass.

Jesse spotted a girl with long black hair that dangled down to the middle of her back and a golden pin keeping the hair out of her eyes, which were, oddly enough, the exact same color and shape as Jesse's. She wore blue dungarees and a white t-shirt with red sleeves. Her mouth was hanging open as she looked around.

In the corner of his eyes, Jesse could see Axel and Olivia sprawled on the floor, and Petra crouching on the floor with her jaw practically hitting the floor.

The girl spotted him looking at her and turned to look at him more clearly, her own eyes slightly wide. "Uh... hi. Do you... know where we are?" she asked, tentatively, still crouched on the floor.

Jesse shook his head. "No... I don't think we've met?" He trailed off questioningly.

"Oh," and she shakily got to her feet and walked over, before she stretched out her hand to shake hands with him. "I-I'm Jesse."

"Oh, wow, that's my name," Jesse said, grinning slightly at the girl.

She let out her own little laugh, green eyes crinkling up the way his did whenever he laughed or smiled. "Wow, coincidence, huh? D'you mind if I call you Jace? You know, so it's less confusing. Like, 'hi Jesse, I'm Jesse'." She said this in a hokey voice that made Jesse laugh. "Not at all. Hi, Jesse- my name's Jace. Pleasure to meet you."

"Likewise," she joked back, before crossing her arms and looking around as he got to his feet. "Do you know how we got here? I was just kinda minding my own business, and then- poof!" she waved her hands a bit. "I'm here."

"Yeah... I don't know how we got here either..." 'Jace' hummed thoughtfully, crossing his arms and narrowing his eyes at the floor. He heard a crash from behind him, and twisted around to see-

The two of them exchanged faintly shocked looks.

The Ocelots were in a heap on the floor, trying to disentangle themselves from their little pile. Lukas stood a little off to the side, looking shell-shocked and not helping because of his shell-shocked look. Behind them was a young woman who looked remarkably like Jesse- the girl, not Jace- with long black hair and green eyes, wearing a fancy-looking gold dress and hugging a little white chicken with a crown to her chest. A man with darker skin and an outfit that looked like he was part of some sort of guard was scrambling to his feet behind her, and a little off to the side was another man, but this time with messy blonde hair and a gray shirt.

Off to the side of them was a girl with rose-red hair and glasses, her own green eyes wide as she stared at the group who'd landed in a heap in front of her- A boy with blue hair, a girl with a blue and white striped shirt and brown hair, another girl with bubblegum-pink hair and clear blue eyes, a boy wearing an orange cat hoodie, and a man with darker skin, black hair, and a pair of red glasses. They were having better luck than the Ocelots at disentangling themselves.

A bit behind them was a woman with dark skin and long white hair that was twisted into braids, her gray eyes wide with shock as she stared around at everyone, hands tightening on her brown robes and her aviator-sort of hat, goggles pushed up so that they rested on top of the hat. Behind her was a man with a shock of white hair himself, black glasses perched on his nose and a brightly colored purple suit. Not far behind was another man with white hair and green robes, and a woman with a shock of pale blue hair and blood-red robes. Now that Jace looked closer, she had murky cyan eyes.

Not far from this group was a girl whose size gave AXEL a run for his money with brown hair and a green jumpsuit, and another girl in a green jumpsuit, but with blonde hair and blue eyes, beads clicking around in her blonde hair. Behind them were three extremely burly people that were MUCH bigger than even Axel. One had darker skin and a black-themed outfit, another had a shock of neon pink hair and _way_ too much eyeliner, and the last one looked as though he'd had his face put through a meat grinder or something.

"Magnus?"

Jace heard Axel give a high-pitched sort of gasp, and twisted to see-

His eyes widened at the sight of Magnus the Rogue in all his green-armored glory, his trademark black mask covering his face. He blinked at the sight of the brown-haired woman next to him, who was gaping at him in pure shock. "Ellie?" He twisted to see another man with diamond-encrusted armor. "Gabriel?"

"Soren?"

Soren, Magnus, Ellegaard, and Gabriel all gaped at the man with long black hair and dark blue eyes who was staring at them as if he'd seen a ghost. " _Ivor?_ "

"Wow," Petra breathed, snapping out of her shocked pose, "wow! The Order of the Stone? What are they doing here?" Unbeknownst to her, she'd just voiced Jace's own unsaid thoughts.

"And how do they know this 'Ivor' guy?" Olivia wondered as she got to her feet.

There was a collective clearing of throats, and they turned around again to see all of the various groups staring at each other in shock, confusion, and suspicion.

Jesse cleared her throat authoritatively, making everyone look at her and making her shrink back a step. "Um... hi. Maybe we should clear some stuff up...?"

* * *

 **A/N: And there's the first chapter. I'm going to get this story to the point where I'm happy with leaving it off before getting back into my normal updating schedule. I hope you don't mind that I'm writing a fanfic for my fanfic, but I'm so bored right now haha xD**

 **x.X. A.L. X.x**


	2. Introductions and Seating Arrangements

"Yeah, we should," the big brown-haired girl growled, stepping forward and making Jesse take another step back quickly, "for starters, why are we here? Why did you bring us here?"

"I didn't," Jesse responded, giving her head a shake, "I'm just as confused as all of you. Maybe we should all introduce ourselves...? I don't really feel like pointing around at everyone to address them. I-I'm Jesse. Pleased to meet all of you...?" She trailed off nervously at the end.

Everyone shared glances, unwilling to be the first person to introduce themselves, before Jace stepped forward. "Hi, my name's also Jesse, but to avoid confusion, you can call me Jace. And this is Reuben," and he leaned down to scoop up the little pink pig, who let out a very cheerful squeal at this.

This prompted Petra to step forward, bowing slightly to everyone as she put her pickaxe away. "Nice to meet you- I'm Petra."

Slowly, the group started to go around, going past Jesse's group, the Ocelots and the Order of the Stone (all of whose names Jace already knew), before it came to the black-haired woman who looked oddly like Jesse. She took a deep breath and straightened up to her full height, making Jace himself stand up straighter in her presence. "It's a pleasure to meet all of you... my name's Isa." She looked like she was about to say more about that, but then paused and didn't. "And this is Benedict." She lifted the hen in her arms slightly.

"Isn't that a boy's name- ow!" and Magnus glared at the brunette woman who'd just stomped on his foot to shut him up.

"I'm Reginald," the guard bowed slightly to everyone, faintly smiling. "Nice to meet you all."

"Um, greetings, everyone... I'm Milo," the blonde man with the gray shirt said, rubbing the back of his head slightly and looking away awkwardly.

"Here, let me introduce all of us..." the guy with black hair and red glasses gestured around. "That's StacyPlays," he gestured at the brunette girl with the striped shirt, "LDShadowLady-" the pink-haired girl interrupted, "But, um, my friends call me Lizzie."

"StampyCat," the boy with the cat hoodie waved a bit, smiling at them. "Dan, the Diamond Minecart," the purple-haired boy (wait, hadn't his hair been blue a minute ago...?) bowed slightly. "Cassie Rose and her cat Winslow," and the girl with rose-red locks waved her hand in a shy wave, her calico cat balancing on her shoulders. "And I'm CaptainSparklez!" the man finished, looking pleased with himself. "I guess you could call us the 'YouTubers', if you need to refer to our group."

The woman with white hair tentatively stepped forward. "Um... I'm- I'm Harper. Pleased to meet you. None of you are... PAMA, right?"

Everyone shot each other weird looks that basically said 'no'. "... what's PAMA?" Isa finally asked, looking faintly bemused.

Harper raised her hands in surrender and looked at the ceiling awkwardly. "Nothing. Never mind."

"Well, I'm Hadrian," the white-haired man in the purple suit said, before gesturing with his head at the other two robed people. "That's Otto, and that's Mevia."

"Hey!" the blonde girl with beads in her hair piped up, "Radical to meet you all. I'm Nell, and this brah's Em."

Jace shot Jesse a look to confirm that, no, neither of them really had any idea what she'd just said.

"I'm Slab, the Immoveable!" And the dark-skinned gladiator (that's what he looked like, so that's what Jace was gong to call them) with the black helmet waved his arms, making Nell dance aside a step to avoid getting smacked in the face. The other two huge gladiators introduced themselves as Clutch (the pink-haired one) and- wait for it- Facemeat. Jace was _not_ joking.

"So does anyone know what we're doing in here?" Aiden asked, narrowing his green eyes as he looked around.

Olivia spotted a piece of paper lying on the coffee table and trotted over. She read it, her eyes narrowing the more she read. "... apparently, we're here to be shown an alternative path of the past and future," she said finally, disbelief obviously tinging her voice.

Ellegaard's own eyebrow went up. "An alternative path...? How is that possible?" she mused.

"Your guess is better than mine," Olivia said, handing over the note. "It said that to watch it, we need to find a 'remote' of some sort...?"

"Would the remote be this thing?" Jesse asked, picking up a narrow gray rectangle resting on the other end of the coffee table and waving it slightly at them.

Jace plucked it from her hands (not in a rude way) to get a better look at it. "I don't see anything else that could be a remote..." He regarded the remote. A red button was on the top of the remote, 'POWER' written beneath it. Beneath that, there was a PAUSE button and a PLAY button. He was about to press the POWER button to see what would happen when it got snatched out of his hands, much more rudely than when he'd taken it from Jesse. "Hey!" he exclaimed at Aiden, who pressed the button himself.

"Aiden," Lukas said sternly, narrowing his eyes at the brown-haired boy, "that wasn't cool."

"Besides, you don't really know what that thing could do," Olivia pointed out.

Aiden leered at her. "Um, I can _read._ "

The remote got snatched out of his hands again, and the slightly-shorter Jesse flopped onto the floor in front of the coffee table, arching her eyebrows. "Well, you all obviously have some beef with each other, so until you all have decided to act your age, whatever that might be, I'm going to keep ahold of this thing."

There was a long, awkward silence, before everyone started shifting into the couches and seats. Hadrian, Otto, and Mevia took up one couch, while the Ocelots and the Order of the Stone took another two. Ivor sat in an armchair near Harper's, while the YouTubers (minus Cassie Rose) took another couch. The gladiators took up yet another couch, and Petra stole one of the armchairs while Isa, Reginald, and Milo got into another couch as well. However, this meant all of the seats were taken, and Axel, Olivia, and Jace looked around for a minute.

There was a soft cough, and they looked down to see Jesse sitting on the floor. "This carpet's comfy," was all she said.

The three of them shared looks, before they slowly smiled at her and got into their own positions on the floor.

Jesse picked up the remote and pressed 'PLAY' when she'd confirmed that everyone was ready.

* * *

 **A/N: Done!**

 **By the way, does anyone want ships in this story? The ships that get the most votes (basically comments) by the time I get to Chapter 5 or so will be input into the story. :3**

 **x.X. A.L. X.x**


	3. Memories

The screen faded to black, before slowly fading back into sight, in a heavily forested area with a large white building that looked like some sort of hospital coming into view, the moans of zombies the only audible sounds.

"This is already giving me the creeps," Jesse joked slightly.

Jace would've joked back, except the wall suddenly exploded with an extremely loud boom, making everyone in the room jump. Isa found herself practically sprawled on top of Reginald by accident, Magnus had nearly slapped Soren in the face by accident, Ivor had flinched away from the screen hard enough to rock the armchair back, and Cassie's hand had strayed to her back and was grabbing the handle of something.

" _Hurry!_ "

A little girl with fluffy, short black hair bolted out of there at full speed, white t-shirt and shorts ruffling in the wind. She was scuttling across the ground like a crab at supremely fast speeds. The moment she was clear of the dust, everyone in the audience could see why- she had two extra sets of arms, so that she had eight limbs like a spider.

A little blonde kid with ocelot ears and a golden tail bolted after her, tail flapping in the wind. " _R-right!_ " he shouted back, even though he nearly slipped and fell flat on his face.

" _Guys, we can't wait! Come on come on come on!_ " A little girl with short red hair jet-propelled out of there, gold eyes flashing in the darkness as Blaze Rods hovered around her and spun in lazy circles.

" _We're coming, we're coming!_ " A girl with dark skin, the skin around her right eye darkening to jet-black with her eye being a purple-ish magenta color, bleeped into sight in a spray of pink, magenta, and purple sparks, staggering awkwardly as she nearly fell over.

"This is already exciting and I don't think it's even been two whole minutes," Cassie said, slowly removing her hand from the hilt of whatever she'd been grabbing for.

A rather burly little kid with black hair and green skin that covered his forearms and part of his neck tore out of the hole in the wall, his body smoking. He looked as though he were exhausted. " _G-guys, wait up...!_ "

The five of them tore out of there, before suddenly the Blaze Rods vanished, and the red-haired girl tumbled violently to the ground with an 'uhf!' being forced out of her lungs, rolling several feet before coming to a halt, panting harshly.

This prompted several sympathetic winces from the audience.

The others all came to a stop, all of them trying their best to inhale, faces shiny with sweat and exertion. " _Y-you guys okay?_ " the little girl with the extra limbs asked the others, panting, her extra limbs retracting so that the extra sleeves hung limply at her sides and she looked downright normal. The blonde boy adjusted his hair so that the ears got hidden by his messy hair, the burly kid's green skin retracted so it went mostly under the large green hoodie that had to have been 'borrowed'- it was way too big for him, and the dark-haired girl's Enderman eye dulled to a simply brighter shade of black.

The red-haired girl's breath was coming in ever-increasing speeds that basically could be called 'hyperventilating'. " _G-guys... I've got a headache..._ " she whimpered in pain, " _it-it's getting worse..._ "

"This is exciting, but what does it have to do with us?" Em wondered. Jesse shrugged, looking just as bewildered. "Beats me."

Suddenly, all of the kids let out cries of pain, hands flying to their heads as they clutched at something they seemed to be feeling. A high-pitched sound was ringing in the background. " _I-it hurts..._ " The burly boy whimpered, shaking violently, " _wh-why-?!_ "

They were cut off as they suddenly jerked in place, before falling to the ground, momentarily convulsing before going perfectly still. The screen faded back out to black, and a deep voice began to speak. " _Memories can be hidden. But no matter what, they cannot be destroyed, no matter how hard you try. Taken. Hidden. Swept under a mental carpet. But destroying a memory is like destroying nothing. You can't destroy nothing. It would only take ten years for these memories to resurface."_

There was a very long pause in which everyone wondered if the thing was over, when suddenly it started speaking again. " _Nothing built can last forever, and every legend, no matter how great, fades with time. With each passing year, more and more details are lost, until all that remains are myths, half-truths. To put it simply - lies."_

The Order all glanced at each other for some reason as the screen panned into a room of what seemed to be books- it looked like a library.

 _"And yet, in all the known universe, from here to the Far Lands, the legend of the ORDER OF THE STONE endures, unabridged, as self-evident fact,_ " the narrator continued, the screen zooming in onto a book that flipped through the pages so fast that it sent white light spitting out over the screen.

 _"Indeed, it is only a troubled land that has any need for heroes. And ours was so very fortunate to have, not so very long ago, FOUR heroes such as these._

 _"GABRIEL the Warrior, before whose blade all combatants would tremble in fear._ " Gabriel appeared on the screen, running around on the screen with his sword, before spinning in place and slashing through an Enderman dummy that exploded into pieces. The Ocelots and Jace's group all applauded, and some of the other groups joined in after a couple seconds. After a second, Gabriel stood up and gave a hesitant bow.

 _"ELLEGAARD the Redstone Engineer, whose redstone creations would spark an era of invention._ " Ellegaard was stooped on the ground, surrounded by redstone and pistons that were moving rapid-fire, looking around at them with goggles and helmet hiding her hair and eyes. Olivia applauded so hard that Jesse actually turned to glance at her, blinking innocently. Magnus shoved Ellegaard off the couch, making her glare at him, before giving her own bow to general applause and sitting back down.

 _"MAGNUS the Rogue, who would channel his destructive creativity for the benefit of us all."_ Magnus fired off a firework into the air, making it send sparks everywhere from his hand. The green-armored man leaped to his feet and swept a dramatic bow to the applause of the room without being prompted, before hopping back into his seat and very nearly squashing Ellegaard.

 _"And SOREN the Architect, builder of worlds, and leader of the Order of the Stone._ " Soren was building something on a crafting table, before lifting it up to reveal an amulet with four crystals connected to a single dark blue one, a dark gray ring surrounding it. The architect stood up and bowed, before plopping back down into his seat.

 _"These FOUR friends, would give so much to be known as FOUR_ heroes." Ivor scowled at this a bit for some reason.

 _"Their most dangerous quest would take them on a perilous journey to fight a mysterious creature known as the Ender Dragon."_ The Order came to a stop in a place with strange yellow stone and obsidian towers, and looked up, before the shadow of a dragon flew across their face, a deep roar shaking the End. Dan leaned forward, looking extremely interested.

 _"In the end, the dragon was defeated, and the Order of the Stone emerged victorious."_ The Order was standing around the dragon, Gabriel standing on top of it. The camera slowly zoomed in on Gabriel as he lifted his sword into the air. _"Their story complete, they slipped away into the pages of legend..."_ The screen turned back to black. Nell twisted from her spot in one of the armchairs to look at the Order. "Woah, you dudes did all that?"

"Indeed we did," Soren said, giving her a smile.

"Radical, dudes."

There was another pause, before the narrator spoke again, the screen coming back in on a poster of Gabriel's face. " _But when one story ends, another one begins._ " The screen lifted to show a familiar treehouse, the sounds of a female grunting during battle being heard along with the clattering of wood on wood.

Jace's eyes widened a little. Was that...?

" _Would you rather fight a hundred chicken-sized zombies..._ " A familiar female voice sounded, before the camera switched to JESSE slashing away with a wooden sword at an armor stand. OLIVIA came into view, holding a handful of redstone dust. " _Or ten zombie-sized chickens?_ "

"Oh my god!" Aiden's grin was so wide it was practically splitting his face. "Is that where you _live?_ It's a piece of crap!"

"Well, we like it," Jace snapped back. "And we worked hard on building it."

"Aww, did I hurt your feewings?" Gill asked in a babyish voice, the Ocelots all cracking up. Lukas looked uncomfortable and looked away as Jesse leaned her elbows on the coffee table, looking interested. "I like it. Treehouses are nice. But I wonder why I'm here? I've never met any of you before today..."

She glanced at them and gave them an apologetic shrug. "No offense- you seem really nice... Olivia, right? But, I just don't really know you..."

"None taken- I don't know you, either," Olivia responded, trying not to let her cheeks burn bright red at the insult.

"It's weird though... that was this morning, except, you know, with Jesse here. Was someone spying on us?" Jace asked, narrowing his eyes at the screen suspiciously.

Olivia shuddered. "I don't really want to think about it..."

" _I'd have to go with the zombie-sized chickens,_ " Jesse responded thoughtfully to Olivia's question onscreen, eyes narrowing. " _Not because I want to, or because I think it'd be easy..._ " She made a face that made Jace snort. She smacked him. " _But because they would be an abomination."_

" _Imagine their giant feet,_ " Olivia contributed.

Jesse grinned at the dark-skinned girl. " _Like I said- an abomination._ " She went back to whacking the armor stand with her sword, taking ahold of it by both hands this time.

Olivia trotted over to this shelf. " _Sooo, I've got a daylight sensor on the roof,"_ she said, glancing back at Jesse before placing it down.

" _Mm-hm..._ "

" _And if I did this right, these lamps should turn on once it gets dark,_ " Olivia said, still putting down the redstone.

Ellegaard let out a musing hum, as did Harper, Stampy, and Cassie, although theirs were much more quiet. "Not bad."

Olivia let out a gasp and tightened her grip on Jace's arm. Jace patted her on the back, putting a finger to his lips so they could keep watching.

" _Mm-hm..._ " Now the audience was pretty sure Jesse wasn't even listening anymore.

Olivia glanced at Jesse. " _I didn't want to leave Reuben with nothing while we were at the building competition-_ "

This brought the raven-haired girl back to attention as she twisted to see Olivia. " _He's... coming with us?_ "

The screen lowered to show REUBEN nudging along the armor stand, letting out a loud squeal. Jesse raised her eyebrows and leaned her head on her cheek thoughtfully. "Hmmm, I think Jace and I switch places in this version? Maybe that's why I'm living at your place?"

The dark-skinned girl pinched her lips together thoughtfully. "Mm, maybe?"

" _Really?_ "

Jesse turned around, sheathing the sword as she raised one eyebrow at the other girl. " _What kind of question is that? Of course he is."_

Olivia put her hands up in surrender. " _Okay- I'm not saying he shouldn't come. I'm not!_ "

Onscreen-Reuben snorted disbelievingly at this. This made Jesse grin and lean over to rub the pig's ears, the little pig grinning back at her cheerfully. Jace grinned and rubbed Reuben's head. "Aww, he likes you."

"I can see that," Jesse said teasingly, beginning to fondle his ears and making Reuben grumble with pleasure.

" _But don't you think it's a little weird that you take him with you everywhere you go?_ " Olivia asked tentatively.

Jesse shrugged at this casually. " _No, not really. No weirder than my left eye being darker than my right eye,"_ the camera zoomed in on her eyes to show that the left eye was indeed darker than the other one. " _Or your right eye being brighter than the other._ " It zoomed in on Olivia's eyes.

Harper drew in a sharp breath at this that went nearly unheard, except for Ivor, who glanced at the woman.

" _I didn't mean anything by it. I'm glad he's coming. It's just... I don't want to give people another reason to call us losers. I'm getting tired of it,_ " Olivia continued, decisively setting her hands on a bookshelf. It could effectively have been called her slamming her hands down. " _I'm tired of being a laughingstock._ "

"Too bad," Aiden drawled, "you're always going to be the Order of the Losers. It's just what you are, and you're not going to be able to change it, no matter what you do." Olivia ducked her head, her cheeks burning bright red.

Jesse hesitated, before simply shrugging. " _Well, I don't think you're a loser. Besides, it's my pig- so if anyone's gonna call anyone a loser, I will gladly take all of the insults. I'll own them and make them a part of my armor. That way,_ " and she shrugged again, " _No one can use that against me._ "

Hadrian let out a low whistle. "That was deep, sport." He sounded noncommittal, and Jesse blinked at him from where she was crouched. "Oh... thanks?"

Olivia blinked at Jesse onscreen, seemingly unsure about what to say, before a smile made its way across her lips. " _Thanks, Jesse._ "

Jesse shot her a thumbs-up and a grin, before a hissing sound began. Olivia went 'ah' and Jace just nodded. Axel grinned.

"Is that what I think it is?" Sparklez asked, eyes widening a little, "in the daytime?"

" _Do you hear that...?_ " Jesse turned and trotted over to the trapdoor, eyes narrowing.

Olivia's own eyes widened. " _Oh_ no _."_

The trapdoor burst open, and a creeper exploded out of the trapdoor (not literally). " _BOO!_ "

Onscreen, Olivia, Jesse, and Reuben all screamed. Ivor let out a loud squeak, Petra slammed her back into her armchair enough to make it tilt back and fall back forward, Harper flinched, the three gladiators all let out a yell, the three brightly dressed ones jumped violently and conked heads, Magnus nearly slapped Ellegaard and Soren in the face, Gabriel winced violently, Nell jumped behind Em, the YouTubers all fell off of the couch in a mess, accidentally yanking Cassie down with them, Jesse shrieked in shock, Lukas recoiled and conked his head right against Aiden's, both boys letting out a shout and grabbing at their foreheads, while Maya practically jumped into Gill's arms.

Axel, Olivia, Jace, and Reuben just sat there watching calmly.

The creeper laughed and tugged off to reveal AXEL, grinning at the whole group. " _Oh man! You guys totally freaked out! That was awes-_ " he was cut off by Reuben angrily head-butting him with a squeal.

" _Axel-!_ " Olivia seemed to be trying to find the appropriate words. " _What's the_ matter _with you?!_ " she finally blurted angrily.

Axel seemed preoccupied. " _Great,"_ he grumbled, " _now I'm going to smell like a pig at Endercon. I thought we were buddies!_ "

Jesse's hand was resting on her heart. " _Just what you deserve,_ " she teased him, but her hands were still trembling from the shock of the trapdoor practically exploding in her face. " _Cool mask, though._ "

"Incredibly cool mask," Axel agreed.

" _It is, isn't it?_ " Onscreen-Axel asked, grinning at her.

Jesse placed her hands on her hips. " _Yeah- very convincing."_ She shot him a joking glare, before letting her hands drop and laughing.

Olivia seemed less happy to let it go, but she changed the subject anyway. " _Did you bring the fireworks?_ "

"What are you building?" Mevia asked, her arms crossed across her midriff from the scare.

Jace answered, stretching to answer them. "A fireworks machine, with an Enderman on top."

Soren practically jumped out of his seat to pump his fists in the air, startling Magnus enough to knock him off the couch. " _Yes!_ "

This prompted several amused snorts from the audience.

" _Yes, I'm ready,"_ Axel laughed, " _waiting on you guys."_

Olivia smiled before moving to start going down the ladder. " _We'll meet you and Reuben downstairs, okay?"_

Jesse grinned back at her. " _Okay!_ " she said brightly.

The trapdoor shut. Jesse turned around- and then gasped, grabbing at her head, as the scenery around her seemed to throb. " _O-ow..."_

"Whoa, what? What's going on?" Jace asked, straightening up with narrowing eyes, "this didn't happen before."

Reuben let out a worried whine onscreen. Jesse began to massage her forehead with her fingers insistently, but black spots began to form and grow in her vision instead.

The screen faded back in to the little girl with extra arms watching a trapdoor shut, trembling in fear as a monster slowly rose to meet her gaze- a monster with three heads.

"Whoa, whoa- is that a Wither?!" Lizzie exclaimed, eyes widening.

A fiery skull fired at the little girl.

Said little girl screamed in fear and lunged sideways, the audience all holding their breaths inadvertently at this part, the skull plowing into the floor and making a crater upon impact. As the Wither approached her again, the girl whirled around on the spot and lashed out in a sort of blocking motion, a long white string soaring out and hitting the Wither.

The little girl's green-and-red eyes flared before all of her limbs started moving, and the girl moved around the room rapidly until the Wither was swathed in white strings, cocooned quite firmly amongst sticky white strings, looking like the world's biggest, most elaborate spiderweb.

"That was so cool!" Nell cheered. Em let out an annoyed sigh at this.

The little girl panted, watching the monster warily, before slowly going over to it and putting her mouth on it. For a moment, her teeth slipped and slid as she was trying to put her jaws around it, the audience watching in confusion- before suddenly her jaws actually sank in, canines sharpening to razor-sharp tips moments before they sank into the Wither's head. It jerked, before the Wither exploded into smoke.

"Cool," Nell, Axel, and Magnus chorused, making several of the watchers look at them.

Immediately, the little girl spit violently, trying to get something out of her mouth. A dark, muddyish colored substance spewed out from between her lips and splattered the floor, over the Nether Star that had dropped onto the ground.

A hand dropped on her shoulder, making the little girl let out a cry of alarm. " _Good work. You performed admirably._ "

The scene zoomed back out to reveal Jesse panting, still clutching at her head with her chest slowly heaving and calming down. "... that was... really weird," she murmured, before she knelt down in front of a chest that she'd come to, glancing up.

At a picture of a little girl who looked very much like the one they'd just seen.

Everyone's eyes widened and turned to look at Jesse, who looked very much surprised herself, before looking back at the screen, where Jesse was staring at the picture, her eyes narrowing. "... but... I'm not a spider hybrid," she told herself, firmly.

She stood up from the chest, hands holding the flint and steel, before pausing and glancing down at herself once again.

"... am I?"

* * *

 **A/N: Probably should warn you about this first; but totally forgot- if you haven't read Hybrid yet, I recommend you read that story before reading this one. Keep in mind that I am changing it up slightly to fit the 'Movie Mode'ish format. So yeah.**

 **Also, keep in mind that not every chapter will be nearly as long as this one. I was only trying to catch up with Hybrid's chapter one xD so it'll have generally the same content as each chapter, but with smoother transitions.**

 **Okay, so in the one day this has been up, I have received 14 comments... wow xD**

 **So far the voting for the ships goes something like this:**

 **Lukesse/Jesskas: 7,** **Magnugaard: 4,** **Aidassie: 2,** **DanCat: 1,** **Jetra: 3,** **Luktra: 4,** **Harvor/Ivarper: 4,** **Maya x Gill: 1,** **Axelivia: 3,** **Danzie: 2,** **Stampcy: 1,** **Aidesse (Aiden x Fem!Jesse): 1,** **Hadrevia: 1,** **Misa: 1**

 **LIKE GOSH THE AMOUNT OF YOU THAT VOTED FOR LUKESSE**

 **Voting is still going on! Seriously, any ship you would like. (Unless it's illogical, like Reuben x Jesse or something like that. Then... um... please don't xD) Also, if the ship involves Jesse, specify which gender... unless you don't care. In which case, go crazy xD**

 **GirlOfMyOwnWorld: (thumbs up)**

 **RapidSammi: (thumbs up) :3**

 **NoItsBecky: (laughs) I can't either, but I got super bored, so everyone gets this.**

 **Emily The Avenger: (laughs) I'm glad you're this happy about it! I get to write it again, just.. you know, differently xD**

 **Meow Shadow: Can do! Thank you for reviewing, and I'm glad to see you like this!**

 **: You should probably read Hybrid first if you don't get this, haha xD**

 **S4SH4L4SH4theGaMeR101: I'm glad you're excited to read it! I can't wait to write more!**

 **DynamiteHunter6: All pretty good ships :3**

 **ChloSky: Haha xD**

 **EthanDaCabbage: Nice username :3**

 **Jazzythejazz: Jace's name is still Jesse, it's just a nickname so it's less confusing for everyone, haha xD**

 **LunarStarsMoons: (laughs) Glad you like it so much, friend!**

 **rebekahtpe: Yes! They made the song 'Make a Move', right?**

 **x.X. A.L. X.x**


	4. Normal

Onscreen, Jesse looked down at herself with a sigh. " _Okay... no extra legs or limbs or anything in sight. So I definitely can't be a spider hybrid. Definitely not. Nope. No possible way_." She stared down at herself, before slowly her hands moved to pat herself on the sides. " _And... yet, I'm checking anyway. I'm not a spider hybrid, so there's no need to..."_

She paused. "... _to_..."

"What? Did she find something?" Magnus asked, leaning forward. The redstone engineer smacked him on the back of the head, making him go "Ow" and glare at her. "Why don't you wait and see?" she responded, ignoring his glare.

This time, as she patted herself down, her hands moved more slowly, and her dungarees stretched a little bit. "... _yep, no doubt about it, there are some bumps there. ... they're not... too noticeable... right, Reuben?_ " The black-haired girl looked up at the pig, who squealed and shook his head.

"They really aren't," Stacy pointed out. "I think the only reason she noticed them was because she started patting herself down."

"Yeah, I'm getting that feeling, too," Jesse hummed thoughtfully."

She looked back down at herself. "... _well, I sure hope it stays that way._ "

She took a deep breath, before stooping down and scooping Reuben up, descending the ladder and landing back on the ground, setting the little pink pig back down as well.

Olivia smiled at her. " _Got everything?_ "

Jesse nodded and folded her hands behind her back. " _Yeah,_ " she said, with a bright-looking smile.

"She's faking it."

Everyone glanced at Otto, who simply put his hand up in surrender. "I'm only saying..."

" _Let's roll_ ," Axel said, waving his hand a bit. Olivia rolled her eyes at the large burly male, a smile playing across her mouth. " _Yeah, dude-_ roll," she responded teasingly.

Jesse laughed at this and rolled her eyes, the smile relaxing into a more natural one. " _Let's_ go," she chuckled teasingly, before the four of them set off.

" _I heard a pretty juicy rumor about the building competition, but you guys have to promise not to say anything,_ " Axel warned them. Olivia shrugged at this. " _Okay._ "

" _Also, it's in two parts, each part more exciting than the last-_ "

Jesse shoved him gently with a laugh. " _Spit it out, Axel!_ "

"Are you and Jace that close in real life?" Jesse asked the burly boy, turning from where she was sitting to see him. He looked over at her and nodded, smiling slightly. "Yeah. I guess we're that close in this 'alternative path' thing, too."

Jesse tilted her head, before nodding and smiling at him. "I think I'm okay with that."

Axel and Olivia exchanged faintly surprised looks at this.

" _Part one. The special guest at this year's Endercon is none other than Gabriel the Warrior him-freaking-self!_ " Axel declared, waving his arms in the air.

"You idiot!" Aiden laughed, "those posters were all over town for weeks!"

Olivia glared back at him. "Well, we didn't know that! Jace- and I guess Jesse- and I live in the woods, we don't go into town all that much."

Jesse's eyes widened. " _Whoooaaaaa!_ " she dragged out the 'whoa', before asking, eyes sparkling, " _what's part two?_ "

" _Part two. According to my sources-_ "

The Ocelots snorted.

" _The winner of the building competition's gonna get to meet him!_ "

Jesse's mouth fell open, and Olivia gasped.

" _It doesn't mean anything if we lose,_ " Axel continued, almost dismissively, " _but if we win... oh man, this would make up for all the losing._ "

"Yeah, right! There's no way you're gonna-"

"Aiden, was it? For the love of Notch, _be quiet!_ " Ivor snapped at the boy.

Jesse nodded in agreement to Axel's comment. " _Meeting Gabriel would be a dream and an honor_."

"Thank you, my friend," Gabriel said with a nod in the two Jesse's direction. The girl simply shrugged with a smile, while Jace grinned back.

" _Totally,_ " Olivia nodded, " _he's awesome- it'd be amazing to meet him._ "

She paused, looking around, before looking back at Axel. " _Soo, does this 'source' of yours make posters for a living?_ "

The screen switched to show Endercon posters and signs about tickets being sold out. Aiden snorted, but said nothing when literally two-thirds of the audience shot him looks.

" _Yeah,_ " Axel admitted sheepishly, " _my source, uhh... doesn't, um... exist. You guys are my only friends._ "

" _Guys_ ," Jesse jogged them both with her elbow, smiling, _"let's stay focused... we have a competition to win."_

Olivia sighed at this. " _We never win. And this year we've got Reuben with us. We basically have no chance_."

Jesse blinked at the pink pig, before leaning over to look at the dark-skinned girl sitting next to Axel. " _What does that have to do with it_?" she asked, curiously.

Onscreen, Jesse seemed to be deep in thought. "... _wait a second-_ wait a second _\- we're thinking about this all wrong_ ," she said abruptly.

" _How's that_?" Olivia asked, coming to a stop in the forest, looking around at each other.

" _The point of the building competition isn't just to build- something. You have to do something to get noticed by the judges_!" Jesse exclaimed, flinging her arms wide.

"Oh, here comes the great idea!" Jace joked, making Jesse snort a bit next to him.

Olivia put her hands onto her hips. " _Okay then... so, how do we do this_?"

" _We don't just build something functional- we build something fun_!" Jesse said cheerfully.

Soren hummed thoughtfully. "Not a bad idea. Judges do tend to go for creative builds."

" _After finishing the fireworks machine, like we planned, we build something really cool on top of it!"_ Jesse exclaimed, bouncing on the balls of her feet.

"You're a cheerful person, aren't you?" Cassie asked the girl. Jesse twisted to see her and gave her a shrug and a grin. "Well, I try to be."

" _You might be onto something_ ," Olivia said, grinning at Jesse.

Axel spoke up himself, drawing the group's attention to him. " _If we want to get a reaction out of the judges... you build something scary. So I say we build a creeper_ -"

Olivia nearly cut him off. " _Wouldn't an Enderman be better? I'm more scared of Endermen than creepers."_

" _They both have their moments... both pretty scary_ ," Axel murmured thoughtfully.

"Go for the Endermen!" Soren exclaimed, nearly falling out of his chair. Magnus gently punched him on the shoulder. "No, no, go with the creeper!"

" _Okay_ ," Jesse spoke up, " _let's go for the Enderman_."

Soren pumped his fist and gave off a near-silent " _yessss_ " which had most of the audience smothering smiles at this.

" _Awww... Olivia's thing_?" Axel complained. Olivia put one hand on her hip and raised her eyebrow at him, smiling. " _Are you **whining**?_ " she asked him teasingly.

" _No_ ," Axel responded defensively, _"I was saying 'awwwwesome'_."

Jesse snickered playfully at him. _"Suuuure ya were_ ," she said, her grin not fading even when he playfully shoved her.

" _Think we've got everything we need_?" Olivia asked, putting one hand on her hip.

Jesse tilted her head thoughtfully, eyes narrowing. " _Mmm, it wouldn't hurt to grab a little more."_

 _"Let's get to grabbin', then_!" Axel declared.

Everyone put their hands into the center of a circle automatically. " _Okay... 'dare to prepare' on three. No, wait, 'preparing is daring', nope, that's the same- you know what, forget it. 'Team' on three. One, two, three-"_

Olivia and Jesse shouted " _TEAM_!" while Axel, having gotten a bit muddled up, called out " _Prepare_!" All of them grinned at each other before running off into the forest.

The screen switched to show Jesse, slowing her run into the forest with her grin slowly fading into a more concerned look. She looked down at herself again with a worried sigh.

She stayed in that position for a moment, before furiously shaking her head. " _Nope nope nope. Stop the stressing, Jesse!_ " She pumped her fists and jumped up and down a couple times, looking down at Reuben. " _C'mon, Reuben- we should get some more wool_!"

And the two of them dashed off into the forest.

The camera switched to Olivia punching through a tree. She drew her fist back, before slamming through it. The block flipped into the air, and seemingly on instinct, the girl reached up with both hands and caught it.

Immediately, her slightly slouchy posture erected itself, her arms sprang perfectly stiff, and she shuddered violently. Olivia stood there for a moment, staring at the block, blinking bemusedly at it.

 _"... this feels nice. Why does this feel nice? You know what, I'm just- nope_ ," and she slowly unlocked her arms and placed the block in her pocket before walking offscreen, putting her hands up in surrender and shaking her head. " _Nope, nope, nope_."

There was a moment where Ellegaard sucked in a deep breath, eyes widening. "Oh- _oh_."

Axel came onscreen, his own grin fading. He took a shaky breath, before slowly pulling one sleeve up.

Everyone's jaw fell open at the sight of Axel's arm- it was a strange, mottled green color.

" _Okay... it's still there. Okay. Okay_!" The burly boy's voice had actually risen an octave. " _This is- this is fine. I'll just keep this on and- and I'll be totally fine. Yeah_."

Yanking his hoodie sleeve back down and taking another deep breath, he went marching through the forest.

The camera switched again to show LUKAS onscreen, dropping a little behind MAYA, GILL, and AIDEN, who were laughing about something and shoving each other around gently.

"Whoa- hey, that's us!" Maya exclaimed, raising one hand to point at the screen in surprise.

Lukas reached up to rub his head with a wry smile- and then froze. His eyes widened in shock. He slowed to a stop, his hand still resting on his head. Slowly, he rubbed his head again.

" _Hey, Lukas, you okay_?"

He blinked to see Aiden and the others turning to see him, pausing where they were on the path.

" _Y-yeah_." The blonde forced a small smile. " _Sorry. Just... lost in thought is all. Haha."_ He started walking after his friends again, his hair momentarily twitching before he disappeared offscreen.

"Did I just imagine that, or-"

Petra was cut off by Lukas's bewildered comment. "Did my hair just twitch...? No. You didn't imagine that..."

PETRA appeared onscreen, staring down at something with squinty eyes. _"... okay_." She took a deep breath and reached up with her right hand and rubbed her temple. " _I am okay with my eyes being gold. However_ ," and the screen zoomed out to reveal her arm, which had a strange gold tint to it. " _I kinda draw the line here at a gold arm."_

Most of the audience stared, before turning to look at Petra. Petra's expression was no less disturbed than the one she had onscreen.

She poked at it with her free hand, face becoming even more bothered by this. There was a full minute of silence where she stared at her arm before reaching up and tugging down her long sleeve-glove-thing over it, covering up the gold-tinted arm. " _Okay... this is okay. It's not a big deal. Today is just... one of those days."_

She stood up and swung her pickaxe up so it rested on her shoulder, before taking a deep breath and trotting out of the cave.

The screen faded out to black.

"I wonder what's going to happen next..." Cassie mused.

"Yeah, and what's going on with Lukas and Petra," Axel murmured, leaning his cheek into his hand. "I mean, it's pretty obvious that Jesse's a spider, Olivia's an Enderman, and I'm a creeper... but beyond that, I'm not entirely sure."

Mumbled assent from the rest of the audience.

* * *

 **A/N: Yeahh! Can't wait for the next scene x3**

 **So far this is what the votes look like:**

 **Lukesse: 10,** **Magnugaard: 5,** **Aidassie: 4,** **DanCat: 1,** **Jetra: 6,** **Luktra: 8 (one vote is a bromance vote),** **Harvor: 8,** **Jesskas (M!Jesse x Lukas): 1,** **Maya x Gill: 3,** **Axelivia: 4,** **Danzie: 4,** **Stampcy: 2,** **Aidesse (F!Jesse x Aiden): 2 (one is a bromance vote),** **Hadrevia: 2,** **Misa (Milo x Isa): 1,** **CassieSparklez: 1**

 **The ship has to have at least 7 votes to be considered to be included in the story; so keep that in mind! Lukesse, Luktra, and Harvor are the only ones being considered so far. So if there's a ship you forgot to include the previous time, VOTE! xD**

 **Voting will end upon reaching the next chapter, because that's when there's a very shippy moment during the actual chapter of Hybrid, and also because it's chapter 5 xD**

 **S4SH4L4SH4theGaMeR101: (laughs) Glad you like it!**

 **Luna96: I see that xD**

 **LunarStarsMoons: Cool :3 and... Misa is Milo x Isa xD**

 **RapidSammi: I'm glad you like it! :3**

 **NightShipper: Haha xD I'm glad you like it. I wonder if you'll be able to do it, haha xD**

 **rebekahtpe: Um... right arm? I'm right handed, but I guess I could always get a prosthetic, haha xD**

 **NoItsBecky: Quite a LOT of people like Luktra, actually xD And... I don't know xD**

 **Emily The Avenger: Coolio :3**

 **EthanDaCabbage: No problem :3**

 **mEEplePeoPLe: (laughs) Sure thing**

 **JustinBieberFan: Coolio, got it x3**

 **IShipMagnegaard: Gotcha :3**

 **Hybrid Fangirl: I'm glad you liked Hybrid so much! Nice to welcome you aboard :3 Thank you for the suggestion and the long review xD I like long reviews.**

 **x.X. A.L. X.x**


	5. Ocelots and Insults

The screen came back on to Axel talking, enthusiastically, his grin back on his face. " _We know what we're building, we've got all the stuff for it - we are so ready."_

" _This year, it's gonna be different,_ " Olivia said, more optimistically than before. " _I'm not just ready to build- I'm ready to win."_

Some random guy wearing a hat walked by. " _Nice pig... losers._ "

Harper raised her eyebrow. "Well, that was... rude."

"This is why I don't like people," Soren grumbled quietly, although it was loud enough that the rest of the Order heard it.

The group came to a stop, Jesse sending a glare in his direction and Axel and Olivia looking away awkwardly. The entrance to the building competition came into view, where four people in black leather jackets with ocelot heads on the back were signing in.

" _Oh, great. It's Lukas and the Ocelots. The rivalry continues,_ " Axel groaned.

Lukas raised his eyebrow while Aiden's face darkened. "I thought we were just Ocelots..." the blonde mumbled, sounding genuinely surprised at this.

The screen moved over their backs, giving them a good view of the ocelot heads on the back.

" _Man... they've got matching leather jackets and everything,"_ Olivia murmured.

" _So cool.._." Axel said wistfully.

The Ocelots all grinned at each other smugly, snickering. Olivia glanced away, her cheeks flaming with embarrassment. Axel rubbed his arm awkwardly and looked at the ceiling.

"Well, that's true... they are cool." Jesse leaned over backwards to see the Ocelots, Jace tittering at the awkward backward bending she was doing to see the group. "Nice jackets, you guys."

The Ocelots all blinked at this- they seemed genuinely surprised by the comment.

Onscreen, Aiden turned around, a smirk coming across his face. " _Well, well, well_ ," he sneered, making Maya and Gill turn around with grins. Lukas kept talking to the woman at the booth. " _If it isn't the Order of the Losers."_

"That's... not a very creative insult," Mevia said, arching one eyebrow.

" _Great_ ," Maya smirked, " _the fail squad's here_."

Onscreen, Jesse let out a low sigh, her arms dangling at her sides.

" _Lukas,"_ Gill sniggered, " _get a look at these losers."_

Lukas glanced at Jesse for a moment, before looking away again. " _Let's go, guys,"_ he said quietly. Gill and Maya followed, Aiden giving them one last sneer before following. The woman at the booth smiled pleasantly at them. " _Name, please._ "

The burly green boy picked at his sleeve awkwardly. " _Axel, and, uh, how do you do_?"

This prompted a couple snorts from the audience.

" _No, your team name_ ," the woman said, after a moment of looking at him to make sure he wasn't messing around.

Jesse's eyes were faintly glazed over, her arms fidgeting at her sides, and she said mildly, " _We're the Bureau of Amalgamology_."

Immediately, she, Olivia, Axel, and Lukas, who was still in earshot, went perfectly rigid, eyes widening at the sound of the name. There was a pause before Jesse slowly relaxed again, blinking. " _Um- yeah, that's- that's our team name,_ " she continued, eyes still slightly wide.

"I wonder what the 'Bureau of Amalgamology' is," Cassie mused.

"And why it caused that reaction," Isa hummed thoughtfully.

Olivia shrugged it off, her shoulders relaxing. " _It's an interesting one... and it's not really like people can make fun of it._ "

Axel nodded with a "yep", Jesse quickly nodding afterwards. " _E-exactly why I chose it."_

"I get the feeling you're fibbing there," Jace said to Jesse. Jesse let out a bark of laughter at this.

Onscreen, Jesse sent Lukas a look as he regained his composure and followed after his team, but didn't press it.

" _Okay, Bureau of Amalgamology,_ " the woman said perkily, " _you guys are in Booth 5!_ "

Axel went first, but he got stuck in the gate and struggled before he was able to make his way through.

"Aww, man," Axel mumbled, rubbing the back of his head and wincing slightly. Petra winced sympathetically at this as well.

Olivia followed after that, then Jesse and Reuben, ignoring the way the Ocelots were sniggering at this little mishap. They made their way over to Booth 5, where Axel was already standing, practically standing on his tiptoes to see what was happening. " _Is that a beacon_?"

"Are you jealous?" Gill mocked, grinning at him. Axel glowered back. "You wish, pussycat."

" _They have a freaking beacon?!_ " His voice was rising in both volume and pitch again. " _Freakin'... beacon?!_ "

It had just reached hysterical pitch when Olivia groaned. " _They're not just building a beacon... they're building a rainbow beacon!"_

"You're totally jealous!" Maya shot back.

" _We're gonna lose_ ," Olivia finished after a moment.

Jesse thought for a moment, before responding at length, " _W-we got this, guys."_

Olivia threw her hands in the air. " _Who are we kidding? We've got nothing._ "

Jesse tilted her head thoughtfully for a moment. " _We've got... a... mascot,_ " she finally stated, making Reuben perk up with a squeal of pleasure.

"A mascot would be kind of cool," Lukas hummed mildly, "like a trained ocelot or something."

"You're _agreeing_ with them?!" Aiden practically shouted. Lukas gave the brunette boy a weird look. "What? I'm just saying."

Olivia rolled her eyes with a grin at this. " _All right... we should probably stop staring_ ," she stated, just as Gill sneered, " _Oh look! It's the Order of the Losers- again."_

"Too late!" Jace joked feebly.

" _Good one, Gill_!" Maya chuckled. Aiden turned around, another sneer coming over his face.

"He's kind of a jerk, isn't he?" Em muttered so that only Nell could hear. The blonde nodded slightly and whispered back. "Totally, brah."

" _We were just looking,"_ Olivia deadpanned.

" _There'll be plenty of time for you to look at it once it wins and gets shown at Endercon_!" Aiden bragged.

"Pride comes before a fall," Ellegaard said mildly to nobody in particular.

Axel hissed at Aiden, eyes narrowing. " _You're being unpleasant._ "

" _Well, maybe not ALL of you-_ " and Aiden leered down at Reuben. " _Endercon doesn't allow outside food or drink."_

Reuben let out an offended squeal at that.

"Okay, that was NOT cool," Jesse said, twisting to frown at Aiden. The brown-haired boy blinked at her, once again looking surprised.

Jesse's hands clenched into fists, and she glared at him without saying a word.

" _I mean, look at him! He looks delicious_ ," and Aiden leered at Reuben, " _I could eat him right now._ "

"Yeah, that wasn't weird at all," Petra muttered sarcastically, rolling her eyes at this comment. This prompted several snorts from the members of the audience that heard her.

Jesse blinked, her hands slowly unclenching. " _That sounded like a bizarre compliment_ ," she told him, blinking in faint confusion at him.

Axel stepped in front of Reuben. " _You're going to have to eat me first_ ," he defended.

"Should you be encouraging them?" StampyCat wondered.

Olivia avoided either contact with either of them. " _Let's, uh.. let's hope it doesn't come to that."_

 _"Cut it out, Aiden,_ " and the blonde looked up from the chest, annoyance playing in his eyes. " _We've got work to do."_

Jesse shot Aiden a smug smirk. He smirked back. " _You're lucky I'm busy._ "

Before anything else could be said, Petra strolled up to them, her pickaxe resting on her shoulder. " _Hey guys,_ " she said lightly. Jesse's faint glare relaxed into a grin. " _Hey, Petra_ ," she responded in greeting.

"Petra!" Jace cheered, making the redhead grin at him.

Petra rubbed her left arm a bit and arched her brow. " _How's the build going_?"

" _Only time will tell, but, we're optimistic_ ," Axel responded.

"You don't sound very optimistic," Jesse told him. This prompted several giggles, snorts, and sniggers from the audience, Axel smothering his incredibly amused grin.

" _Hey, Petra_ -" and Lukas walked forwards towards the redhead, " _I forgot to thank you for that Nether Star._ "

Petra smiled a bit at Lukas. " _Hey, Lukas... not a problem_ -"

She was cut off by Axel, who blurted, looking rather displeased, " _You HELPED these tools?_ "

Petra arched her eyebrow at him. " _For the right price... I'll help anyone."_ She started walking towards the forest. " _If you need me, you'll know where to find me."_

 _"Uh, nobody knows where to find you,_ " Olivia called after her.

" _Exactly,_ " Petra responded, vanishing into the trees.

A soft cough from Lukas drew the camera's attention back to him. " _No hard feelings, guys... if you're cool with Petra_ ," and he batted at his blonde hair momentarily, " _you're cool with us._ "

"By 'us' do you mean 'you'?" Jesse asked, twisting to look at the blonde. He blinked at her in return.

" _So why don't we just forget about all this and... make this about how cool our builds are?_ " Lukas offered tentatively.

Everyone automatically looked at Jesse. The dark-haired girl regarded him for a few moments, silently, before responding lightly, " _May the best team win._ "

Lukas perked up a bit at that. " _Careful what you wish for,_ " he joked a bit, and grinned at her.

Jesse's lips twitched slightly, as if she was repressing a smile. " _We'll see about that_."

Gill's eyes narrowed. "Are you flirting with him?" he wondered aloud all of a sudden.

Jesse started so hard that her arms rammed into the coffee table, making several audience members wince sympathetically. "Wh-?! Where in the world d-did that come from?!" she exclaimed, her cheeks pinking slightly. " _No!_ I literally just met him!"

Lukas coughed awkwardly, looking at the ceiling with his own cheeks a faint pink tint.

* * *

 **A/N: So after some deliberation, the final ships that made it into the story are:**

 **Lukesse (F!Jesse x Lukas), with 15 votes. (Like wtf, people xD)**

 **Magnugaard, (BARELY) with 7 votes. The reason I'm including it anyways is because why the heck not? xD**

 **Jetra (M!Jesse x Petra), with 11 votes.**

 **Bromance Luktra (mainly Luktra, but just hints of it and sometimes overly chummy friendship), with 8 votes, one being a bromance vote.**

 **Harvor, with 9 votes.**

 **Hints of Axelivia, with 8 votes. (I've never written it before, so just hints for now)**

 **And that's it!**

 **Keep in mind that I'll probably ask you again once we reach Episode 5, so yeah xD this is just for temporary. And also this will move EXTREMELY slowly for the first couple episodes (romance-wise).**

 **NoItsBecky: Tru that xD And you get hints... is that good? xD sorry, it's just that the Lukesse and Jetra basically took over xD**

 **RapidSammi: Oh gosh now I have to live up to those expectations xD welp, you got Jetra!**

 **LunarStarsMoons: You get one tonight xD**

 **pensuka: (looks at the ceiling)**

 **Dancelord: Yes, o Lord of the Dance xD sorry, bad joke.**

 **Lord of the Awesomeness: Of course, o Lord of the Awesomeness xD**

 **Notboredjenjen: I'm glad you're not bored xD and you get hints, since I've never written it before xD**

 **AquaK13: Thank you! I'm glad you like it!**

 **OMGOMGOMGOMGOMG: Oh gosh your username makes my head spin xD And sure!**

 **Seastorm25: Only a few :3**

 **rebekahtpe: You're right, took over everything xD and HOLY you would not believe how many people voted for it at the last second xD And... ahaha... yeah, I guess :3 RQLC: Fight 20 Witherstorms by myself. I can never sit back and just watch something bad happen.**

 **x.X. A.L. X.x**


	6. Reflexive Shock

" _Ladies and gentlemen,_ " the woman from the booth called, drawing everyone's attention to her, " _Welcome to the Endercon Building Competition!_ " She was received with a round of cheering. " _The winners of this year's competition will have their build featured at Endercon. The winners will also meet, in person, Gabriel the Warrior!"_

Olivia threw her arms into the air with a grin. Axel pumped his fist, and Jesse hopped up and down and clapped.

" _Ocelots!_ " The group turned to see the Ocelots doing some sort of elaborate handshake.

" _Whoa... handshake?_ " Olivia turned to Jesse and Axel, " _we don't have a handshake_."

Jesse hummed and shrugged. " _Well, I always considered our 'hands in the middle' thing being a sort of handshake_ ," she responded mildly. The other two nodded and conceded the point, all of them extending their hands so they were all in the middle.

" _Let's do it_ ," Axel said, eyes shining with determination.

" _Building-_ " Olivia braced herself. "- _starts_ -" Axel reached for the blocks in his pocket. " _Now!_ " Jesse patted Reuben on the head with a grin, before all of them rushed to the center of the booth.

The screen sped up as they built so that the fireworks machine was done in a matter of seconds.

" _Oh no! A fireworks dispenser_!" Aiden mocked onscreen, Lukas sending him an annoyed glance upon seeing the brunette. " _I'm so scared_!"

Jesse gasped and clapped her hands to her cheeks in shock, making Axel and Olivia glance around at her. " _Oh no! Aiden, quick, check your face, I just found your nose in our business!"_

Jesse let out an explosive laugh at this. " _Ha!_ Best comeback _ever!_ " she joked through her giggles. Axel, Olivia, and Jace were trying to smother irrepressible grins, Reuben was grinning, Petra was chuckling, Milo was chuckling, Isa and Reginald could barely hide their grins, Harper was smiling mulishly, the Order members were giggling, Ivor was cracking a grin, the YouTubers were making these odd faces in an attempt to not laugh, Hadrian, Mevia and Otto were all grinning, and even Cassie was having a hard time not smiling. Even Lukas seemed faintly amused by this. In fact, the only person not amused by that scene was Aiden.

Onscreen, Axel and Olivia snickered before dropping back to the ground. The screen sped up again as they built the Enderman, before Jesse walked to the edge of it and looked around at the various builds. The most impressive one by far seemed to be the Ocelots', which was made up of lots of various colored blocks and redstone repeaters.

"Would anyone be angry at me if I said I have no idea what some of those builds are?" Jace asked, watching with his elbow resting on the coffee table.

There was a moment's pause where everyone considered this, before most shrugged or shook their heads at him.

"Then I have no clue what some of those builds are."

Axel and Jesse turned to Olivia onscreen, the dark skinned girl approaching a lever on her right. Jesse took a deep breath and clapped her hands together. "A _nd now... the moment of truth."_

" _Here goes nothing_ ," Olivia said, none too optimistically, before toggling the lever. Immediately, fireworks soared into the sky above and detonated, showering multicolored sparkles everywhere.

"All right! That looks awesome!" Jace cheered, throwing his arms into the air and nearly smacking Jesse in the face by accident.

"We're totally gonna win!" Axel high-fived Olivia over Jace's head, before extending his hand to Jesse. Jesse looked at it for a moment, before back up at him. He gestured a bit, grinning. "You helped build it," he explained, indicating the screen.

Jesse blinked, before a slow smile came over her face and she reached out to slap his hand back.

" _Man... this looks so cool_!" Olivia exclaimed, looking around. " _We'll win this for sure_."

Axel nodded, grinning slightly. " _I gotta admit it, this Enderman is sweet._ " He patted the black-haired girl on the back. " _Good call, Jesse._ "

Below them, people were starting to approach the build, talking and pointing with excitement. Jesse leaned over to look at them, before turning to look at her friends, green eyes sparkling with excitement. " _Guys... people are looking at us~_ " She trailed off in a sing-songy tone that made the two of them grin at her.

" _Good build, man!_ " The guy who'd called them losers before called up.

Jesse, Jace, Olivia, and Axel grinned at each other in excitement. Aiden's eyebrows knit together in a scowl.

" _What? No way..._ " Aiden said in disbelief, looking up at the Enderman, before stomping his feet. " _It's just a bunch of dyed wool_!"

Soren rubbed the back of his head with an awkward cough. "Comparing it to a lot of the other builds there...? It's pretty good."

Looking around, Aiden spotted a block that held back some lava and smashed right through it with a single hit. " _Whoops_!"

"Aiden!" Lukas exclaimed, eyes widening as he twisted to glare at his friend.

"What the hell, man?!" Petra shouted, bolting upright.

Stacy winced. "That- that was _not cool_."

"You could seriously hurt someone!" Isa exclaimed, straightening up and squeezing Benedict hard enough to make the chicken let out a complaining squawk.

The lava spilled forward, straight towards Reuben, who was sitting and watching. It hit his tail, and Reuben immediately sprang up with a frightened squeal and ran off in the direction of the woods. Onscreen, Jesse's head snapped around instantly. " _Reuben!_ " she yelled.

Jace twisted around and glared at Aiden. "You hurt my pig!"

Aiden simply shrugged, grinning. "I said whoops."

Jace launched himself to his feet, accidentally dumping Reuben into Jesse's lap, and grabbed the nearest thing he could find- a book- and hurled it at Aiden, making the brunette boy's eyes widen as he ducked out of the way and everyone else's eyes widen at this sudden display of violence from the previously mild-tempered Jace. "You- you-" The boy was so enraged he stuttered for a moment before spitting out, "you _piece of crap!_ "

"Jace, stop!" The mocha-haired boy stopped upon a hand closing around his wrist, and he looked down to see Jesse patting a very affronted-looking Reuben and holding his wrist. "He's not worth it."

" _Oh no- Reuben's on fire!_ " Jesse cried onscreen, before flailing her hands in a wave at the pig. " _Reuben, NO! Come back!_ "

Axel's eyes darkened. " _It was Aiden- that punk_!" he practically spat in rage, gesturing at the brown-haired boy backing away from the lava.

" _The lava's getting closer_!" Olivia cried out.

" _It's gonna destroy the build!"_

" _Reuben's gonna get lost!"_

Jesse glanced back at Olivia, who dropped her gaze automatically. " _You guys stay and save the build!_ " she ordered, before leaping down and landing in a perfect parkour roll, plowing right into Aiden and knocking him over, sprinting off into the forest.

" _We'll meet up with you at Endercon_!" Olivia yelled back, jumping to the ground and starting to put up blocks to block the lava from getting any closer. The screen faded to black.

Petra immediately got to her feet and stalked towards the Ocelot's couch, stepping so precisely that it was very clear to see, even to the people who'd never met her before, that she was pissed off beyond belief. "Okay, that was _not cool._ You didn't like that their build was getting more attention than yours and decided to _sabotage_ it, hurting Reuben in the process."

Aiden shrugged. "Oh, come on, Petra! It's just a dumb pig."

"What might be a 'dumb pig' to you might be something downright precious to someone else," Jesse snapped at him, green eyes practically burning into him and making him blink- up until then she'd seemed pretty mild.

Jace picked up the next part. "Even if Reuben _was_ dumb, that doesn't give you an excuse to hurt him because you were jealous of our build."

"I wasn't jealous!" Aiden argued, jumping to his feet.

Petra shoved him back down as Mevia snarked back, "It was pretty obvious you didn't like that they were getting positive attention and you weren't. That's called 'jealousy' most of the time, if you didn't know that."

Aiden crossed his arms and glared at the three girls, remaining silent. Petra looked over at the blonde Ocelot, eyes narrowing. "I don't get why you hang out with them, Lukas- you might be kind of arrogant sometimes, but you're not a bully."

Lukas didn't say anything in response to that. Petra finally returned to her seat as the screen faded back in, Jesse holding a carrot and waving it around as she looked around, the forest already looking rather dark.

Lizzie glared at Aiden. "And look, you made her stay out after dark! I don't think she has a weapon to defend herself with, either!"

" _Reuben_?" Jesse called out onscreen before Aiden could possibly defend himself, waggling the carrot around. " _I've got a carrot for ya!"_

Some tall grass rustled, making Jesse start back, before she slowly approached it. Reuben was visible through the long strands of grass, shivering. Jace let out a long sigh of relief.

Jesse's eyes lit up. " _Reuben! There you are_!"

The pig trotted out, whimpering softly. Jesse stooped down, holding the carrot out to the pig with a warm smile on her face. " _Hey, buddy. Ya want a carrot?"_ she asked, the pink pig letting out a happy squeal and munching down on it.

Jesse let out a long sigh of relief and rubbed her face. " _Oh, I am SO happy to see you!"_

Reuben grinned at her. " _C'mon, we've got a long way to-_ "

A chorus of groans interrupted her. The screen switched to show zombies blocking the way she'd come from and slowly lurching forwards. Olivia let out a gasp and covered her eyes in alarm.

"Well... nice knowing you, sport," Hadrian stated slowly.

" _Reuben, run!"_ And the two of them took off in the opposite direction, running away from the zombies at top speed before coming to a spot where there was nothing dangerous. Reuben let out an alarmed squeal, and Jesse slowed to a stop as she looked down, before letting out her own gasp.

The bumps that had been on her sides were starting to poke out and stretch her clothing. Jesse bit her lip, and slowly the bumps seemed to curl back in.

She let out a soft, relieved sigh, before a soft hissing hit her ears, and she jerked her head back up to come face-to-face with a creeper. " _GAH_!" she shrieked, as lots of members of the audience jumped.

Jesse and Reuben tore off again, before coming to a stop near this cavern mouth. " _I think... I think we're okay..."_

"Annnnd she jinxed it," Petra called out.

An arrow impaled the wall next to her, making the raven-haired girl shriek in fright as she twisted to see a skeleton aiming at her again.

"Called it."

She lunged sideways, dodging the arrow just in time. The two of them bolted again, only to run straight into a dead end. Jesse looked around, turning around to face the opening of the clearing she'd just run into. " _Oh no... oh no no no..._ " she mumbled, yanking out her wooden sword.

" _She's... gonna die, isn't she?_ " Em asked flatly.

" _Stay behind me, buddy,_ " Jesse said shakily. Reuben let out an affirmative whine and shrank down behind her. The girl turned to smile encouragingly at him, before her expression darkened, and she whirled around and let out a loud yell, lashing out with her wooden sword. She knocked right into a zombie, before swiping it twice more and knocking it over, driving the wooden blade into its skull and making it explode into smoke.

Slicing off the head of another zombie, and swinging out to knock another one back, she managed to keep the zombie at bay, before she took ahold of the blade with both hands. With a loud yell, she brought the sword right down, making the zombie puff right into smoke.

The moment the sword made impact with the zombie's head, it cracked, making the wooden blade do a slow, lazy 360 in the air before clattering to the ground, disappearing into smoke a moment later. The hilt followed suit a couple of seconds later.

Olivia, who'd started to peek back up, let out a yelp and buried her head back into her hands.

" _Stupid- wooden swords!_ " Jesse groaned, backing away a few steps. She looked down at Reuben as they continued backing away. " _I know it's bad..._ "

"Incredibly bad," CaptainSparklez contributed.

" _I'll- I'll think of something."_

"I'd better," Jesse mumbled, fondling Reuben's ears absentmindedly. Reuben was so absorbed in the screen that he didn't even nuzzle into her hand.

Jesse paused, before leaning down to look at Reuben. " _You're gonna have to make a run for it, okay Reuben?_ " she asked the pig softly. " _I'll meet you back at Endercon, okay? I promise."_

Reuben shook his head at her, whining. Jesse said, in a more serious voice, " _Now, Reuben- RUN!"_

Galvanized by the shout, Reuben let out a terrified squeal and took off, galloping through the crowd of monsters, who neared Jesse.

"Don't die," Axel said, his eyes glued to the screen, "I just met you...! Besides, I think Olivia and I might kill each other without you around."

A spider landed on the ground in front of Jesse, but then, to both onscreen Jesse's and the audience's surprise, it seemed to hesitate. It tilted its head as it looked at her curiously. Jesse blinked back, but then she let out an alarmed scream as a zombie's rotting hands grabbed ahold of her shoulders.

Olivia let out a moan, hands clamped firmly over her eyes, sounding as though she were about to throw up.

Jesse screamed and thrashed, trying to get the zombie's grip off of her, but it was too strong. " _Get OFF ME!_ " she yelled, trying to shove it off to the best of her ability, the scream echoing.

The screen suddenly switched to Petra, whose head snapped up at the echoing shout.

"Petra?" Axel's tense muscles relaxed all out of the blue. "Olivia, you can look now! Petra's there!"

Olivia peeked up from her hands.

" _Wasn't that...?_ " Petra broke into a run, hand tightening on her pickaxe handle as she swung it back off. She burst into the clearing to see Jesse doing her best to fend off a zombie, its rotting mouth getting far too close to her head for anybody's taste.

"Oh no," Harper said, eyes widening.

Olivia gagged and hid her face again.

Petra's gold eyes widened, and she ran even faster, but she was still way too far away.

Jesse sighed a bit, rubbing her forehead. "Great... I guess I do die, then."

" _ **NO**_!" Both Petra and Jesse yelled at the same time, Petra shoving her hand out and reaching for Jesse instinctively, and Jesse shoving her hand at the zombie with all of her strength.

A white string fired from Jesse's palm, slamming into the zombie's chest and knocking it away from her, the whole thing moving in slow-motion.

The audience's eyes widened. Jesse in particular looked _incredibly_ surprised.

Petra's left arm, the one she'd just shoved out, was starting to glow. No, really, it was beginning to glow red-hot, sparks fizzling and flying off of it, a marble-sized ball of fire expanding from the center of her palm and then launching at the zombie. It speared the zombie in the head, setting the rotting being on fire with a grunt of surprise.

Everyone stared at the screen, before slowly swiveling their heads to stare at real-Petra, who looked just as shocked at this turn of events.

Jesse scrambled backwards, back hitting the dirt wall behind her as she gaped from the zombie to the redhead, who looked just as stunned as Jesse did. " _Petra_?" she gasped, sounding shocked.

Petra stared at the black-haired girl in stunned surprise, before replying in a surprisingly even voice, " _C'mon- let's get out of the open."_

She extended her right hand, Jesse grabbing ahold of it and letting the redhead heave her to her feet, before the two of them rushed out of the clearing, Petra's left arm still glowing, though the glow was fading. The screen faded out to black.

Jesse breathed in slowly, before letting it out. She turned to look at Petra. "Petra, right? That's your name? Thank you," she said, sincerely.

"No problem, Jesse," Petra said, her hands tight on the armchair's arms. "I'll always help a friend in need."

Jesse blinked at her in surprise at this. Petra slowly managed a faint but warm smile at her.

Jesse slowly returned it.

* * *

 **A/N: Sorry for no updates for the past day or so! It was Chinese New Year, I was spending the weekend with my family.**

 **So, besides Tower of Minecraft and the Fantastic Beasts x MCSM crossover I'm planning to write, all other stories are on hiatus until I finish this one (or get bored of it), mainly because the chapters are longer, so I wanna see how long it takes for me to either finish it or get bored of it xD**

 **RQTC: What's your favorite line in MCSM?**

 **This one is when Petra says, "Ivor, I know you mean well, but your 'house' wants to KILL people."**

 **Every time I hear that line I crack up laughing and can't stop xD**

 **RapidSammi: (laughs) It was a fun scene to write.**

 **Emily The Avenger: YIPPEE! (spins around in spinny chair, which doesn't stop spinning) Wait, what- (chair keeps spinning) Why can't I-? (chair continues spinning) ABORT! (dives out of chair)**

 **Hybrid Fangirl: Hehe, yeah x3 So that's why it's the 'main ship' of the story. I say 'main ship' because there are so many other ones as well xD**

 **NightShipper: Oh! I'm glad you came from Sammi (and that she recommended it to you, haha xD) and I hope I can meet everybody's expectations on this story as well!**

 **Rabbits rule: Yep xD**

 **Luna96: I forgot about it xD**

 **DynamiteHunter6: I'd totally continue it, except I'm not that interested in writing it right about now xD**

 **x.X. A.L. X.x**


	7. (Childish) Oaths

The screen faded back in to show Jesse and Petra walking through a cave with total silence. Petra was staring at the floor as if it were one of the most fascinating things she'd ever seen, and Jesse was fidgeting with her dungaree strap awkwardly.

Finally, the black-haired girl spoke up, clearing her throat. " _So... um... you- set the zombie on fire. From halfway across the clearing."_ Her voice sounded stilted and awkward.

Petra scuffed her shoes on the stone, still staring down. " _Y-yeah."_ Her voice was still unnaturally steady.

" _How are you staying so calm right now?"_ Dan questioned Petra. " _I know I would've freaked out long before that."_

Petra slowly shook her head after a moment of deliberation. "... I have no idea," she uttered back.

" _How'd you do it?_ " Jesse finally asked onscreen, after an extremely long pause, " _that was really awesome. I mean, it looked like a fireball, but... I don't know, you can't shoot fireballs. Normal people can't... I don't think, anyway_." Jesse smiled faintly back at Petra, making it clear that it was a poor attempt at a joke.

Petra smiled a bit herself, before her gaze went back to her boot. " _Yeah... no, they can't_." Scuff. " _I don't know how I did it either, to be honest._ " Scuff. " _I just... reacted, I guess._ " Scuff.

" _Ah_ ," Jesse responded. There was another awkward pause.

Petra finally looked up and turned to look at Jesse, mouth opening as though she wanted to say something, before pausing, her breath not even fully making it out of her mouth. Her gold eyes widened a bit. " _Wait... Jesse, what's that on your sides...?_ " she asked, slowly.

Jesse looked back down at herself, the screen panning back down to reveal the rather pointy bumps starting to stretch her dungarees out. She sighed, and the bumps curled back in, becoming less prominent again. "... _Petra, can you keep a secret?_ " she asked.

" _What do you think?_ " Petra asked with a roll of her eyes, spreading her arms out.

The audience all snickered a bit at this.

Jesse grinned at this. " _Okay, I get it. Ummm,_ " and Jesse hesitated on the 'm' sound, before continuing, more hesitantly. " _Well, I had this sort of... I guess you could call it a vision, earlier. And it was me. As... a spider hybrid."_

Petra blinked at her.

" _And at first I thought it was dumb but now-_ " The black-haired girl was starting to pick up steam, gesturing with her hands increasingly wildly and her voice rising. " _I have these bumps on my sides, and I shot string out of my hand like frickin' Spiderman or something, and I feel like my left eye is getting even darker than usual, and the bumps are getting bigger, and I can see almost as well in the dark as I do during the day- maybe better, actually-"_ She was practically shouting now, voice having reached the highest pitch it could without reaching hysteria-level, " _and now the bumps are getting BIGGER, and I actually have to make an effort to hide them and I can **move them**!"_

She abruptly cut herself off, leaving the last two words echoing in the cave.

"Do you do that often?" Stampy questioned Jesse. She let out a sigh and nodded, twisting to face him. "All too often, unfortunately."

" _Ah_." Petra cleared her throat. " _Can YOU keep a secret?_ "

Jesse crossed her heart and then put a hand over her eye automatically. " _If you can keep mine, it's fair that I keep yours,_ " she replied.

Petra blinked at the weird oath-hand-signal-thing, before nodding. " _Okay._ "

And she hesitantly pulled up her left sleeve.

Jesse leaned a little closer to see Petra's gold arm, which was starting to reflect the torchlight. "... _that looks like a Blaze Rod_ ," she finally stated quietly.

Petra cleared her throat. " _Yeah. I think it's a Blaze Rod too."_ She gave her arm another look. " _Especially since I shot fire out of that arm."_

This prompted snorts from the audience.

Her smile faded upon seeing Jesse's serious face. Jesse stared at Petra's arm for another few moments, before straightening up to look at her friend. " _Okay. Petra, this is what we're going to do."_

Petra blinked as she slowly moved the sleeve back down. " _Oooo-kayy..."_ she said, slowly.

" _We swear an oath or something to not tell ANYONE each other's secret unless it's some sort of life-threatening situation or something. Somehow. We can divulge it ourselves but we can't tell anyone about the other person's secret,_ " Jesse said, sternly.

" _An oath seems kind of childish_ ," Petra noted. Jesse shrugged at that. " _Yeah, but it's a habit of mine from when I was kid... that's probably why I'm making one now."_

Petra rubbed her head a bit, looking awkward. " _That... seems fine_ ," she said slowly.

"I think Onscreen-you agrees with real-you," Jace told Petra. She grinned back at him.

Jesse held out her hand, and Petra shook the hand that Jesse extended. Jesse released the hand then and crossed her heart before covering her eye, automatically uttering rapidly, " _Cross my heart and hope to die, stick a needle in my eye, a secret's a secret, my word is forever, I won't break my word, I won't break it ever."_

Petra's eyebrow went up in surprise. " _Haven't heard that version before._ "

Jesse shrugged at onscreen-Petra's comment. "It's a variant of the long original poem."

" _It's a variant of the very long original poem,_ " onscreen-Jesse responded promptly.

The raven-haired girl blinked. "Hey, I just said that."

Hadrian snorted at this. He leaned over and mumbled quietly to his cohorts so that nobody else could hear, "She seems to be the leader, in a way... and yet she's practically still a young child."

Otto didn't meet Hadrian's eyes as he muttered back, very quietly, "But that doesn't matter to you, does it." A long pause. "You'll hurt her if it's necessary."

There was no response from either Mevia or Hadrian.

Petra blinked, before slowly repeating the motion Jesse had done. " _Um, cross my heart, hope to die, stick a needle in my eye... a secret's a secret... um..._ " She hesitated for another second, before finishing, " _my word is forever, I won't break my word, I won't break it ever."_

"I didn't think you'd be the type of person to swear oaths like that, Petra," Lukas hummed thoughtfuly.

"... neither did I. I guess I'm full of surprises," Petra joked feebly.

" _There ya go,_ " and Jesse grinned at Petra cheerfully. Petra slowly smiled back, eyes softening a little bit.

" _So_ ," Jesse said after a moment, arching her own eyebrow and crossing her arms curiously with a tilt of her head, " _what were **you** doing out in the woods, anyway?"_

" _Ah_ ," and a mischievous grin twitched over Petra's lips.

Real-Petra grinned a bit herself, leaning forward with anticipation.

" _Since we're on the topic of secrets right now, have you ever seen..."_ She reached into her seemingly-endless pocket and pulled out a blackened skull, that secretive grin growing to beauty-pageant proportions. " _A Wither Skull?_ "

* * *

 **A/N: Wow, one of my shortest chapters in this story so far xD Well, since I'm following the actual storyline of Hybrid with minimal changes to dialogue (The original story started out a certain way, but I feel like I've developed the characters differently since then x3), I suppose that was to be expected.**

 **RQTC: Have you ever done something but then gone "Hnnnng" upon seeing it three months later?**

 **Yep- the original second chapter of Hybrid.**

 **lucykillrcassie: Yeah, I love that line (evil grin)**

 **MissyMattingly: Hehe, yeah x3 I decided I liked the idea myself and went for it. And I'm glad you like that!**

 **RapidSammi: (laughs) I'm glad that's the case!**

 **LunarStarsMoons: Yeah, I love that line x3**

 **Boggie445: Unfortunately not; since I'm following the storyline of Hybrid. Sorry!**

 **potatoguest: That's fine! And I agree with whoever said that (I feel like it was Jesse but I MIGHT be wrong)**

 **x.X. A.L. X.x**


	8. Bridge Jump

" _Nice!_ " Jesse exclaimed, eyes wide.

"Oh, wow," and Lukas sat up a bit straighter, blue eyes flashing with interest, "you went to the Nether?"

Ivor's eyes were fixated on the screen. He glanced at everyone else quickly.

" _Right?_ " Petra's grin could've been compared to the Chesire Cat's. " _There's this guy I'm meeting up with at Endercon. He's going to trade me a diamond for it."_ She put the skull back into her back pocket.

Jesse's lips twisted together a bit dubiously at this, slowly crossing her arms. " _What's he gonna do with a Wither Skull, anyway? Stick it on his mantelpiece and brag to everyone about it?_ "

"Ooh, if we had a mantel, we could totally do that," Axel said, perking up. "That'd be a cool design thing."

Maya let out a noncommittal hum at this suggestion. "Mmm."

Jace raised his eyebrow at Maya. He leaned over to Olivia. "Did Maya just kind of _agree_ with us? Or was that just my imagination?" he whispered.

"If it was just your imagination, then it would be mine, too."

" _I dunno, Petra,_ " Jesse was saying onscreen, " _it sounds a little shadoy..."_

" _A lot of my deals are shady,_ " Petra dismissed this.

Real-Petra snorted. "That's true enough."

" _Don't worry, I'm pretty sure everything will be fine._ "

"... _wow._ " This soft utterance came out in a breathless, rather admiring way.

Petra turned to look at Jesse and came to a stop, gold eyes narrowed at her in confusion. " _Wow... what?_ "

Jesse put up her hands in mild surrender, eyes widening as she hastened to explain. " _I-it's just- in_ one day _, you went to the Nether, and killed a_ Wither Skeleton _\- I mean, I did build a pretty cool statue, but... it's pretty sweet being you, huh?_ "

Petra hesitated for a moment, before saying, tentatively, " _You know... you could come WITH me, if you want..._ "

"Awesome, dude!" Axel cheered, making Jesse start a bit and twist to look at him, "say yes, say yes!"

" _You want me... to come with YOU_ ," Jesse said, pointing at herself and then at Petra in utter astonishment.

Petra's lips twitched into a smile. " _Consider it my charitable act for the day_ ," she joked.

" _I'll consider it whatever you want me to consider it,"_ Jesse gushed a bit, eyes sparkling, " _so long as I get to come._ "

The two of them came to a stop near a crafting table. Jesse blinked a bit at this before looking over at Petra. " _You just... keep a crafting table down here?_ "

"I wish we could do that," Milo muttered quietly. Isa overheard, though, and narrowed her eyes at the blonde. "And what in the world is THAT supposed to insinuate?"

Petra shrugged. " _Comes in handy. Since that wooden sword of yours got busted..._ " The redhead trailed off.

Jesse looked at the crafting table, then back at the redhead. " _I can make my own?_ "

Petra smiled at Jesse again. " _Yep- it's always better to make it yourself. Just get everything you need from that chest over there,_ " and she pointed at said chest.

"Wow, thanks, Petra," Jesse said again, turning to look at Petra. "I mean, you saved my life, and now you're letting me make a sword..." She trailed off, before smiling slightly. "... thank you."

"Like I said, I'll always help out a friend in need," Petra said, grinning back at her.

" _Okay- thanks._ " Jesse trotted over to the chest and open it. Rummaging through it for a few seconds, she lifted the stones and the sticks out of the chest, juggling it a bit to keep herself from dropping it on the floor. " _Y'know, four extra arms would be really useful in this situation,_ " she joked. Petra snickered a bit at that.

Finally, she managed to get everything in place on the table, and the ingredients shivered together before compacting and forming a stone sword, hovering a little above the table.

"You know, I always wondered how that worked," Jesse mused, tapping her lip. There were murmurs of agreement from all of the younger people in the room.

"There's a lot of scientific-y mumbo jumbo about how all that works, but I don't know it so I don't care," Magnus responded lazily. Ellegaard opened her mouth, probably to explain _exactly_ how that worked, but right then Jesse was lifting her sword off the table and giving it a good look as Petra grinned at her. " _See? Isn't it better when you make it yourself?_ "

Jesse nodded as she sheathed her new sword, grinning back at Petra.

The screen cut to them trotting out of the cave. " _Hey, look_ ," Petra pointed, " _Endercon's all lit up._ "

Jesse turned to look, her eyes lighting up as the screen cut to Endercon, fireworks going off above the convention.

"Awesome! We won!" Jace exclaimed, high-fiving Axel and Olivia and Jesse in excitement. Jesse grinned and fondled Reuben's ears, her own eyes sparkling with excitement herself. Aiden and the other Ocelots scowled a bit at this.

" _No way- we won!"_ Jesse jumped up and down in place and pumped her fists, making Petra grin at her in amusement. " _The Enderman was the right way to go._ "

" _Good for you, Jesse,_ " Petra responded, sounding encouraging.

Jesse put her hands on her hips. " _It's about time we beat Lukas and his gang of jerks,_ " she said, determinedly. " _I was sick and tired of losing every diddly-darn competition we entered to them._ "

"What? I don't like swearing," Jesse said, when everyone turned to stare at her. She rubbed her head awkwardly as she glanced over at Lukas. "Um, sorry about calling you a jerk."

"It's fine..."

Petra hesitated, before tentatively saying, " _You know, Lukas can be kinda arrogant, but he's come through for me in some tough situations. I'm just saying, you may want to get to know him... just in case._ "

Jesse's expression faded to a more thoughtful one. " _I got that feeling..._ " she crossed her arms a bit. " _I just got this feeling that... I dunno..._ " She raised her shoulders and then let them slump in a little shrug. " _I trust him._ "

Lukas blinked. "Oh... thanks, Jesse."

The black-haired girl shot him a thumbs-up and a grin, which he returned a moment later. (The grin, not the thumbs up.)

Petra raised her eyebrow as the two of them started walking again. " _Think it has something to do with us being hybrids?_ " she wondered.

Jesse let out a little laugh at that. " _Lukas? A hybrid? Nahh, he's the most normal person I know... of. I don't know him that well._ "

Jesse smothered a sound that could've been described as a snort at this. She wasn't the only one to do so.

" _There's no way-_ " She was cut off as she reached the middle of the bridge by a loud hiss. Both female's heads snapped forward to see a crowd of creepers approaching them.

Olivia let out a groan and covered her eyes. "Oh, no, not _again...!_ "

" _Creepers_!" Jesse hissed as she backed up. Petra turned around to face the other way and let out a loud groan. " _Crap._ "

Jesse turned to see zombies and more creepers emerging from the cave they'd come from, cutting off any escape routes.

" _Uhh, well, there's only one way off this bridge_..." Petra said, unsteadily. " _Whatever we do, we do it together..._ "

Jesse swallowed, before pulling out her new stone sword, unevenly-colored green eyes hardening. " _The only way off this bridge, is through them!_ " she told the redhead, who smiled slightly and pulled out her own sword, both of them turning to face their respective crowds.

Jesse smacked a creeper away several times before it puffed into smoke, but even as the smoke rose into the air another creeper seemed to materialize in its place. " _There's too many!_ " Petra shouted out.

Olivia let out a little gasp and buried her head in her hands. "Oh Notch no."

" _I don't wanna DIE!_ " Jesse screamed as the creepers got too close and exploded, sending both girls flying off the bridge. Jesse looked down to see the water rushing forward to meet them, before looking up to see Petra. Petra's gold eyes were faintly panicked.

" _Can you swim?_ " Jesse called out to Petra over the rushing wind.

The redhead swallowed, looking down again. " _Not... not well._ " Her voice seemed to have gone an octave higher.

" _Neither can I_ ," Jesse admitted in turn, looking back down again.

"If Petra is half-Blaze," Cassie murmured thoughtfully, "could she die if she fell in water?"

Jace looked extremely uncomfortable at the thought of that. "I don't think I want to know." Petra's facial expression said much the same thing.

" _Can't Blazes fly?"_ Jesse shouted to Petra after a moment of thought.

"It's more like hovering, honestly, but- yes, Blazes can technically fly," Soren murmured thoughtfully.

" _What?! Jesse, you do realize I don't have wings, right?!_ " Petra screamed back, her voice definitely an octave higher and _definitely_ panicked.

" _Blazes don't either! Just... I dunno how Blazes fly, just try to figure it out?!_ " Jesse asked desperately, looking around in a hot panic herself.

Petra squeezed her eyes tight, fists clenching. It was evident to see that she was trying to rack her brain the best she could. Slowly, sparks started flying off of Petra, piecing together to form golden rods around her. They were only halfway formed, but they were getting pretty darn close to the water-

Jesse shot her hand out again, and a long string of silk fired from the center of her palm, catching onto a ledge somewhere on the cliff. Jesse's free-fall turned more into a long swing, slowing the downwards momentum. Jesse's eyes widened in surprise.

She splashed into the water, sending an impressive wave of water flying, before coming back to the surface, the water only coming up to about the bottom of her ribs now. Not that it really mattered; seeing as she was soaking wet. She reached out and tore off the spider silk that seemed to be coming from her hand.

Petra hit the water at an extremely acute angle, tripping into the water with a yelp and making the Blaze Rods evaporate into clouds of steam.

The audience winced at this.

Her torso popped above the water as well, although the water reached more to her waist, her left arm also steaming.

"I seriously envy tall people," Jesse mumbled, leaning her cheek on her hand as she watched the screen.

The two girls were panting heavily, staring at each other, steam rising from around Petra and a long floating trail of silk behind Jesse, water pouring from their hair and their clothes that were above the water.

"... _so,_ " Petra finally said, still panting, " _that happened._ "

The two girls kept staring at each other for a moment, before a funny sound came out of Jesse, and the two girls suddenly couldn't stop laughing, Petra slapping her hand over her eyes and Jesse covering her mouth as she giggled.

"I think they might be in a bit of shock from what just happened," Jace murmured musingly. "I mean, they both found out they were hybrids, got blown off a bridge, and used their 'powers' to keep from becoming a grease spot in the river."

"I know I would be!" Stampy contributed.

The two girls headed for shore, still laughing, as the screen faded back to black.

"This is kind of cool," Petra mumbled, "but I don't really see why we need to be showed this. I mean, besides the whole hybrid thing, it seems like any other day. Except, well, Jesse's a girl-"

"Technically I should be called Jace, now-"

"And she's tagging along. And none of the other people here have showed up yet."

Jesse hummed thoughtfully. "Well, we will find out. Although I still have to wonder why anyone would want a Wither Skull in the first place."

"Maybe it's like Jesse suggested and the guy's putting it on his mantel," Axel suggested.

This prompted snorts from the audience.

* * *

 **A/N: Hehehe xD**

 **RQTC: Would you rather live in the MCSM world, or slap Donald Trump? xD**

 **The first one, since I don't think Trump would exist in the MCSM world so I wouldn't have to deal with all of his bs.**

 **No new reviews x3**

 **x.X. A.L. X.x**


	9. Endercon Trade

The black faded away to show Jesse and Petra walking into Endercon, Jesse looking around with a worried expression on her face. " _Just tell me if you spot Reuben anywhere,_ " she said hopefully.

Jace let out a groan. "Ohhh, I actually managed to forget for a couple of minutes..." Reuben, sensing Jace's discomfort, gave his hand a comforting nudge. The mocha-haired boy smiled down worriedly at the pink pig.

Petra sounded concerned as she gave a quick, cursory glance around herself. " _He's gotta be around here somewhere,_ " as Jesse's differently colored eyes roved over the crowds.

" _So_ ," and Jesse's attention focused back onto the redhead, whose tone was more business-like now, " _when we're making the deal, I need you to... let me do the talking, okay?_ " And she gave Jesse a smile.

Jesse didn't immediately respond- it was clear to see her attention was still focused on Reuben. Petra mistook the silence for something else and continued, " _I just don't anything to mess this up."_

" _Sure_ ," and Jesse nodded with a small smile at the redhead, finally back at attention, " _I'll keep quiet."_

 _"And, if you wanna be REALLY useful, try to look intimidating,_ " Petra suggested to the black-haired girl.

Jesse's face went deadpan and serious. " _Petra, I think you should know by now that I don't really do intimidating_ ," she said simply. This comment made Petra twist around and slap her hand over her mouth to smother her snort.

She wasn't the only one- the rest of the audience were either trying to smother grins or snickering audibly at this. Jesse looked very pleased at everyone's amusement at this.

" _By the way,_ " Petra noted, after a few seconds, " _your left eye seems a bit darker...?"_ She gestured a bit at her own left eye to emphasize the point. " _I didn't really notice earlier since it was dark, but... well, now..._ "

Jesse made a humming sound. " _Oh- got it_ ," and she unclipped her gold barrette, letting it fall out of its usual style and letting her hair fall in glossy black curtains over her face, before pinning back the _right_ side of her hair rather than the left side, that one wave of hair remaining over her left eye.

Petra raised her eyebrow at Jesse, who blinked innocently up at the taller female. " _You look surprisingly good with your hair like that,_ " she commented at length.

Real-Petra looked from the screen to Real-Jesse. "... yeah, actually, you do," she mumbled thoughtfully.

"It really does!" Stacy nodded in agreement.

Jesse blinked at everyone in surprise, everyone in the room giving a grudging nod or an affirmative humming sound. Even the Ocelots seemed to be nodding. "Er... thank you?"

Onscreen Jesse blinked again. " _Umm, thanks,_ " she said, sounding a little startled by the sudden compliment.

" _Jesse!_ " Jesse turned to see Axel and Olivia race up to meet her, both looking visibly relieved.

Harper squinted at the screen a bit and leaned forward, which didn't go unnoticed by Ivor. "What are you doing?" he asked quietly, so as to avoid bothering everyone else.

"Does... Olivia's eye seem... brighter to you?" the white-haired woman murmured thoughtfully.

His gaze switched back to the screen, eyes narrowing before widening a bit in surprise. "Now that you mention it..." he mumbled back.

Olivia stopped in her tracks, eyes widening. It was evident that her right eye was almost a shade of purple now, definitely a bit lighter than before. " _And..._ Petra? _"_ she asked, sounding shocked by this.

Jesse looked over at Petra, who simply shrugged in return. She looked back over at Axel and Olivia, rubbing the back of her head. " _Yeah, I- ran into her, while I was looking for Reuben._ "

Axel's face sobered up, growing more solemn. " _Couldn't find him, huh?_ "

" _He just has to be here somewhere, I just know it!_ " Olivia said, although her voice faltered a bit. She seemed to be trying to convince her friend of this fact.

Jace drooped a bit.

Jesse noticed and patted him on the shoulder, giving the brown-haired male an encouraging smile. "Hey, I'm sure Reuben's okay. Right, buddy?" she looked at the pink pig in her lip, who let out a cheerful squeal. This made Jace smile weakly back at both of them.

" _I saw him_ ," Jesse said with a nod, " _but before I knew what was happening, we were under attack by a zombie horde. I told him to run... it was for his own good._ " Her voice just sounded like she was trying to convince herself, let alone anyone else in the room.

" _But hey,_ " Olivia said, in an overly bright voice, " _we won!_ "

They all turned to look at the Enderman, although they avoided fully looking at it. Well, except for Olivia, who was scrutinizing it more carefully.

Axel's face collapsed into a frown. " _Abandoning friends in their time of need paid off once again._ "

Axel winced at that.

Olivia's own face twisted into a frown. " _I still wish I'd gotten that part in the back to look better..._ " she mumbled thoughtfully.

Jesse stepped in front of them, her arms quashing her sides as she clasped her hands behind her back, grinning at them. " _Guys, I'm PROUD of you_ ," she said, in a faintly cheery voice that sounded rather fake.

"She's really preoccupied with Reuben, huh..." Gill mumbled, scratching his cheek with a faintly awkward look.

Axel smiled at the black-haired girl a bit, eyes crinkling up. " _Aww, shucks_ ," he joked to her.

Olivia smiled at Jesse herself. " _Don't make me blush..."_ And then her expression went more deadpan. " _Seriously._ Don't. _"_

Jesse chuckled at this, making Real-Olivia grin at the black-haired girl, who quickly returned the grin.

Onscreen, the two girls started to giggle a bit, Jesse covering her mouth and Olivia's lips twitching back into a grin. Axel looked over at Petra, making Jesse stop giggling to listen, although her lips were still turned up at the ends in amusement. " _So, Petra... what were you doing in the woods?_ "

Jesse and Petra immediately shared a glance, Jesse's smile fading a bit. " _Nothing... just... drawn by the sound of Jesse's high-pitched screams,"_ Petra said, vaguely.

"Hey, they weren't _that_ high-pitched..." Jesse protested jokingly. Aiden snorted faintly, although for once he didn't seem like he was about to diss her. "I beg to differ," he responded, sounding faintly amused.

Jesse nodded at this and looked back to her friends. " _I'd be a zombie if it weren't for help,_ " she said, gratefully.

There was momentary pause as Axel and Olivia absorbed this fact, before the redhead said to the raven-haired girl, lightly, " _So, Jesse, it's time to go do that... thing, I was telling you about."_

Jesse blinked at her in confusion for a moment. " _Huh-? Oh, right."_ She turned back to her friends. " _See you guys inside later?_ "

" _I heard someone was selling cake by the map booth!_ " Axel responded cheerfully, grinning at Jesse. Olivia rolled her eyes with her own little smile. " _Sure. See you later,_ " she said, although she seemed a little hurt by this.

Jesse mouthed with a small smile to Olivia, " _Shouldn't take more than 15 minutes._ "

Olivia gave her a thumbs-up and a nod, before the two of them walked into Endercon side-by-side.

Stampy coughed something under his breath that sounded suspiciously like " _Ishipit_ ". Thankfully, neither Axel nor Olivia heard it.

Petra watched them go for a moment, before turning back to Jesse. " _Hurry- we're supposed to meet in that alley over there,_ " she said in a soft, urgent voice, pointing at said alley.

They strolled in, Jesse looking around halfheartedly- she was obviously still hung up on Reuben's disappearance. " _It's not all that dark,_ " she commented absentmindedly.

Petra twisted to look at her. " _Really? You must have eyes like a bat, then, it's dim in here,_ " she commented back.

"If I had eyes like a bat, then I would technically be blind," Jesse pointed out. Lukas let out an unexpected snort at this, everyone looking at him as he rubbed the back of his head. "Yeah, that's- that's a pretty good point," he chuckled.

"Thank you, thank you," Jesse said, standing up and sweeping a dramatic bow, and making most of the audience laugh a bit at her. Even Ivor cracked a smile.

Onscreen, Petra's eyes narrowed a bit. In the alley, there was only a single chest, a light, and nothing else. " _That's weird... he said the dark, creepy alley close to the entrance."_

This prompted more snorts from the audience.

" _Are you sure this is the dark, creepy alley he meant?_ " Jesse asked drily. Petra frowned, crossing her arms and squinting. " _I..._ was. _Okay, new plan- you stay here in case this IS the spot he meant, and I'll go look around for him."_

"Oh no, I've seen that situation in too many horror movies- if you split up Jesse's gonna die!" Dan exclaimed, eyes widening from under his purple hair (wait, did it- did it change color again?).

"But this isn't a horror movie," Jesse pointed out to him.

"Oh yeah."

" _Sure,_ " Jesse agreed onscreen with a smile, " _I'll hold down the fort._ "

" _Thanks, Jesse- if he shows up while I'm gone, then just stall for me._ " And Petra walked back off.

Jesse looked around at the alley for a moment, before approaching the chest. The dim light shone down on the chest, and her left wave of hair blocked her left eye. She squinted at the chest for a moment, before letting out an annoyed sigh, pulling the hair aside again-

" ** _Ahem._** "

Jesse rapidly twisted to her left with a soft gasp, the bumps on her sides seeming to curl in again, eyes wide.

The shadow at the mouth of the alley started back for a moment, but the audience could see why, and it had made several people start back themselves. Onscreen Jesse hadn't realized it, but her left eye was a shade of blood red, cutting through the dim light like a sword through butter, dramatic shadows thrown over her face from the dim lighting.

She turned around, letting her hair drop back in front of her eye as she backed away a step. The shadow recovered and stepped forward, revealing none other than IVOR. " _And just who might_ you _be?_ " he asked, scowling.

* * *

 **A/N: YES YES YES OMG I LOVE THAT SCENE**

 **Oh, also, I forgot to address this earlier (well, I mean I did, but I made a smol mistake): I'm going on hiatus for all other stories until I either finish this one or get bored of it, upon which I will work on the others again. I am planning on publishing a Fantastic Beasts crossover after I finish this one, and then one I came up with earlier (the tentative title is Porcelain Doll, but I'm still working on it).**

 **RQTC: Have you seen all the awesome Hybrid fanart? Like, seriously... I've thanked them before, but Imma thank them again- thank to you DemonCatLady/Jazzprowl2, Choco223, doodling cubes, and Toni42 for making fanart for this story! (Honestly, I'm surprised that I had enough fans to get fanart in the first place xD)**

 **Meow Shadow: I'm glad you enjoy it! I hope everyone else enjoys it as well, and I totally agree with your RQTCA!**

 **S4SH4L4SH4theGaMeR101: Heehee x3 And read the above (A/N) x3**

 **x.X. A.L. X.x**


	10. Shippy Moments and Flashbacks

"Ivor?" Ellegaard hummed, eyes narrowing, "what do you want with a Wither Skull?"

"Ohhh, that's where I recognized you from," Petra said, snapping her fingers as she looked over at the scowling Ivor, "you're my buyer."

" _I'm- my name is Jesse,_ " Jesse responded, sounding _supremely_ startled.

Ivor's eyes narrowed at her. " _I'm supposed to meet up with Petra, not whatever you're supposed to be!"_ Ivor snapped at her.

"A... human being?" Jesse said, tentatively.

Lukas made a sound that sounded somewhere beneath a sneeze, a cough, and a laugh. He attempted to smother it and in the end came close to choking. Aiden thumped him on the back, smothering his own grin at the joking response.

" _Give me one good reason why I shouldn't just walk out right now!_ " Ivor continued.

Jesse took a deep breath, letting it out shakily. " _I'm with- Petra,_ " she responded, slightly awkwardly.

" _My deal's with her, not her partner!_ " Ivor practically snarled at Jesse, making her wince and step back once, before catching himself and letting out an annoyed huff. " _But as long as we're here... do you have the skull?_ "

" _P-Petra has it, and she'll be back any second now,"_ Jesse said hastily, putting up her hands in a surrendering sort of motion.

Ivor glared at Jesse for another moment, before crossing his arms, his expression relaxing. " _Well, as long as she's coming... I suppose it won't kill me to wait a minute longer_ ," he said, more calmly than before.

Jesse let out a long breath that she must've been holding the whole time, an awkward silence settling over the alley.

Real-Jesse let out a shaky breath, clasping her hands at her throat as she tried to calm down. Jace noticed. "You okay there, Jesse?" he asked her.

The girl turned to smile weakly at the mocha-haired boy. "Yeah... I just don't really handle confrontations well most of the time... whew," and she absentmindedly pressed her fingers to the side of her neck, testing her pulse.

Petra's voice rang out in the alley clearly. " _Ivor!_ " she called, cutting through the awkward silence.

Ivor's faint scowl cleared. " _Ah, here she is._ "

" _Sorry for being late_ ," Petra said, smiling slightly, " _but... good things are waiting for._ "

"Technically HE was late," Reginald pointed out, Real-Petra conceding the point with a nod.

Ivor sneered at Jesse, who maintained a deadpan look. " _You didn't mention you had a partner... and I don't like surprises."_

Magnus snorted derisively. "Don't we all know!"

 _"Perhaps we should just call the whole thing off!_ " Ivor finished, looking back at Petra.

" _Where in the world are you going to find someone else who's willing to get you a Wither Skull on such short notice?"_ Jesse suddenly pointed out, her own deadpan look becoming more curious. Ivor sent her a scowl, which seemed to make her realize she'd just called his bluff. She quickly backpedaled, putting her hands up in surrender quickly. " _Buuut, I'm cool if he's cool_ ," she tacked on.

Petra glanced at her, mouthed 'thank you' so quickly the audience almost didn't realize she'd even done so, and turned back to Ivor. " _See? You're both cool._ "

" _Proceed, then_ ," Ivor said in a silky tone. Jesse's brow furrowed onscreen- apparently those two words struck her as being menacing, and particularly ominous. Real-Jesse had to agree.

Petra reached into her pocket and held out the Wither Skull, Ivor taking it and scrutinizing it. His dark blue eyes seemed to clear up into a more pleased look. Petra crossed her arms and arched her brow at Ivor. " _I'll take that diamond now."_

Ivor glanced up from the skull. " _Take it. You've earned it_ ," he responded, and the two girls looked at the chest from before. They slowly walked over, the view switching so they were looking up at the two from inside the chest. Jesse's eyes widened, and Petra's expression turned to anger. " _Um- that's not a diamond!_ " Jesse blurted.

" _No- it's_ lapis!" Petra exclaimed as she pulled out not a diamond, but in fact- lapis.

Olivia, Axel, Petra, Jace, and Lukas gaped at the screen. Everyone else just looked a bit surprised or were looking at Ivor with faintly disgruntled expressions. Harper mainly looked startled.

"This guy," Lukas spoke slowly after a long moment, sounding utterly astonished, eyes widening, "cut out on a deal with _Petra?"_ He turned to stare at Petra, who looked as though she might pull a Jace and start chucking books at Ivor's head. "With _PETRA?_ "

Petra turned to glare at Ivor's armchair. "What the hell, man?!" she asked, eyes blazing with fury.

Jesse and Jace rapidly exchanged a look.

"What?" Ivor shrugged, looking extremely uncomfortable but sounding as if he'd done- as if he _wouldn't do-_ anything wrong. "Look, I _needed_ that skull, and I didn't have a diamond, s-so... I thought you'd at least get lapis instead of nothing?"

Petra made to get out of her chair. " _Lapis-?!_ " she began in a hot fury, before suddenly something landed in her lap and she was forced back down. She blinked wide-eyed at the mocha-haired male currently literally sitting on her lap, his cheeks faintly pink at this position. "J-Jace-?"

"If I let you up, you're pretty much going to murder him, so until you calm down, I'm not moving," Jace responded stoutly, although his cheeks were currently beginning to flame red with embarrassment.

Not that he was the only one; Petra's cheeks were red too.

She stared at him before huffing and crossing her arms. "Okay, fine, but I'm kicking his butt later," she muttered, relaxing a bit and sending a glare in Ivor's direction.

"Fair enough," and Jace hopped back off and resumed his seat on the carpet, still blushing heavily.

Onscreen, Jesse glanced at Petra, whose eyes were literally filled with fire. " _Um, Petra,_ " and she pointed at the smoking glove on Petra's arm. " _I'm pretty sure spontaneous combustion is not how you want to get revenge..."_

There were a few chuckles at this.

Petra looked back down, and patted the smoking part out again, relaxing slightly. The fire was still in her eyes, and her jaw was clenched tightly and her fists were in balls, nearly breaking the lapis that was still in her hand. " _Of all the rotten, dirty-_ " she snarled softly.

Jesse got up. " _We have to go after him!"_ she said determinedly, and Petra nodded, shoving the lapis in her pocket. The two girls then raced out of the alley, neck and neck with one another.

" _Either I'm getting that diamond, or I'm getting my skull back!_ " Petra snapped, eyes still filled with flames.

" _Either that, or we'll beat the tar out of him_ ," Jesse added, her own eyes hardening.

Everyone turned to stare at Jesse. She shrugged as if she'd said nothing out of the ordinary. "Mess with my friends and I will _break_ you," she said, simply.

" _EXACTLY!_ " Petra snarled, before the two of them burst back onto the main street, looking around. " _Where did he go?!_ "

Jesse's eyebrows contracted angrily, but her voice was hollow when she spoke again. " _We lost him...!_ "

" _Then we'll just have to find him again!_ " Petra said sharply, before pointing at one of the adjoining streets. " _I'll head this way, you go that way!_ "

" _Fine by me!_ " Jesse agreed, and the two of them broke apart to run to their respective crowds. Upon reaching hers, Jesse slowed down, although she was still trotting along at a decent clip. Judging from the buzz of the crowd, she'd just missed Gabriel.

" _Well, I think I'd usually be more disappointed, but I should probably find Ivor... and Reuben."_ She actually stopped in her tracks, eyes widening, before they softened and she drooped. " _Aw,_ man- _I actually forgot about Reuben for a minute..."_ she mumbled, looking dejected. Reuben looked up at her and nudged her, making the black-haired girl grin as she fondled his ears.

" _Hey._ "

Jesse started back a step and looked up, Lukas's blue (and seemingly slightly green) eyes meeting hers. " _Oh- h-hey, Lukas,_ " she said, sounding startled.

" _'Sup with you?_ " Lukas asked.

" _N-nothing. 'Sup with you?"_

" _Nothing. 'Sup with_ you? _"_

Jesse relaxed a bit, the ghost of a smile forming on her face. " _I just said... nothing._ "

"You both are such dorks," Petra announced. Both Jesse and Lukas twisted to glare at her playfully. "Hey!" they chorused indignantly.

Lukas blushed a bit at that, rubbing the back of his head with a sheepish look. " _Oh. Oh yeah. You did. So, um... congrats on the win._ " And he smiled at her nervously, his hair twitching a bit. " _I mean, I still think our beacon was_ amazing _, but... good job. I mean, I thought the whole monster thing was plenty cool, but... fireworks, too?"_

"You're totally flirting," Gill said, deadpan. Jesse stared ahead at the screen, the only hint of her hearing the red-hot blush that was starting to flood over her face.

"No, I was complimenting her build. There's a difference," Lukas said calmly, his own blush beginning to come over his face.

"Not much of one."

Lukas stared at Gill for a moment with a deadpan expression, before reaching over Aiden to shove him off the couch.

Jesse blinked, looking taken aback at this. " _Thanks... your- rainbow beacon wasn't too shabby,"_ and she grinned at him kindly.

" _You don't have to do that- okay?_ " Lukas smiled at her again. " _You guys won, fair and square."_

Jesse's smile faded. " _Your friend hurt my pig_ ," she said, quietly, her expression much more solemn.

Real-Lukas winced a bit at this.

Lukas's face went deadpan at this. " _Yeah. I know. But I swear, I had nothing to do with that."_

Jesse dismissively waved at that with a sigh. " _No, no, I believe you... Aiden's just... kind of a jerk."_ Jesse stared at the ground, crossing her arms, voice going even quieter than before. " _He's still missing, you know."_

Lukas's face went a bit more sympathetic. " _Is that why you were looking all sad a minute ago?"_ he asked.

Jesse let her eyes close. "... _yeah..._ "

Jace drooped a bit, Jesse patting him sympathetically on the back while Reuben snuffled.

" _I'm sorry about that."_

" _It's- it's not your fault._ " Jesse hesitated, before looking back up. " _Um, did you see this kinda creepy-looking guy... with a beard and a weird sort of belt? About yea tall?_ " She gestured with her hands to indicate the height.

Lukas thought for a minute. " _Umm, I don't think so_ ," he said finally, " _why?"_

Jesse rubbed the back of her head. " _He... kinda scammed Petra out of a diamond a bit earlier,"_ she replied.

Lukas's eyes went as round as marbles. "Whoa- _everyone knows you don't mess with Petra. Not if you know what's good for you."_

Petra turned to glower at Ivor. " **Exactly** ," she snarled.

" _I know, right?"_ Jesse asked, with a faint chuckle. Lukas chuckled a bit in return, before both of their eyes widened and they grabbed at their heads. " _Ahh!_ " Jesse exclaimed, squeezing her eyes shut.

"Wait, what's going on now?" Em asked, eyes narrowing.

The screen zoomed in on Jesse, before revealing the little fluffy-haired girl with six arms from the first 'flashback' sitting on the floor and looking at someone for a few moments.

" _What are you doing?"_ she asked.

Everyone's eyes widened as the little blonde-haired boy with blue-green eyes and ocelot ears came into view from where he lay on his stomach, his eyes glazed over with boredom. " _Being bored_ ," he said hollowly. There were claw marks on the floor in front of him, and his ears and tail twitched every couple of moments.

The spider hybrid hesitated, before getting up and trotting over to the ocelot hybrid and sitting cross-legged, before starting to stroke his head, being careful not to rub the hair the wrong way.

For a moment, he seemed not to notice, except for blue green eyes moving to look at the spider hybrid. " _What are you doing?_ " he asked at length, his tail flicking slightly. Although it was hard to tell if he was irritated or happy about it.

She leaned over to look at him. " _I'm petting you. Cats like to be petted, right?"_ she asked.

He opened his mouth to respond, before a funny look came into his eyes and he relaxed. His irises began to get bigger, and his pupils dilated. " _That-_ " he was cut off by a round of purring. " _That feels... really good..."_

The girl kept petting him, and slowly he was _full-out purring_ , his irises the size of golf balls. " _Ooh... this feels nice..._ " he literally purred.

The girl grinned cheekily from where she was still petting him. " _Hehe, who says experimenting with cats is a bad idea?_ " the spider hybrid joked, making the both of them chuckle a little bit at this.

The screen zoomed back out to see Jesse's eyes opening again as she straightened back up, staring at Lukas in surprise. The blonde Ocelot was straightening up, staring at Jesse as well, the two of them staring at one another in surprise.

Finally, Lukas looked away, rubbing his head. " _Um... so... I'll keep an eye out."_

" _Thanks, Lukas_ ," and Jesse gave him an awkward smile.

There was another pause, before Lukas tilted his head at her. " _Um, so... we're cool?"_ he asked, sounding faintly nervous.

Jesse nodded. " _We're cool_ ," she agreed.

" _Cool, cool,"_ Lukas responded.

Jesse hesitated for a couple of seconds. " _Cool beans,_ " she replied finally.

" _Cool-o-rama_ ," Lukas answered, cracking the slightest smile.

"Dorks. You two are such _dorks,_ " Petra announced again.

Jesse laughed at that, relieving some of the tension. " _Ha! See ya, Lukas,"_ and she strolled off, almost missing the slightly late, echoed, " _Yeah, see ya._ " She turned back to wave for a second, to see his expression had changed to a rather confused look.

"Flirting."

"Don't make me shove you off the couch a second time," Lukas warned Gill, his cheeks tinted pink as he glared at the bearded male.

As she turned back around, she spotted Axel watching some sort of chicken torture machine (which she decided to not even comment on...) and clearly enjoying himself. She rolled her eyes.

He spotted her after a moment and mouthed ' _I'll find the weird guy in a minute or two.'_

"Oh, Petra must've already gone through there..." Gabriel mused, touching his lip thoughtfully.

Jesse rolled her eyes at him with a grin. " _Sure,"_ she mouthed back. His own grin grew bigger, making Jesse chuckle to herself before spotting someone with brown robes and long black hair walking through the crowd.

"Oh, hey, you found him!" Axel exclaimed, trying to avoid Petra's playful glare for abandoning the little mission.

Jesse crossed her arms, squinting after the figure for some reason, before starting after the robed figure again.

"I wonder what the hesitation was for," Petra mused.

* * *

 **A/N: Wow. Long chapter xD**

 **RQTC: Quick, name a type of cookie.**

 **Snickerdoodle.**

 **I'm sorry I didn't actually have a question this time around xD**

 **S4SH4L4SH4theGaMeR101: Yee x3 And you talkin' about the fanart or the A/N? Either way, good x3**

 **DynamiteHunter6: Yet (wiggles eyebrows)**

 **LittleAngelbun: I know, right? I probably should try to draw them myself, but I'm still figurin' that out x3**

 **Emily The Avenger: (laughs)**

 **x.X. A.L. X.x**


	11. Confrontations (sort of)

Jesse had reached the center of the crowd when suddenly Aiden popped out from behind someone, making Jesse start back and her gold barrette slip out of place, making her hair fall into place over her eyes. " _Well, if it isn't Team Trashbag!_ "

Most of the audience let out a groan.

" _How's your stupid pig?_ " Jesse stilled, before reaching up. " _I hear intense heat causes brain-_ " Aiden's celery-green eyes widened as he abruptly cut himself off, going perfectly still.

The screen switched back to Jesse abruptly, making several people jump in shock.

Jesse was glowering at Aiden, but she'd moved the hair away from her _left_ eye, and it was glowing blood-red, casting dramatic, red-tinted shadows over her face. Both of those things combined made Aiden extremely lucky that looks couldn't kill. " _I don't know_ how-" She stepped forward, making Aiden step back, " _I don't know_ when-" Another step. " _But someday, far into the future, when you're least expecting it,"_ and the screen changed to show Jesse getting right up in his face, still glaring. " _We_ will _get our revenge."_

"Holy crap!" Axel exclaimed. Even Petra looked surprised at this.

"That- that was _dark_ ," Stacy said, vocalizing the thoughts of everyone in the room. Lukas slowly shook his head and gave Jesse a strange look. "Remind me never to mess with you. Either of you. Like, _ever._ "

"We will, don't worry," Jace said, glued to the screen.

" _Wh-whoa, I was just joking! Geez,_ " Aiden whimpered slightly, cringing away from the one-eyed glare Jesse was sending him.

Jesse readjusted her hair, leaning back, still glowering at Aiden. Her lips were pressed together with rage, her fists balled up and _trembling_. " _Yeah?"_ she asked, almost sweetly, " _well I wasn't."_ With that, she shoved him out of the way and continued on, obviously fuming.

"It was kind of Aiden's fault," Jace mused, "I'm pretty sure Jesse wouldn't have gone all scary-creepy-red-eye on him if he hadn't insulted Reuben." And he reached over to rub Reuben's head.

"Like I said earlier- mess with my friends, and I will _break_ you," Jesse responded simply.

Jesse paused at the sight of Ivor, squinting at them for a minute.

"What's the hold up?" Petra wondered, watching Jesse watch Ivor curiously onscreen. Jesse shrugged at the redhead.

"No idea."

Finally, onscreen-Jesse stepped forward and tapped them on the shoulder. " _Um... excuse me?_ " she asked, tentatively.

They turned around to reveal that it was actually a woman who looked _remarkably_ like Ivor from the back. " _Yes?"_

Magnus let out a loud bark of laughter, making everyone glance at him. " _Ha!_ Ivor resembles a woman!"

Ivor glared at Magnus over the giggling fits everyone was having now at this comment. "Or maybe the _woman_ resembles _Ivor_ ," he said, through gritted teeth as he stared pointedly at the Rogue.

"Mmm, nahhh."

Jesse rubbed the back of her head. " _Ah, sorry- you just looked like someone I was looking for,_ " she said sheepishly, sounding immensely relieved that she hadn't just up and confronted her.

" _Oh, okay._ " And the woman turned away again.

Jesse let out a disappointed sigh, before a loud, terrified squeal rang out through the area. Her head immediately snapped around in the direction of the squeal. "Reuben?" she called out, hopefully.

She started walking forwards, coming near a butcher stand. " _Get your pork chops here! Fresh off the bone!_ "

"Who sells pork chops at a convention?" Sparklez asked, turning to look at Jace. The boy shook his head tiredly.

"People sell everything at EnderCon, from voodoo dolls to board games. It's just best to not question it," he answered.

Jesse was about to pass the butcher's stall, when the butcher lifted a pig out and set him on the counter. This pig happened to be Reuben.

"Reuben!" Jace nearly shrieked, jumping so that his knees collided with the coffee table.

Most of the occupants of the room winced at him sympathetically. Jesse leaned forward with wide eyes at Real-Reuben's frantic squeal, Benedict letting out a sort of worried clucking sound from where she was perched in Isa's lap.

Onscreen-Jesse looked as though she might _faint_ as the butcher pulled out an axe. " _Nothing quite sticks to your ribs like a juicy pork chop!_ " he called out.

" _REUBEN!_ " Jesse screamed as she raced towards the booth, eyes wide with utter horror.

"It's a really good thing Jesse got there in time," Olivia sighed in relief, reaching over to rub Reuben's head. Jesse was hugging Reuben in a near death-grip, and Jace was practically standing up to watch the screen, emerald-green eyes wide with horror.

The butcher turned to glare at her as Reuben jumped around to face Jesse with a desperate squeal. " _What's the big idea? I'm trying to run a business here!_ "

Jesse's hands were shaking with both anger and fear as she glared at the butcher. " _That's_ my pig!" she snapped at him.

" _Oh really? Well, I found him out in the woods, so I think that makes him_ MY _pig._ "

"Leave him alone!" Axel yelled as if the butcher could hear him. "Reuben belongs to the Jesses!"

Both Jesse and Jace turned to look at him. "The... Jesses?" Jesse asked him, looking bemused.

"Yeah. Both of your names are Jesse. So you're the Jesses." Axel gestured at Reuben. "Besides, Reuben practically belongs to the both of you at this point." Reuben snuffled in agreement at this. "See, he agrees with me!"

The mocha-haired boy and the black-haired girl looked at one another, then back at Reuben, before conceding the point and turning back to the screen anxiously.

Onscreen, Jesse took a deep breath, before looking at the butcher, her expression becoming desperate. " _Please?"_ she asked pleadingly. " _He's my friend."_

The butcher's expression softened as he looked at Reuben. " _To me, he's inventory... I might be amenable to some kind of trade,"_ he hinted, glancing back up at Jesse.

Jesse's lips twisted hesitantly, before she pulled out the stone sword she'd made earlier. " _Well, all I've got is this sword."_

"Jesse, no!" Petra protested, as if the girl could hear her, "you might need that."

"I might, but I'm not letting Reuben get eaten," Jesse said, tightening her grip on the pig. Reuben let out the faintest complaining squeal, upon which Jesse looked down and relaxed her grip.

Petra frowned. "You probably could've done something else..." she mumbled.

"Like what, threaten him? For all I know he would've thrown that axe at my head," Jesse pointed out.

The butcher hummed onscreen, drawing the audience's attention back to the screen. " _Oh... that's very nice. With this I could cut my butchering time in half."_

Jesse's eyes narrowed at the screen. "Did- did he just make a _pun._ " It was not a question, no matter how much it was stated as one.

There was a pause, before Maya snorted, covering her mouth to try to smother it. It really didn't work.

He hesitated for a moment, before smacking Reuben off the counter onto Jesse's side and taking the sword from her unresisting grip. " _Nice doing business with you!_ " he called after her as Jesse scooped Reuben off the floor and started speed-walking away from the booth, as if she was afraid the butcher might change his mind.

" _I am_ so _sorry, Reuben,"_ she apologized to the pig in her arms, " _I shouldn't have let you run off in the woods."_

Reuben grumbled a bit, but it was evident he wasn't really upset as he nuzzled into her grip. A minute passed before Jesse spotted Olivia, upon which she set Reuben down and jogged over to the girl before tapping her on the shoulder. Olivia immediately turned to look at her. Keeping her voice low, the black-haired girl said mildly, " _Hey, you know that thing I had to do earlier? Long story short, he cheated Petra on a deal, so now we're trying to track him down. Ya in?"_

A grin came over Olivia's face, eyes sparkling with interest. " _Oh, I'm in alright."_

" _Did you find him?_ " Petra asked, racing onscreen with Axel hot on her heels.

Jesse huffed a bit in annoyance and glanced offscreen. " _Nah, I thought I saw him earlier, but it was a false alarm wait there he is!_ " she blurted at the end, swinging her arm to point as her eyes widened.

Everyone swiveled to see Ivor at the entrance of the keynote, panting. He glanced backwards, not seeming to spot them, before rushing into the building.

"I just realized something," Ellegaard spoke up, turning to look at the black-haired man, "Ivor, why are you even _at_ Endercon? You hate conventions. I'm not sure you've even been to one for thirteen years at least."

"And why do you want a Wither Skull?" Soren wondered.

"And why did you cheat Red out of a deal?" Magnus asked, pointing at Petra. The redhead glared at him halfhearted. "My name's Petra," she muttered, once again halfheartedly.

"And _why_ ," Gabriel mused, "are you going to the keynote?"

Ivor glared at them, dark blue eyes hard. "You'll see. You'll all see."

The Order all exchanged slightly worried glances.

" _We have to follow him!_ " And the whole group ran over to the usher. He gave them all a bored look.

Jesse grinned at him sheepishly. " _Um... hi. What would it take... for us to get inside tonight?"_ And she gave him an innocent smile.

The usher blinked. " _Uhh.. tickets."_ He started laughing really hard, as if he'd just made the best joke of all time.

Gabriel sighed.

" _So, uh, here's the thing,"_ Jesse said, fiddling with her hair awkwardly, " _we_ had _tickets, but then we lost them._ "

The usher winced sympathetically. " _Oh man. That sucks, man, I hate when that happens."_

Jesse nodded quickly. " _I know, I feel like_ such _an idiot._ "

He winced apologetically at her, rubbing his head as he apologized, " _I'm sorry, brah, but... no tickets, no show._ "

Suddenly, an escaped chicken fluttered out of nowhere. The usher cowered away with an _extremely_ high-pitched shriek. " _Chiiiiicken! Chicken! Chicken!_ " he nearly squealed in fright.

Gabriel muttered something under his breath that nobody caught.

The chicken wandered away, and the usher quickly straightened back up. " _I-it's okay, it's gone, you're a totally cool dude..."_ He caught sight of the blinking Jesse, and shook his head apologetically. " _Sorry, brah._ "

The four of them walked away, before they all gave each other a look that seemed to say, "Okay, what the heck are we supposed to do now?"

" _How are we going to get past him?_ " Olivia hissed. " _The keynote's been sold out for ages._ "

" _I could get past him,_ " Axel suggested. " _Just need a little wind-up room."_

Jesse's eyes widened, giving him a nervous laugh. " _Haha,_ no."

"Yeah, no, that- that was a very good suggestion," Stampy said, wincing at the thought of what might've happened if Jesse HADN'T vetoed the idea.

She paused, her gaze moving up, before she straightened up, a small smile forming on her face. " _What we need is a distraction."_

Petra turned to see what Jesse was looking at, before a grin formed on her own face. The screen switched to show what they were looking at- some sort of chicken machine. " _A bunch of_ chickens _running around might be a distraction."_

" _And the usher's afraid of chickens!_ " Axel agreed, his own eyes lighting up.

The ghost of a grin formed on Axel's face. "Is this going where I think it is?" he asked, slowly.

Jesse's mischievous smile grew to beauty-pageant proportions. " _What would you say... if I said I wanted to break this guy's chicken machine to create the mother of all distractions?"_

* * *

 **A/N: Heehee x3**

 **RQTC: Favorite character in MCSM (excluding Jesse and Reuben, I already know you all love Reuben)?**

 **My personal favorite is gonna be Lukas or Ivor.**

 **EthanDaCabbage: You and me both, buddy xD**

 **S4SH4L4SH4theGaMeR101: (laughs) He does.**

 **: Yeeeaaaahhh (high five)**

 **Guest: You and me both, fam xD**

 **Guest: Of Hybrid specifically or in general? xD**

 **Guest: (thumbs up)**

 **LittleAngelbun: Never actually had gingersnap cookies, haha xD**

 **x.X. A.L. X.x**


	12. Unexpected

" _But you're going to have to break_ that _pane of glass,_ " Olivia pointed out, pointing at a certain pane of glass up high on the machine, " _how are you going to reach it?_ "

Jesse looked around for a minute, before spotting a guy bouncing on a slime block. She tilted her head thoughtfully, eyes narrowing. " _Hmmm... I think I should be able to reach the glass with a slime block_ ," she said, thoughtfully.

"Hey, that's a pretty good idea," Petra said.

Jesse approached the booth. Her eyes widened a bit as she realized the person who was running it was the person she'd tapped on the shoulder earlier. " _Oh...! Hello!_ " she said, sounding surprised.

The woman herself looked a bit surprised. " _Oh... hello. Did you find the person you were looking for, by the way?_ " she asked, casually.

" _Hm? Oh- yeah, I did. Thanks for asking,"_ Jesse said, still sounding surprised. " _Um- one slime block, please."_

The woman shook her head a bit, seemingly apologetically. " _Sorry- we don't sell slime blocks here. Just slime balls,"_ and she held up a slimy green ball, " _but we've got a limited supply today, and we're only giving out two per customer."_ She tilted her head thoughtfully. " _You_ could _craft a slime block if you had nine slime balls..."_

Jesse winced and rubbed the back of her head. " _Ah, I see..._ "

The two of them were rescued from the rather awkward situation by Axel strolling up behind her. " _A round of slime balls for everyone, please!_ " he requested politely, having apparently heard the conversation.

The screen cut to the four of them walking away, holding slime balls. Jesse suddenly made a soft sound, making the rest of them look at her. " _This is only eight slimeballs... we need one more to make a slime block_ ," she explained.

Petra's gold eyes narrowed. " _Okay, we need another way to get some more slime, and quick,"_ she said, after giving all the slime balls a quick count.

" _On it!_ " And everyone split up to go look for more slime. Jesse looked down at the two slime balls in her hand, before looking up and around at the crowds.

The screen cut to a slime ball spinning in the air, before landing in somebody's hand.

The screen zoomed out to reveal Lukas tossing the slime ball.

"Oh, good," and Petra turned to look at Lukas, "Lukas will let us use his, right Lukas?"

"Of course!"

Aiden looked at Lukas as if the blonde had just grown two heads. "You'd help the _Order of the Losers?_ "

"Aiden, it's Petra," Lukas responded, "she gave us that Nether Star, remember? Besides, why _shouldn't_ I help them, even if Petra _wasn't_ with them?"

"Because they're _losers!_ "

"Great argument, there, sport," Hadrian muttered sarcastically.

Lukas frowned at him. "Yeah, so you've said. Every single time you see them. Yes, they lose the Endercon Building Competition every year. But that doesn't mean they're not good people, alright?"

Olivia turned to stare at them oddly. "Is Lukas _defending_ us?" she asked sotto voce.

Jace stared at Lukas with a confused look. "I'm pretty sure I'm hallucinating."

"All three of us?" Axel whispered back.

"Guys, if _you're_ hallucinating, then so is everyone else in this room," Jesse whispered back, glancing at Lukas as Aiden growled in frustration.

Onscreen, Jesse took a deep breath, before approaching Lukas. " _Hey... Lukas? Could you... do me a favor?_ " she asked, in a rather awkward but hopeful voice.

Lukas caught the slime ball, before looking at her. " _Anything's possible_ ," he said lightly, with a small smile at the end to show he meant no harm.

Jesse smiled back. " _I need slime balls... I swear I have a REALLY good explanation..._ "

Lukas's gaze wasn't focused on her anymore, as Axel, Olivia, and Petra came up behind Jesse. He smiled at the black-haired girl, holding out the slime ball. " _Whatever you guys are doing, count me in."_

" _Thanks, Lukas,_ " Petra said, before adding in an undertone to Jesse, " _told you he was useful._ "

Harper shuddered a bit at that last word for some reason.

Jesse rolled her eyes at Petra, but she was smiling anyway. Jesse went around collecting slime balls from everyone as Axel frowned at Lukas. Lukas had to crane his head back to meet the taller male's eyes. " _Aw, man... this guy isn't actually_ cool _, is he?"_

Olivia crossed her arms and raised her eyebrow at him. " _Remains to be seen._ "

Jesse headed over to a nearby crafting table, placing slime balls down. Lukas and Axel's voices still could be heard while she did that. " _So, uh... you guys been working together long? You've got good chemistry."_

 _"Are you jealous?"_ That was Axel.

" _I'm just saying, I think it's cool that you have a team that works so well together,_ " Lukas responded.

" _You're totally jealous._ "

Jesse laughed at this, making Axel grin at her.

Onscreen Jesse smirked too, before the slime balls all shivered together into a solid, green block. " _Ta-daaaa! One slime block._ " She grinned at it, before her face fell at the sight of it. " _... gross._ "

Olivia reached out with both hands automatically. " _Let me have that-_ " The block seemed to jump into her hands automatically, arms going rather rigid as she took ahold of it. Both girls looked at the block, before Olivia turned away awkwardly and went to a spot between the machine and a nearby booth. " _Riiiight..._ " And the block jumped back out. " _Here."_

Jesse turned to Axel. " _Gimme a boost!_ "

Axel helped the girl up, her hand still a little shy of the roof of the booth-

A string of silk shot out of her hand and attached to the top.

Jesse looked around quickly before she climbed rapidly, hiding it with her body as she squirmed onto the roof and scraped off the string as she climbed on top of the roof of the booth. She looked at the slime block, before backing away. She hesitated, before running forwards, launching herself off of the booth, feet slamming into the block solidly, before rebounding into the air. She let out a laugh. " _Wheeee!_ " She drew her fist back in midair and solidly slammed it into the pane of glass, shattering it and allowing chickens to flood from the opening.

She landed in another parkour roll, ending up on her butt as the booth owner ran past her. " _My poultry! My precious poultry!_ " he wailed.

The usher charged forward as well. " _Keep your eyes closed! They'll peck out your eyes!"_ he warned, just as a chicken bowled him over, hopping all over him- including his face.

Jesse blinked at this. " _These chickens are_ vicious," she joked, before running for the keynote, followed by her friends. This went completely unnoticed due to the usher having gotten knocked over by all the chickens.

"Okay, so we got past the usher," Petra said, hopping in place, "one thing down, lots more to go!"

"You're all quite stubborn, aren't you?" Lizzie asked them.

" _No one_ messes with Petra," Jesse, Jace, Axel, Olivia, and Lukas chorused in unison.

Petra grinned at this.

The screen came back on to show the five of them running into the keynote- six if you included Reuben. The show hadn't started yet, so nobody was there. Ivor was nowhere in sight, though.

" _Where'd he go?"_ Petra demanded.

Jesse looked around, before pointing at a door that was slightly ajar. " _Well, that seems as likely a place as anywhere else... cliche, though."_

They all rushed for the door, but Lukas paused a few meters away. " _What do we do once we catch him?"_

Everyone looked at one another, as Lukas continued, " _there are a million ways to play this."_

" _Whatever we have to_ ," Jesse said coolly.

Lukas seemed a bit taken aback by this answer. " _You're way more intense than I gave you credit for, Jesse,_ " he said, sounding surprised.

"I know," Petra agreed. "Fighting those monsters on the bridge, threatening Aiden... I never would've guessed."

Jesse's faint smile faded as she turned to stare directly ahead. There was a long pause, before she finally said, a little more brusquely than usual, "Yeah, well, I'll do anything when it comes to my friends."

Jesse smiled innocently. " _If you mess with my friends, I will_ break _you_ ," she said cheerfully, before disappearing through the door, leaving Lukas to blink after her nervously.

Jesse poked her head around the corner at the bottom of the staircase, eyes widening. " _Is... this what we were expecting?"_ she asked slowly.

The others poked their heads around the corner as well, their own eyes widening.

"I still can't believe you're helping them," Gill mumbled.

Lukas opened his mouth to say something, hesitated, and then shut it with a slight shake of the head.

It seemed to be some sort of library, potions and books shoved onto every shelf and available space except for the floor. " _What IS this place?_ " Olivia wondered, looking around tentatively.

" _Looks like the basement_ ," Jesse murmured, " _I guess he must've gone out a different way or something, then."_

"You kids better not touch anything," Ivor growled.

Petra glared at him. "We wouldn't even BE there if you'd just stuck to your end of the deal, you little sh-"

"Let's just watch the thing, okay?" Jace interrupted loudly before Petra could unleash a twenty-word-long string of swears.

" _I'll bet you_ anything _my skull's down here_ ," Petra said seriously, looking around the basement.

The screen cut to show Axel walking excitedly past shelves, already eyeing some of the stuff. " _And if we find anything else to steal along the way, so be it, right?_ " he asked, eyes practically glowing with interest.

"I just told you not to touch anything!" Ivor snapped.

"He can't hear you," Jesse reminded him.

"Take it all! Take it all! Take it all!" Magnus chanted, the gladiators joining in with a little too _much_ enthusiasm.

Petra scowled at Axel. " _Axel- that's not what we're here to do."_

" _I did say we should do whatever we had to..._ " Jesse murmured. This was obviously not the answer Petra wanted to hear, because she turned her scowl onto the black-haired girl. Axel took advantage of Jesse's comment.

" _And if the guy's not here, then what we_ have _to do is steal._ "

"Yes!" Magnus fist-pumped the air, nearly elbowing Soren in the face, "I _like_ this guy!"

Axel's grin was practically splitting his face.

" _I don't want to stoop to his level_ ," Petra was quick to argue right back.

Jesse nodded at last. " _Let's just get the skull and get out of here- this place is kinda creepy._ "

Magnus, Axel, and the gladiators all let out a loud groan of disappointment. Ivor let out the slightest sigh- although if it was relief or something else, no one could tell.

Axel scowled. " _No one ever lets me have any fun,_ " he complained, jokingly.

" _We let you hang out with us, don't we?_ " Jesse was quick to reply. She straightened up and trotted down the stairs. " _The faster we find what we're looking for, the faster we can get out of here._ "

Everyone split up, dispersing among the shelves. Even Reuben trotted off to go have a look. Jesse's eyes skimmed the shelves, but as she was about to turn a corner, she stopped. Slowly, she backtracked a step so that she was staring at the shelves, a single book standing out to her- an old, red, leatherbound volume with a faint symbol and words etched into the binding.

Ivor's brow furrowed. "Huh. I don't think that book's actually in my library..." he muttered, under his breath, although everyone could hear it loud and clear. "I wonder what it is..."

Jesse leaned closer to the book. _B.O.A._ , the binding read. She raised her eyes to look at the symbol on the binding as well. It looked like a human head, but halfway across the symbol changed to a wolf head that flawlessly mixed with the human one.

Jesse's eyes widened, and the softest gasp escaped her mouth. She reached out automatically and pulled the book off the shelf, a thin volume that had maybe 100 pages in it, maximum. She flipped through it, different handwriting styles in the book that repeated, before shutting it and putting it in her pocket. " _Who knows, maybe this thing is useful_ ," she said, her hands quivering slightly.

Everyone glanced at Ivor, but he didn't actually complain at this- probably since he didn't own the book.

Turning the corner, she spotted Petra rummaging through a chest. Petra took out something that Jesse couldn't see, since her back was blocking it. " _Oh, what do we have here..._ " She suddenly pivoted and lashed out, making Jesse jump back in just time as the gold sword tip scratched her nose. " _Jeez, decapitate me, would ya?_ " Jesse joked.

The redhead chuckled awkwardly. " _Ahaha- sorry._ " She gave the sword a cursory look. " _Anyway, it's too heavy. And too soft._ "

" _But super flashy_ ," Jesse teased.

Petra gave the blade a look. " _Yeah. Hey, you still have that one stone sword I gave you, right?"_

Jesse sighed and looked down at the ground. " _Nope, I had it to give it to some butcher to save Reuben's life._ " Petra winced sympathetically at this.

 _"Jeez... well, I guess it was for a good cause. Here,"_ and she pushed the gold sword into Jesse's hands.

Jesse raised her eyebrows at Real-Petra. "What happened to not stooping to his level?"

"Being armed in case something bad happens is more important," Petra responded promptly. Ivor scowled at the redhead. "Oh, come on!" he complained.

" _Thanks_ ," Jesse said with a small smile, sheathing it.

Petra grinned back at the dark-haired female. " _Don't lose that one,"_ she joked.

Jesse trotted along again, until she came across a glowing violet potion with luminous glass. " _Oh, hey!_ " she exclaimed quietly, sounding impressed, " _check this out!_ "

"Oh, no no no no no," Ivor practically chanted, having gone almost pure _white_ , "leave that alone! Get out of my basement, you idiots!"

" _You're not going to believe me_ ," Axel said, making Jesse jump a bit, " _but I SWEAR I had a dream about this. Okay, potion... I know this is a big step, but I'd be honored if you'd come home with me._ "

Jesse shook her head at him. " _Axel, no. Make yourself useful-_ " Harper shuddered again. " _\- and go find that skull._ "

" _I am..._ " and then Axel took the potion anyway.

"NO!" Ivor literally _screamed_ , making Harper flinch and turn to him with a look of surprise, fuming and almost _white_ with rage and fear as he launched himself out of the chair. The screen quickly paused, courtesy of Jesse, since she was still commandeering the remote. "YOU HAVE NO IDEA WHAT YOU JUST DID!"

"I-Ivor, ca-calm down," Ellegaard said, sounding startled. "None of this has even happened yet-"

"No, you don't understand!" Ivor was pacing the floor so rapidly that he actually made the carpet wrinkle under his feet. "If they take the potion- and if I lose control of-" Dawning horror in his eyes. "Oh, blast...!"

"Lose control of... what?" Jace asked, slowly, eyes narrowing in confusion.

"What's going on?" Gabriel's tone sharpened as he stood up, taking one step towards the pacing man. "What are you planning to do? Ivor, why did you need a Wither Skull?"

Ivor turned to glare at Gabriel, venom in his voice and hatred practically burning in his eyes. "Oh, you'll see. You'll all-" He paused, his gaze moving from Gabriel to Jace to someone else off to the side. "... Jesse?" he asked, finally, sounding confused.

Jace turned around to see what Ivor was staring at.

Jesse's knees were drawn up to her chest as best as she could with Reuben still in her lap, her body trembling violently, eyes squeezed shut so tightly that it actually forced tears from under her eyelids, hands clamped tightly over her ears. There was this almost animalistic, but nearly inaudible keening sound, and after a moment everyone realized that it was coming from Jesse.

"Hey... Jesse?" Jace reached out to touch Jesse's shoulder, but she scooted away from his touch, trembling like a leaf. She seemed to be trapped in some sort of dark place that they couldn't get her out of.

"Jesse?" Jace repeated softly, before reaching out and taking ahold of her wrists carefully. Jesse's trembling abruptly ceased, before slowly opening her eyes to stare at Jace. There was a moment of uncomprehension as she stared at Jace, green eyes dull and blank, before she said, blankly yet lightly, "Did I do it again?"

"Do what again?" This was from Maya, who looked totally perplexed by this order of events.

Jesse stared at Jace for a minute, before completely relaxing and turning back to face the screen. "It's nothing. Let's just get back to watching this. Grab my wrists if I ever do that again."

"What was-"

"I don't want to talk about it, if you don't mind my saying so." Her tone was light and conversational, but that one sentence brought whatever discussion might've happened to an abrupt halt.

Everyone stared at her, before turning back to the screen as she pressed the play button again.

Jesse was giving Axel a deadpan look. " _Uhh, nope, you're_ literally _doing the exact opposite of what I just asked you to do. Besides, there's no way he's not going to notice his fancy potion's missing._ "

Axel looked around quickly. " _A good thief covers his tracks_ ," and he snagged a nearby bottle of violet potion that didn't glow. Actually, unless you stared at it for a minute, it was difficult to tell the difference. He popped the glowing bottle into place, loudly whispered, " _Fixed it!_ " and went back off.

Jesse rolled her eyes with a smile. " _Oh, yeah. The perfect crime._ "

She glanced at where the violet potion had been sitting, before walking over and toggling the lever that had been behind it. The bookshelf Olivia had been scrutinizing made a loud clicking sound as it slid down.

Ivor's teeth gritted. "They _found it_ ," he hissed, eyes narrowing. "Dammit, they _found_ it."

The bookshelf disappeared into the floor to reveal a T made of some strange... sand, or something, with a glowing, machine-like block in the center. A chest rested at the foot of the T.

The Order of the Stone all gasped in unison, the color draining from their faces.

"Ivor," Soren said, voice shaky, "what- what are you doing?"

"Why do you have the Command- _how_ do you have the _Command Block_?" Ellegaard asked, turning to stare at Ivor.

"What's a 'Command Block'?" Nell asked, wonderingly. Nobody answered her question.

"Is that Soul Sand?" Petra wondered.

Onscreen, Jesse frowned at the setup, almost as if it were familiar.

" _What is this stuff?_ " Olivia asked.

" _Soul Sand_ ," Petra replied immediately, " _it's everywhere in the Nether._ "

Olivia stepped forward, reaching towards the block with a strange look on her face. " _I wonder what that block in the middle is... it's almost... pulsing. Maybe if I could just-_ "

Jesse seized Olivia's arm, cutting off the dark-skinned girl with this utterly panicked expression on her face. Olivia's fingers had been mere centimeters from touching the block. " _Are you insane?! Don't just touch it!"_ she whisper-shouted, " _it could be dangerous!_ "

Olivia nodded at this. Jesse let go of Olivia's arm and said, less panicked, " _Remember what we're all here for- find that skull._ "

Olivia nodded again, and Jesse turned to look at the chest in front of the T. She leaned down to open it.

The screen switched to show Jesse lifting the lid of the chest, her eyes widening. She froze stock-still, before speaking, in a strangely affected voice, " _Um, so, good news, weird news, bad news. Good news, I found the skull. Weird news..._ "

Petra's expression changed to a scowl as she leaned to look over Jesse's shoulder. " _What the hell? Why'd I risk my neck for that skull if he's already got two other ones?_ " she asked, sounding extremely annoyed.

" _That's... part of the bad news._ " Jesse's position still hadn't changed from where she was holding the lid open. There was a long pause, before she spoke unsteadily, " _I think this guy's trying to build a Wither._ "

* * *

 **A/N: Oh boy Ivor's in trouble now**

 **RQTC: Are you hyped for the next chapter? I know I am :3**

 **LittleAngelbun: Yee :3 Same tho, fam xD**

 **RapidSammi: (laughs) Don't worry, that happens to meh all the diddly-darn time. And I'm glad you do! (laughs) I'm glad to see you like this chapter so much and AH GOSH MAH EARS (falls over) xD**

 **Meow Shadow: No problem! I'm glad to hear you like this, and I hope you like my other ones, too!**

 **AquaK13: (laughs) Yeah, that's a good point.**

 **Guest: (laughs) True that**

 **pensuka: They don't really know what to make of it, honestly xD**

 **x.X. A.L. X.x**


	13. Deities, Heaven, and Explosions

Everyone's eyes widened as they turned to stare at Ivor with open mouths, who was glaring at the screen as if he'd like to burn it.

" _A... Wither?_ " Petra gaped at the chest, before looking back at Jesse. " _But... that's-_ "

" _One of the worst monsters there is!_ " Lukas burst out, blue-green eyes wide with horror.

"And he gets all of the ingredients, plus the Command Block," Gabriel said slowly, his face almost _gray_ , "on the exact night of the keynote?"

Jesse stare uncomfortably down at the chest for a few moments. " _Well, we came here to find the skull. We found it. Maybe we should just- grab it, and go. While we still can._ "

Too late. The sound of footsteps clacking on stone steps could be heard.

" _Scatter!_ " Petra hissed.

Jesse reacted immediately as Reuben flipped the lever again, the bookshelf rising to block the Wither setup from sight, everyone fanning out into the shelves. She vaulted over a shelf into a small niche, ducking down as far as she could. Feet appeared onscreen as Jesse shrank even lower.

" _Don't you recognize me?!_ " Ivor shouted, and for a horrifying moment everyone was sure that Ivor had spotted them.

Until he continued a moment later, " _Or, wait... surprised to see me?!_ " He passed Petra onscreen right as he shouted the last two words, making the redhead flinch a bit.

Jesse turned to stare at Ivor, who'd gone back to sitting in his armchair. "Are you practicing villain lines?" she asked, slowly, eyebrow raised.

He grumbled slightly, not meeting anyone's eyes.

" _Or, no, that's... 'didn't expect to see me, now did you?!'... THAT'S better."_

The screen passed over Jesse, who was crouched but still listening, before following Ivor into the room where the Wither setup was. Axel was pressed up against the wall between a bookshelf, and Reuben was hiding on the potion shelf.

"Okay, how did he not see you?" Dan asked, practically perched on the edge of the couch in excitement.

Ivor paused in his tracks, before turning to look over his shoulder. However, there was nothing on the shelf.

Everyone in the room, except for Ivor and the three bullies, let out a tremendous sigh of relief.

Ivor walked past the fake-fancy potion. Reuben poked his head out from behind the stand, remaining quieter than a mouse. Ivor knelt down to look through a chest. Olivia straightened up to get a better look, but as she put her hands down on the shelf to help herself up, her hand bumped a potion bottle and knocked it to the floor, making it clink upon hitting the floor.

Ivor whipped back up and around, with narrowed eyes. " _Who's there?"_ he asked, warily.

Lukas groaned. "Oh. So this is how I die. Fantastic."

Ivor made his way to where Olivia was hiding, having spotted the potion bottle on the floor, beginning to round the corner where Olivia was hiding in the same way Petra was, pressing her back against the bookshelves. The dark-skinned girl appeared to be muttering a prayer to Notch and Jeb and who knows who else?

"We're dead. We're dead!" Lukas threw his hands into the air, his voice having risen an octave or two in slight panic. "Nice to have known you all. I shall speak of you in heaven."

"What makes you so sure you're going to heaven? You're cute as hell- wait, what the hell just came out of my mouth. Forget it. FORGET IT," Jesse said, beginning to turn bright red at the gaping crowd. "I DIDN'T SAY THAT, SHUT UP, I'M SORRY I FLIRT WITH EVERY HUMAN BEING ON THE PLANET. I'M LIKE FRISK FROM UNDERTALE. SHUT UP." She whipped back around to stare at the screen.

Petra spoke up tentatively a minute later, the black-haired girl staring determinedly at the screen. "Um, Jesse-"

"NOPE."

Axel tried this time. "Jes-"

"NOPE."

"J-"

"NOPE. NO. END OF DISCUSSION. CAN WE MOVE ON NOW?" Jesse was being overly loud, her face was bright red, and she was shaking with embarrassment as she gazed resolutely at the screen. Lukas's face was rather pink too as he stared at the ceiling.

There was a full moment of silence as everyone processed this.

"Well, that was definitely flirting."

Honestly, Gill probably deserved the pillow both Lukas and Jesse proceeded to chuck at his face.

Onscreen, Jesse vaulted out of her hiding spot. " _Hey, you!_ " she shouted.

Olivia let out a little sigh, deciding to let the awkward moment slide. "Thanks, Jesse. I mean, we still got caught, but he didn't find me."

Ivor spun around, glaring at Jesse. " _What are you doing here?!_ " he demanded, before a look of horror crossed his face, and he asked, in a quieter voice, " _What did you see?_ "

" _Leave her alone!_ " Petra shouted, rushing out from behind the shelf. Axel did the same, stepping out and crossing his arms with a sharp glare at Ivor.

" _Yeah, back off, pal._ "

Jesse sent the both of them a grateful look.

Ivor looked from Petra to Jesse, anger dawning on his features. " _You two! Did you_ follow _me here?"_

" _You thought you could just screw us over and get away with it, didn't you?!_ " Petra demanded to know, gold irises practically ablaze with fury.

"Well... yes," Ivor admitted. "Yes, I did."

" _We're here to prove you wrong_ ," Jesse finished sharply, as her friends moved to stand in a semicircle around the dark-haired male.

Ivor sneered at the two of them. " _What are you going to do about it? I have what I want, and you have exactly what you earned._ "

"I got you a _Wither_ Skull!" Petra barked angrily at the male, "I should've been asking for _way_ more than a diamond!"

" _We're not stupid, Ivor!_ " Jesse snapped at the robed man, her fists clenching. " _Soul Sand, and three Wither Skulls- you're building a freaking Wither!_ "

Ivor's eyes widened for a moment, before regaining his composure. " _Huh. Smarter than you look._ "

Jesse frowned at him but didn't say anything.

Axel stepped forward, literally towering over Ivor as he glared at him. " _Hey, nobody talks to my friends like that, and I mean NOBODY. Now shut your mouth,_ or else. _"_ He nearly spat the last two words in a fury.

Ivor growled and threw his hands into the air. " _Enough! You've wasted enough of my time already,_ " and he turned on his heel and sprinted off into the bookshelves, Jesse and the other four being quick to follow him.

They reached the spot near the stairs, looking around rapidly. Ivor had seemed to vanish from sight. " _Where'd he go?!_ " Petra asked, searching around.

Suddenly, Ivor was standing behind four iron blocks stacked in a T, holding a pumpkin. " _If you won't leave of your own volition,_ " the black-haired man snarled, eyes sparking with anger.

"Ivor, no!" Gabriel shouted, eyes widening.

Jesse whirled around, a gasp tearing out of her throat as Ivor tipped the pumpkin into place, " _I'll happily remove you_ myself!"

" _Oh, snapcrackers_ ," Olivia whispered, her face having gone several shades paler in fear.

" _Show our friends the door, will you?_ " Ivor sneered at them, and the golem swung one of its massive arms at them. Screaming, all of them ducked out of the way as a gust of wind ruffled their hair and clothing as the iron arm whipped over their heads. Jesse dove away as the golem swung again, this time making contact violently with Olivia-

The dark-skinned girl suddenly bleeped out of sight, reappearing in a spray of purple and pink sparks a few feet out of the reach of the swinging arm.

"Whoa!" Axel exclaimed, straightening up.

Olivia looked bewildered, before diving away again as the golem regained its balance and swiped at her again, bellyflopping onto the stone floor with a grunt of pain.

The screen switched to Axel, backpedaling rapidly as the iron golem advanced on him, making this odd hissing sound in fear, eyes growing to the size of dinner plates. Suddenly, he started flashing white.

"Ah," Em said quietly. "That would- that explains a lot."

" _What in the-_ " Olivia's comment was cut off, because a white-hot explosion slammed all of them back. Jesse's back slammed into the wall, making the black-haired girl grown in pain as she rubbed her throbbing head.

Everyone winced sympathetically at this.

Reuben let out a whine from where he was in her lap. Olivia had merely flipped over, since she'd been practically flattened on the floor, but Petra had gotten blasted to the foot of the stairs, eyes squeezed shut in pain. Axel was tense and standing there with shock, staring at the iron golem- which had gotten blasted into the opposite wall- and wisps of smoke curling off of his body.

"Did," Magnus spoke in the shocked silence that ensued, "did he just... explode?"

Hadrian slowly nodded, staring at the screen. "In... in a sense?"

Petra was the first to recover- she staggered to her feet before whirling around and bolting up the stairs. Olivia bleeped into place at the bottom of the steps, following suit. Axel recovered and raced after them after a moment's pause, Jesse scooping up her pink pig and rushing after them.

They burst into the back of the crowd at the keynote, Jesse setting Reuben down as she panted heavily, hands shaking a little bit. " _I-is everyone okay?"_ she asked over Gabriel's distant voice, gasping for breath.

" _I- I think so,_ " Petra agreed. Olivia, however, had straightened up and started looking around, alarm registering in her eyes.

"Hey, wait-" Nell spoke up suddenly, her eyes narrowing. "Where's-?"

" _Um... guys?_ " Olivia sounded frightened. Jesse lifted her head to look at Olivia, still panting.

The next two words made the entire audience's eyes widen, and for onscreen-Jesse's irises shrink to pinpricks in the whites of her eyes in horror.

" _Where's Lukas?_ "

* * *

 **A/N: HAHAHA OMG I'M DYING AT THAT FLIRTING SCENE HAHAHA xD**

 **That actually was not planned, I was writing the chapter and then that just popped into my head and I couldn't stop laughing. So I wrote it in xD**

 **RQTC: Uh... what's your favorite moment in Hybrid?**

 **AquaK13: Thank you! And I know, right? Amazing.**

 **x.X. A.L. X.x**


	14. Rescue Mission: Activate!

"Oh. So." Lukas let out a long sigh. "I guess I do die down there. Wonderful."

Jesse looked behind her as if checking to confirm that no, Lukas was not, in fact, behind her. Of course, he wasn't. " _I- I thought he was right behind me!_ " she gasped.

" _Well, if he's not here, then the only place he could be is..._ " Axel trailed off, eyes widening in shock, and Jesse finished the thought, whirling back around to the door. " _He's still down there!_ "

Petra bit her lip, eyes widening. " _Ivor has an iron golem, and all the ingredients to make a Wither down there! If he was to unleash it on this crowd of people..._ " Her eyes went wider than dinner plates in horror. " _We have to act fast!_ "

Olivia jerked her head at Gabriel, who was going on about feeling pressure about coming to the keynote or something or other. " _It just so happens that the greatest warrior of all time is in the building- we can ask Gabriel to help! This is the smartest way to help Lukas."_

"I guess I'm stupid then," Jesse mumbled quietly, although still loud enough for Reuben and Jace to hear her. Both of them looked at her in confusion. "Why?" Jace whispered back.

" _He's tough,"_ Petra agreed, " _I just hope he's tough enough to hold out for a bit longer."_

"That's true," Lukas said, "I mean, I'm not sure there's much you guys could do about that golem. If Gabriel went down there he could probably smash it to pieces."

"Glad you think of it like that," Petra said, smiling at Lukas.

Onscreen, though, Jesse was shaking her head, having come to a decision. " _I'm going after Lukas myself,_ " she said firmly.

"That's why," Jesse whispered back to Jace.

"I- _what?!_ " Lukas gasped, turning around to stare at Jesse. Aiden was staring with his mouth open, and Maya and Gill were staring at Jesse with what seemed to be almost _respect_.

Petra's eyes widened. " _By... yourself? A-are you sure, Jesse?"_ she asked, sounding slightly admiring.

Jesse hesitated as she looked back at the redhead. "... _yeah..._ " she said after a moment, turning back to her friends. " _The rest of you, go get Gabriel."_

" _We're on it, Jesse,_ " Olivia agreed instantly, both eyes brightening. Petra piped up with her own smile, " _We'll find a way to warn Gabriel and then we'll meet you back here._ "

" _Let's crash this party_ ," Axel nodded enthusiastically.

" _Be back as soon as I can,"_ Jesse responded, crossing her heart and covering one eye. All of them grinned at the sign of her little oath.

Petra gave the black-haired girl a long look, the grin fading, before quietly uttering, " _Be careful._ "

"You're- you're actually going back for me," Lukas said, eyes practically sparkling with gratitude. If he was a character in an anime, he'd be sparkling right about now. He looked over at real-Jesse. "Thank you, Jesse."

"Like I said," Jesse said, giving him a light but warm smile, "I'll do anything when it comes to my friends."

The Ocelots automatically glanced at Lukas, whose mouth was partially open as he stared at Jesse with wide eyes, as though expecting him to laugh or at least decline that they were friends.

Instead, Lukas turned back to the screen.

Jesse opened the door back to the basement, staring down into the darkness. " _... here goes nothing_ ," she said finally, before beginning to descend the staircase. " _Alright... not sure how I'm gonna get Lukas without- A) getting my head knocked off by the iron golem, or B) getting spotted by the iron golem, since A is not a good option-_ "

She stepped off the stairs and cut herself off abruptly as she immediately whipped back around the corner, slamming her back into the wall and slapping a hand over her mouth as the golem looked in her direction, eyes wide. Reuben also remained utterly silent.

"Oh, Notch, _more_ danger," Olivia groaned. "Of course there's _more_ danger."

"You're quite brave, Jesse," Gabriel said in awe. "I can respect a person like that."

Jace elbowed the black-haired girl in the ribs, making her look over at him. "You just got the greatest warrior of all time to _respect_ you!" he whispered, eyes lit up with excitement. She grinned back at him.

After a whole minute, Jesse slowly poked her head back around the corner, and tiptoed into the bookshelves when she saw no sign of the iron golem. " _Lukas! Can you... hear me?_ " she whispered loudly.

" _Jesse?_ " Jesse looked back as Lukas's blue-green eyes peeked over the lip of a chest, one hand keeping the lid lifted up. His eyes were filled with surprise. " _You- you came back for me?_ " he asked, voice tinged with surprise.

A relieved smile came over Jesse's face. " _Lukas! Over here!_ " and she gestured towards her.

The screen switched back as Lukas's eyes shifted, his eyes widened, and he let the lid shut over his head.

The screen went back to Jesse's, whose smile fell into a frown. " _And... it's... right behind me, isn't it._ " She twisted to see the golem glaring down at her with blazing red eyes.

"GAH!" Axel yelped, jumping back. Lukas put a hand over his rapidly thumping heart, Petra bounced on her seat, and Olivia squeaked before slapping her hands over her eyes.

Jesse dodged out of the way as it swiped clumsily at her, but the space she could move in was limited-

" _Hey!_ " The golem looked away as the lid of Lukas's chest shut, Jesse lunging into the nearest niche and crouching down so that it couldn't see her.

Upon seeing that Jesse was no longer standing there, and being too stupid to look around, it lumbered away.

" _You okay?_ " Jesse whispered to Lukas. Immediately she winced at her choice of words.

Lukas's eyes peeped through the crack between the lid and the actual chest. " _I've... been worse,_ " he whispered back. " _Of course, I can't say this is the_ best _situation I've ever been in... any bright ideas?_ "

Jesse thought about this for a second. "... _I think so. One second._ "

And the next moment, she jumped out of the niche. " _Hey!_ " she shouted at the golem.

"I'm pretty sure he said 'bright' ideas, Jesse," Em drawled sarcastically.

Olivia groaned again and covered her eyes back up. "Ohhh don't die, Jesse."

The golem turned to see her, but Jesse was already lifting her palm and poking the tip of her tongue out of her mouth. For a single, terrifying moment, nothing happened, before a huge, heavy strand of silk shot out of her palm and slammed into the golem's chest, making it stagger back a step.

The screen sped up again as Jesse darted around the screen, the golem slowly swinging at her while streams of white silk poured from her hands, before it slowed back down to normal speed as Jesse landed on the stone floor again, scraping off the silk that was still protruding from her hands, before turning.

The screen switched to show the golem tangled up in the world's most elaborate spiderweb like a fly, struggling amongst the swathes of white silk.

"Okay, that was awesome," Nell said, grinning at Jesse. "Radical, brah!"

"Thank you, I think...?"

" _Jesse_?"

Jesse turned to see Lukas still staring at her, eyes wide with stunned shock. She didn't waste any time. " _Hurry, it's not going to keep the golem forever!_ " she hissed, and Lukas scrambled out of the chest, racing after Reuben and Jesse through the bookshelves.

"Thank you," Lukas repeated. "Seriously, I owe you one, Jesse."

"I haven't done anything yet," Jesse replied with a shrug.

"Yet," Lukas pointed out.

" _Axel's explosion knocked me back into the shelves,_ " onscreen-Lukas was saying, " _and by the time I managed to get up again it was too late. Thanks for coming back for me, Jesse. Didn't know if anyone would._ "

Jesse turned to grin at him. " _No problem, Lukas_ ," she replied, " _what are friends for?_ "

The blonde blinked at her, his hair twitching again, before a small smile formed on his own face. " _Thanks, Jesse. I owe you one._ "

" _No problem,_ " Jesse repeated, before jerking her head at her spiderweb. " _Now, I would explain how I did that, but right now we should probably get out of here before the golem rips through, and try to stop Ivor from spawning his Wither._ "

" _That's probably a good idea,_ " Lukas joked back, making Jesse grin back at him before the two of them rushed back up the stairs and out of the basement. The screen faded to black.

Jesse's faint smile had faded, and she was staring intently at the screen. This didn't go unnoticed by Jace. "Something wrong, Jess?" he asked curiously.

"... I just have the feeling," she spoke slowly, hands tightening in her lap as she did so, "that something is going to go _horribly_ wrong soon."

* * *

 **A/N: I think your feeling is spot on, Jesse xD**

 **RQTC: Do you prefer two hour delays or two hour early releases?**

 **I prefer the second option.**

 **Guest: Muahahaha (wiggles eyebrows) You'll see.**

 **S4SH4L4SH4theGaMeR101: I was writing and that just popped in xD so I was like 'coolio'**

 **AquaK13: I know how you feel, fam xD**

 **Guest: Noooothing (Lenny face)**

 **Seastorm25: ... yeah but I'm too lazy to fix it xD Yes, yes I do get it xD**

 **Guest: (cracks up) Haha that's- yeah, that's great.**

 **RapidSammi: Lol xD sorry Sammi-kun**

 **Luna96: I got a nosebleed during a math test once. THE MIDDLE OF THE EFFING MATH TEST.**

 **Idon'tlikecheese: Yeah that was fun to write xD**

 **sailor. mikuchan: Ahh yeah those are fun to write :3**

 **Meow Shadow: (laughs) Well, I'm glad you're enjoying the story, and of course! And no, I don't mind at all xD don't worry about it.**

 **LittleAngelbun: Cool :3**

 **x.X. A.L. X.x**


	15. A Wither is Born

The three of them emerged from the staircase, looking around. " _Where are the others?_ " Lukas asked, before they heard Axel's voice. They looked over to see the burly boy flailing his arms in an attempt to convince Gabriel.

" _Dude, I dunno how I can be any clearer! Weird dude! Doing weird stuff! Freaky with a side of strange! Why won't you believe me?_ "

Gabriel arched his eyebrow. "You're, uh, not being very clear, there."

"He's probably trying to say it without causing massive panic," Jesse said, before grinning a bit and covering her mouth. "I, um, I must say, though, no offense Axel, but you're not doing a very clear job of it."

Axel grinned back sheepishly.

" _Do you want me to tell you charades-style?_ "

"Oh please no," Gabriel said, slapping his hand over his face, "that would be worse than Soren's singing."

Soren blinked at Gabriel, a hurt sort of look coming over his face. "What's wrong with my singing?"

Onscreen, Lukas and Jesse giggled a bit as they moved towards the others.

" _Believe me,_ " Gabriel said, sounding exasperated himself, " _that's the LAST thing I want you to do._ "

The giggles amplified.

" _Four words. Six syllables. Sounds like: 'schmonster in the schmasement'._ " Olivia rolled her eyes at Axel.

Jesse and Lukas were giggling so hard that Jesse was actually totally _silent_ from how acute her giggles were. This was making most of the audience snicker or giggle themselves- Jesse's laughter was contagious. Lukas was making the weirdest face from trying not to laugh.

Gabriel facepalmed, both on and off-screen. " _Next_ ," he said tiredly.

Olivia spoke up, quickly. " _Wait, just-_ "

She was interrupted by a voice that made onscreen-Lukas and Jesse stop giggling. "I _have a question for you._ "

"Oh, crap," Olivia said, touching her lip, "is that who I think it is...?"

Onscreen, Jesse looked at Lukas with this look that said "How in the name of Notch did this guy get up here without us seeing him?"

Lukas spread his arms out in a way that said, "How am I supposed to know?"

Gabriel looked in Ivor's direction. " _Excuse me, sir. You'll have to wait your turn."_

"What do people even ask you about?" Jace mused.

Gabriel shrugged a bit. "It really depends. Some ask me what the Ender Dragon looked like... others ask me what Ellegaard's favorite food was."

"What is- or was- or whatever it is- it?" Jesse asked, twisting around.

"Bread," Gabriel and Ellegaard chorused.

" _Just tell me this- do you truly believe that ANYONE can be great?_ " Ivor asked, moving through the crowd. Gabriel simply shrugged and put his hands on his hips.

" _With enough hard work, yes._ "

" _Was_ that _where I went wrong?!_ " Ivor literally spat, shoving past a few members of the crowd and coming to the base of the stage, " _I simply didn't_ work _hard enough?!_ "

Gabriel's eyes widened. " _Ivor?_ " he gasped. " _Is that really you?_ "

"So you _do_ know each other," Petra said, eyes narrowing, "but how?"

"It's... a long story," Soren replied quietly.

Jesse looked from Ivor to Gabriel. " _You know him?_ " she asked mildly, simply arching one eyebrow.

Gabriel glanced down at the girl with her left eye covered by a wave of hair, making eye contact with her. " _I don't know if I ever really_ did _know him. But what I did know... I didn't like._ " He shot Ivor a glare.

" _The feeling is entirely mutual,_ " Ivor seethed, walking onto the stage, " _why don't you tell them the real story,_ Gabriel?!" He spit out the name as if were poison.

"Real story? What real story?" Lukas asked, brow furrowing. "What the heck is Ivor talking about?"

" _I see time has made you bitter,_ " Gabriel responded to Ivor's accusation calmly.

" _And it's made_ you _an even bigger_ fool _,"_ Ivor shot back, right up in Gabriel's face now. " _These people were promised greatness, and I'm ready to deliver._ "

He started walking towards the back of the stage. Ivor was still very pale, but now he was muttering at a million miles an hour under his breath, hands shaking- although with rage or something else, no one could tell.

" _Gabriel, you have to stop him!_ " Jesse shouted to the warrior.

The warrior glanced at her, then back at Ivor, a strange look that seemed to be a mix of uncertainty and... apology... coming over his face.

The Wither setup rose and clicked into place, but this one had one skull at each end of the T. Ivor pulled out a skull- _Petra's_ skull- and turned to glare at Gabriel. " _I'm sorry this is how they had to learn the truth._ "

Gabriel's eyes widened as Ivor turned back to the Wither and tipped the skull into place. " _Ivor,_ NO! _"_

It was too late. An explosion sent both of them flying off of the stage. A Wither rose from the stage, the strange, machine-like block- the Command Block- resting in its ribcage.

"Oh _crap_ ," Cassie said faintly, vocalizing what every person in the room was thinking.

Ivor stood up as people started screaming and running, a hard look in his eyes. " _Creature- attack!_ " he ordered.

The Command Block glowed at the order, and the Wither started flying around the keynote, making people panic and start to flee, screaming in terror. Jesse looked around, before back up at the Wither, which was shooting a flaming skull-

Jesse dove out of the way, the fireball blasting a crater where she'd been standing only seconds before. Scrambling to her feet, she dodged another one as it soared over her head, barely missing her neck, and blasted apart the floor.

"Are you trying to kill us all?!" Gabriel yelled at Ivor.

Ivor glared back. "I'm not trying to kill anyone! If they hadn't meddled in things they didn't understand the Wither would be under my control!" he shouted back, furiously.

"Well then you shouldn't have scammed Petra out of her diamond," Jace snapped back.

Things started getting a bit weirder as parts of the floor, the walls, a few posters, a flowerpot, any and everything, started soaring towards the Wither, compacting with it and making it start to gain in size, making it bigger than it had been before.

Jesse looked over at Lukas. He was shaking like a leaf, eyes wide, looking like he wanted to bolt up a tree and stay there until the danger was gone.

" _Everyone, stay calm!_ " Gabriel shouted, drawing his sword, " _this foul beast is no match for me!_ "

"You can't go up against the _Command Block,_ who knows what might happen?!" Ellegaard practically yelled at the warrior. He winced and rubbed his ears.

"What are you shouting at me for?! I can't hear you onscreen, can I?!"

Ivor pointed at Gabriel, looking almost like a naughty child tattling on another one. " _Creature- attack!_ "

Gabriel leapt up and hit it with his sword. The Command Block didn't even dent, and he rebounded and slammed into the floor. Hard. Sword skittering out of reach. Everyone who wasn't in the Order gasped. Magnus was perched on the edge of his seat.

" _Gabriel-_ " Jesse began, stepping forward to help, but Gabriel scrambled to his feet, whirling around. " _No! Stay away!_ " he ordered her, making her stop in her tracks, fear showing in his eyes, " _It's after me, not you!_ "

" _Look at him, the might Gabriel!_ " Ivor mocked, and Jesse shot him a glare. " _He might not be able to stop this creature, but I can!_ "

Jesse looked up at the Wither, getting bigger by the second, before looking back at Ivor. " _I_ highly _doubt that._ "

" _Creature- retreat!_ " Ivor commanded the Wither.

The Wither did nothing but turn to look at him. The center head was black, with a single, glowing indigo eye. It was basically the perfect nightmare fuel. Ivor cleared his throat.

" _Uh- ahem-_ " He shouted again, enunciating this time, " _Creature- retreat!_ "

It began to advance towards him, and he snapped, losing all patience, " _Retreat, I said!_ "

" _Ivor,_ " Jesse snapped at him, " _what in the name of Notch are you_ doing?!"

Ivor glanced at her and back to the Wither. " _Uh, no need to worry, my friends-_ "

" _We're not friends,_ " Petra, Axel, Jesse, Olivia, and Lukas all chorused. This prompted a few weak chuckles from the audience, although they were still fixated on the Wither.

" _\- I've prepared an elixir that will defeat this creature._ "

" _An elix-_ oh." Onscreen, Jesse's face went snow white. " _We're dead._ "

Jesse made a comprehending humming sound but said nothing, her own face beginning to drain of color.

Ivor took out a potion- the same potion Axel had used to replace the fancy one earlier.

" _Uh oh_ ," Axel said, eyes widening in horror.

Ivor chucked the bottle at the Wither, which smashed upon impact. But nothing happened, as expected.

Ivor stared, horror written across his face. " _Impossible... it should've worked! I took such care!_ " he whispered.

"This is all your fault!" Ivor accused the teenagers.

Jesse threw her hands into the air. " _Our_ fault?! You're the one who's going to unleash that- that _thing_ on a crowd of people!" she yelled, voice actually rising an octave in horror.

" _The potion- Axel, you have to throw the real potion!_ " Olivia hissed at Axel.

Axel was obviously reluctant. " _But... finder's keepers._ "

"Axel!" Jesse nearly _screamed_ , glued to the screen in utter horror but still unable to tear her eyes away, "this is the wrong damn time for finders keepers!"

" _You thieves, you're ruining everything!_ " Ivor snapped back, having caught the whispered conversation.

Axel reluctantly pulled out the fancy potion, which Jesse snatched from his hand and pivoted, hurling at the Wither in a single fluid motion. A black skin crept over the block, just as the potion shattered.

Ivor went pure _white._ He dropped back into his seat, making everyone stare at him. His dark blue eyes were haunted and horrified, and his voice had dropped to a whisper when he said next, "We're all dead."

" _It's protecting itself!_ " Ivor cried out. " _Without the Command Block exposed, the potion's useless! It wasn't supposed to happen this way..._ " He backed away one step. Two steps. Before turning tail and sprinting away.

"What the hell?! You bring this monstrosity on us and then you don't even have the guts to face it?!" Jace yelled at Ivor, his voice cracking.

" _Ivor! You coward, get back here!_ " Gabriel roared after him, but Ivor was long gone.

Suddenly, a purple beam of light fell on Gabriel, lifting him into the air. He let out a yell of shock as he started to rise into the air.

"I didn't know Withers could do THAT!" Olivia yelled.

Soren muttered a swear, his fists clenching. "They can't, usually. The Command Block- it must be _altering_ the Wither somehow!" he seethed, eyes fixed on the screen in horror.

Olivia ran foward, but the moment she stepped into the tractor beam, she started to shake violently. A strange screech started emitting from her mouth as she started lifting into the air, the screech of only one mob possible. " _Je-Jesse-!_ " she screamed through the screeching, " _he-HELP-!_ "

Jesse reacted instantly, throwing her hands out. Strands of silk shot from each one, catching Gabriel on the leg and Olivia on the side. Jesse proceeded to lunge back a step, yanking with all of her might.

Both of them toppled to the ground, out of the tractor beam, grunting as they hit the floor.

Gabriel let out a sigh of relief.

" _Thank you,_ " Gabriel said, quickly jerking the string off, Olivia pulling it off as well and Jesse scraping her hands off. " _We don't have time to discuss that. Ivor was right about one thing... I can't defeat that thing. Not on my own._ " He looked up at the Wither, which was about the size of Jesse's treehouse, before he looked at the group, as if just realizing they were still there. " _Everyone's running away... except for you. Will you help me?_ "

"Gabriel's asking for help," Magnus said faintly. "This- this is bad, isn't it?"

Jesse didn't even hesitate before nodding at Gabriel. " _Of course,_ " she agreed.

" _Follow me!_ " And the five of them ran out of the keynote, none of them looking back as the world's worst monster was being created.

The screen faded to black.

"Ivor, what have you done?!" Soren groaned immediately, "you've- you've killed hundreds of people!"

"That thing got to the size of the treehouse in less than five _minutes_ ," Axel said, shaking his head. "It's just going to get bigger, isn't it?"

"Ignoring us being hybrids, we got tangled up in this because Ivor scammed Petra out of her skull, and we decided to chase him... and we couldn't even stop it," Lukas said, goggling at the screen. "Did we make things _worse?_ "

"Exactly-" Ivor was cut off by Jesse, who shook her head. "I don't know what would've happened if we'd ignored it. For all we know, the Wither would've blocked the potion either way," she mumbled quietly.

"Oh, please, I'll take down that thing in a single swipe!" Aiden grinned cockily.

Em turned to stare at him. "The greatest warrior of all time couldn't even _dent_ it while it was still the size of a normal Wither. What makes you think you can do anything more?"

Aiden scowled at her but said nothing when Jesse turned to shoot him a significant look.

* * *

 **A/N: Heehee :3**

 **RQTC: How many of you have reread Hybrid at least once, and how many of you are reading it for the first time?**

 **pensuka: (shrugs) well we will find out, won't we xD**

 **AquaK13: There you go xD**

 **Guest: x3**

 **Meow Shadow: (high five) Here, have another chapter xD**

 **x.X. A.L. X.x**


	16. Hybrid Mayhem

A flock of chickens were clucking around on the bridge, when a crowd of people stampeded through them, sending several of them flying and feathers fluttering through the air. Among them was Aiden.

Lizzie raised her eyebrow. "Yeah, you'll totally kick that Wither-thing's butt."

Aiden scowled at her.

Jesse skidded to a stop at the back of the crowd, her path blocked by a flood of chickens. " _Get out of the way, you chickens!_ " she shouted desperately, looking around in a panic for a path through them to avoid stomping on any of them.

The screen switched to the dome roof, as it suddenly shattered, collapsing in on itself as a humongous black cloud-like thing with waving tentacles rose from the wreckage of the keynote, the one indigo eye sending out a tractor beam and sucking people up, giving off a vicious roar. As if to make things worse, two twin roars mingled with the single one, two _more_ heads sending out their own tractor beams.

"Oh Notch," Olivia said, faintly. She looked like she might pass out in fear.

Jesse grunted and leaped over the chickens, racing away as fast as she could. Two of the tractor beams started shining ahead, where Axel and Olivia could be spotted, sucking up blocks and even people, which disappeared into the mass that had become the Wither.

"Oh Notch," Petra agreed, looking a bit queasy.

Jesse was racing along the bridge when suddenly she was bathed in indigo light, and she let out a loud gasp as she started to rise into the air, part of the bridge coming with her and breaking apart with a tremendous cracking sound.

"JESSE!" Axel yelled, eyes wide.

Olivia clapped her hands over her eyes. "Not Jesse, not Jesse, not Jesse-!" she chanted in a hot panic, as if that would do any good. Jace put a hand on her shoulder, chancing a glance at Jesse, said girl staring hard at the screen.

" _Guys! Help! I'm up here!_ " Jesse yelled, her hands just barely having managed to catch the stone bridge. But the others were gone, lost in the chaos Endercon had become. Her hand slipped- Olivia squeaked-

Jesse shoved out her hand, a strand of silk shooting out of the tractor beam and slamming into the ground. She stopped rising towards the Wither, and she slowly began to pull herself forward, using the string like a robe. Slowly, her head emerged from the beam, then her torso-

She toppled out the rest of the way, smacking hard onto her back before doing a little flip in midair and slamming down onto her stomach.

The audience winced sympathetically.

" _Holy Notch, that hurt_ ," she moaned, getting to her feet and staggering a step, before regaining her balance and bolting through the crowd, many people screaming as they got sucked into the tractor beam. She spotted Lukas as she looked around frantically and ran towards him. " _Lukas!_ " she yelled.

The blonde whirled around to face her again, face white, body shaking like a leaf, eyes wide. " _Holy crap!_ " he cried out. " _Oh man, if I was still in that basement..._ "

Real-Lukas gulped and gave Jesse an even more grateful look. She smiled back at him upon spotting it.

Onscreen, Jesse shuddered a bit in fear. " _Thanks, Jesse,_ " Lukas said sincerely, gratitude shining in his eyes, " _I wouldn't be here without you._ "

" _Jesse!_ " And both of them looked over to see Petra, Olivia, Axel, and Reuben crouching under a booth. The two of them were quick to make their way over, but they'd hardly gotten there when a tractor beam sucked it up.

"Oh Notch, run you idiots!" Magnus yelled frantically.

That was exactly what they did- the entire group scattered with screams of fright. Jesse jolted to her feet, looking around. " _Wait!_ Wait! _We have to stick together..._ "

She was cut off by a scream. Jesse whirled around on the spot.

Petra was rising into the air, a tractor beam resting on her, flailing her arms desperately.

"PETRA!" Most of the audience yelled.

" _Help me!_ " Petra screamed out, reaching towards Jesse.

"Oh, Notch, I'm so sorry, Petra!" Olivia squeaked. "We must've been too panicked to notice-!"

"It's okay, Jesse's got me," Petra quickly assured her.

The black-haired girl jumped into the air and wrapped her fingers around Petra's wrist, the other one seizing ahold of a fencepost. The tractor beam didn't move, and Jesse's feet began to rise off of the ground into the air, the fencepost starting to wobble. " _I can't... hold on...!_ " she cried out.

Petra's hands had started to shake a bit. "Or... maybe not..." she trailed off.

Jesse and Petra both screamed as the fencepost broke onscreen.

Reuben let out a terrified squeal. Lukas was actually perched on the edge of his seat while Petra was starting to bite her nails, trying to keep her teeth from chattering in fear. Jace had the girl next to him in a _death hug_ , Olivia's head buried firmly in her hands, while Axel had actually covered his eyes in fear. The rest of the audience was glued to the sight of the two of them rising into the air-

A hand barely missed grabbing Jesse's, and the black-haired girl's eyes widened and then narrowed as she drew her arm back and then shoved it out, firing a string that barely missed Gabriel's face. The warrior seized ahold of it and yanked down, drawing Jesse barely into arm's reach, before grabbing her hand and pulling downwards with all of his strength.

The tractor beam happened to move away right then, and all three of them toppled to the ground, Jesse scraping the silk off her hand in the process.

"Go, Gabriel!" Dan cheered, making the warrior smile sheepishly at him.

" _Thanks!_ " Jesse exclaimed to the warrior onscreen, and he nodded in return.

The others ran back over, having noticed that Petra and Jesse were in trouble. Jesse's eyes flicked over them rapidly, worry written all over her face as the grateful and relieved look she'd had only seconds before faded. " _Do we have everybody?_ " she asked, worriedly.

" _We must set out for my fortress. We'll be better protected there!_ " Gabriel shouted, before starting to run. Everyone else followed suit, running past the Enderman fireworks launcher at the entrance as it got sucked up into a tractor beam.

Onscreen, Petra looked over at Jesse with grateful eyes. " _Thanks for that just now, Jesse,_ " she panted out.

" _Yeah, well, now we're even-_ " Jesse cut off her own joking tone with a gasp, the screen whirling to face the Witherstorm, which had started to pursue them for some reason. A flaming skull shot out at them.

" _Incoming!_ " Petra yelled, tackling Jesse, Reuben, and herself to one side as the flaming skull blasted a crater in the street.

"Now you owe me again," Petra teased halfheartedly.

Scrambling to their feet, they all bolted again. Jesse had fallen behind the others, who were already out of the gate. Which is perhaps why the gate started closing.

"What are they even _doing?!_ " Olivia shouted, "all they're doing is trapping people in there! Jesse might be one of them!"

"Whose dumb idea was it to shut the gates anyway?!" Stacy grouched, as if anyone knew the answer.

" _Why in Notch's sake would they close the gates- this dumb thing can FLY!_ " Jesse yelled onscreen, leaning forward to run faster, but it was pretty obvious she wasn't going to make it-

She gasped as she tripped forward, the screen zooming in on her face as the sound of ripping fabric could be heard. Jesse's eyes flicked down, and she gasped as the screen whipped down to reveal-

"WHOA!" and Nell bolted upright. Not that she was the only one- the entire audience had similar reactions. Jesse herself looked downright shocked.

Onscreen, Jesse's hands slammed into the ground. All six of them. She stared down at her two new sets of arms, before shaking her head and looking back up, the gate nearly closed. Her eyes narrowed, and she bolted forward, using all eight of her limbs to propel herself across the ground, shooting out from the tiny space between the gate and ground moments before it slammed shut.

"Well, at least we're all out," Lukas sighed with relief. "I can only hope the same for the other Ocelots."

The Wither turned around to face the direction they'd been running, and started to hover in their direction.

"Wait- that thing is chasing us- _why_ is that thing _chasing_ us?" Jesse asked, eyes narrowing.

"Gabriel must've gotten out as well," Ivor said.

Gabriel twisted to glare at the black-haired man. "You got that thing to target me-?! Do you realize how- how _idiotic_ that is?!" he nearly shouted. Ivor would've replied, but the warrior had already turned back around to stare at the screen.

Jesse looked around onscreen to see Olivia bleeping out of sight and back in at different distances. She seemed a little dizzy, though, because she kept stumbling whenever she landed. Petra was gliding acutely, whenever landing using her legs to launch herself forward again and covering greater distance than she would've had she been sprinting.

"That," Nell spoke, "is _awesome._ "

"Agreed," Jesse said, although she was obviously still preoccupied.

Onscreen, Jesse looked around to see that Axel had scooped Reuben up and thrown him onto his back, having gone to all fours and now moving forward at a speed that most humans probably couldn't reach. Lukas was on all fours as he bolted forward, tripping every couple of steps on his tail, and everyone could see a pair of cat-like ears poking through his hair.

"Holy _crap_ ," Lukas summarized, goggling at the screen.

Jesse looked around some more- Gill and Aiden were dodging through the burning forest along with some of the other townspeople.

"Wait, where's Maya?" Jace asked, eyes narrowing in concern. The only female member of the Ocelots looked as though she was going to burst into tears any second now.

Jesse had caught up to where her friends were, and was barely able to exchange a nod with them before they all had to scatter as a black tentacle slammed into the ground where they'd all started clumping together.

Jesse shot back upright, staggering a step, before charging forward and leaping over the tentacle that had slammed down over her path, clearing it, stumbling upon landing, and bolting forward into the temple.

Gabriel was flipping levers with such intensity it was a bit of a surprise that none of them were broken as the others bolted down the steps. " _The inner chamber is made of obsidian- we should be untouchable in there!_ " he shouted as the doors slid open to reveal a room made totally of obsidian, a Nether Portal sitting in the center of the room. Before anything else could be said, purple light flooded into the room.

" _Hurry!_ " Gabriel yelled, drawing his sword, " _if you can get through the portal, you'll be safe!_ "

Axel charged through the unlit portal, but then paused on the other side when nothing happened. " _Uh, something's not right here!_ "

Jesse patted her pockets- and then again. Her eyes widened, and her mouth dropped open.

"That's- that's not a good sign, is it?" Lizzie asked, blue eyes narrowing in worry.

" _Oh_ crap! _"_ Jesse cried out onscreen, " _I must've dropped the flint and steel just now! I can't find it!_ "

Petra spewed out a twenty-word-long string of swears. Nobody bothered to get angry at her about it.

All five of them shared a panicked look, before Petra sighed and held her left arm out. Fire spit out of her palm and slammed into the Nether Portal, making a purple swirling curtain explode into being in the archway.

" _Petra-_ " Axel began, his eyes wide.

" _Look, I know that was freaky, but we don't have time to worry about it right now!_ " Petra almost screamed at him, gold eyes sparking in panic, " _get in,_ now!"

Axel scooped Reuben up- making the pig squeal in surprise- after about a moment's hesitation, and charged in through the portal, disappearing in a flash of purple light. Olivia was quick to follow.

But before Petra, Lukas, and Jesse could follow, there was a loud yell.

"Wait, we're the only ones who made it-?! What about Aiden and Gill?! They were in the crowd!" Petra almost yelled, bouncing in place from where she was seated on the armchair.

Jesse whirled around to see Gabriel getting towed out of the obsidian room by a tentacle. " _Gabriel!_ " she yelled, running back and engaging in a game of tug-of-war with the tentacle, feet skidding across the ground as she yanked with all her might.

Her lower arms twitched, making her look down at them, before they reached out and seized Gabriel by the forearms. She struggled for a moment more, before yanking him out of the tentacle's grip, the tentacle choosing to retreat rather than following Gabriel and knocking down two people trying to make their way inside.

" _Thank you,"_ Gabriel thanked the girl, looking surprisingly unsurprised about Jesse's extra arms, before turning back to the doorway, expression growing more somber. " _There are so many of them... I can't- I can't save them all... I can't stop this by myself. We have to find the others._ "

"Er... others?" Magnus asked, sounding a little worried. "Please tell me you know another group of legendary heroes..."

Jesse blinked at him rapidly, green eye flickering with worry. " _The... others?_ " she asked, slowly.

" _Soren's been missing for years,_ " Gabriel continued, " _but the others- you must seek them out._ "

"Nope, he means us. Fantastic."

Gabriel reached into his pocket and pulled out an amulet. There was a blue gem encircled with gold in the circle, surrounded by four crystals and a darker ring, before some small protuberances of gold on the end of each crystal finished the look. There was a red gem, a green one, a cyan one, and a white one. The cyan gem was glowing brightly. " _Take this amulet, and guard it with your life._ "

Jesse took it, looking at it with this supremely confused look. " _Wh-what do I do with it?"_ she asked.

" _Take it through the portal, and then-_ "

He was interrupted by a tremendous smashing sound, both of them looking up as a tentacle smashed through the ceiling, one of the heads peering in. Jesse dove out of the way as it slammed down between her and Gabriel, cracking the ground with the force it hit the floor with. Petra let out a yell, and Jesse whipped around to see the redhead getting knocked away with another one.

Jesse charged and slammed it away, and although it didn't do much damage, it was enough to keep the Wither at bay for a few moments.

Lukas let out a scream, quaking near the portal, his ears flattened against his head. Petra rushed up and slashed a tentacle away from him, Jesse skidding up to them a minute later.

" _You two, go through the portal and meet up with the others,_ " Petra ordered them. " _I'll stay behind to do whatever I can._ "

"Petra, no! You're gonna get yourself killed!" Axel yelled.

Petra started to run back into the fray, pausing when neither of them moved. " _Guys, GO! Now!_ "

" _I'll stay with you_ -" Jesse began, but Petra was quick to cut her off.

" _No. The others_ need _you, Jesse,_ " she responded firmly. " _I'll meet you guys at the temple!_ "

Another yell, and they all whipped around to see the warrior caught up in a tractor beam. Petra and Jesse both charged towards him, but suddenly indigo light hit Petra, and the redhead started rising into the air with a panicked scream.

"Oh no!" Olivia gasped.

" _NO!_ " Jesse shouted, whirling around again. " _Lukas!_ "

She stopped a minute later- Lukas was shaking so hard he was nearly vibrating, eyes so wide they were the size of bowling balls, his hair and tail standing on end in pure fright.

"Oh, Notch, you froze," Olivia goggled, staring at Real-Lukas, "you _froze..._ "

"Grab one of them, quick!" Dan yelled, flailing his arms and nearly hitting Stampy in the face.

Jesse bit her lip, looking frantically from Gabriel to Petra, before jumping up and grabbing Petra by the leg, heaving her back down to the floor and both of them landing flat on their backs.

Petra breathed a sigh of relief. "Thanks, Jess."

" _Thanks, Jesse. Gabriel's still up there-!_ " Petra exclaimed onscreen, her eyes widening.

Jesse scrambled to her feet and shoved out her palm, but just as the string started firing, a tentacle came slamming down next to her and she jumped, making the string fly off target. She gritted her teeth and ripped it off, getting ready to try again. Gabriel twisted around. " _Jesse! Go!_ " he yelled at her.

" _No!_ " Jesse repeated, running for him and raising her hand to try again-

A tentacle came flying out of nowhere and slammed right into Jesse, sending her flying backwards, slamming straight into Lukas and knocking the both of them into the portal. The screen blacked out.

"Oh Notch," Jesse whispered, her arms wrapped tightly around Reuben. "Oh Notch, I hope everyone's gonna be okay..."

"I'm sure I'll be fine. I've survived too much to die now," Petra said, although her hands tightening on the armchair's arms said otherwise.

* * *

 **A/N: Welp this happened xD I literally cannot wait to write the next chapter.**

 **RQTC: How did you discover MCSM?**

 **Guest: Mmmm the second one. I like Endermen better. (No offense to those who like creepers more xD)**

 **Meow Shadow: Hehehe xD I'm glad you like this so much! And no spoilers, alrighty? x3 You'll find out once I get to that point and not one minute before then xD And cool! Haha, I know what you mean, reviews are like that sometimes.**

 **ahnjoseph87: Hahaha xD Here's another chapter. And thank you! I'm glad people are enjoying it. It's interesting to try to invent stuff so that the scenes flow together more smoothly.**

 **Emily The Avenger: Nice! xD And I'm really glad you like the story so far.**

 **AquaK13: Heehee x3**

 **MissyMattingly: Thank you! I really like writing, so it's fun to write stuff like this.**

 **Guest: Heehee x3**

 **Kaos Ruin: The Jesse everyone else knows is the Male Jesse, but since the main Jesse of Hybrid is female, I had to figure out a way to incorporate her properly.**

 **LittleAngelbun: Nice dude x3**

 **rebekahtpe: (cracks up) Yeah, best one ever. Heehee xD I'm glad people like it so much. And Pine. Definitely Pine. Don't ask me why though xD**

 **S4SH4L4SH4theGaMeR101: Niiiice. xD I do that too. And yeah, haha xD**

 **RapidSammi: Coolio x3 And wow, you've reread it more times than I have xD**

 **Guest: Nice, and thank you!**

 **sailor. mikuchan: That's good! I'm glad to hear it!**

 **J.M.M.: (laughs)**

 **x.X. A.L. X.x**


	17. Guilt

The screen faded back in to Jesse and Lukas toppling backwards out of the portal and hitting the ground hard. They slowly got to their feet as the screen zoomed out to show Olivia, Axel, and Reuben waiting for them. The ground seemed to be made out of some strange... stone... thing, and lava and fire surrounded them thickly.

" _Where's Petra?_ " Axel asked.

Lukas's face was pure _white_ with fear. He was also starting to tremble violently, ears drooping so that they flattened against his head. " _I'm sorry_ ," he whispered, staring into space, " _oh, Notch, I'm_ sorry."

Jesse simply shook her head and opened her mouth to say something, but all that came out was a gasp.

"Oh, jeez," Lukas said, rubbing his head and wincing, "I'm really sorry I wasn't able to help you out there, Jesse."

"It's fine," Jesse said immediately, "I'm sure Petra is fine." Her voice faltered a second later. "Well, at least, I mean I _hope_ she is..."

" _What are you saying?_ " Axel asked.

Jesse shook her head again, as if not sure what to say. Olivia picked up this time, fear practically saturating her voice. " _Jesse? What's he talking about?_ "

The black-haired girl cleared her throat, a bit shakily, before answering. " _It- it was chaos. There- there wasn't much I could do_ ," she said finally, voice shaking slightly.

Lukas nodded, still staring into blank space. " _Jesse's right_ ," he said faintly.

" _Petra's still up there_ ," Jesse finished, all six of her arms crossing within their sets, making her shiver a bit, as if she was unused to the sensation.

" _I got scared,_ " Lukas admitted finally in a whisper, lifting his eyes to meet them all in the eye, his face still the shade of paper. " _Just for a second._ "

Axel's eyes hardened. " _You got_ scared? _"_ He stepped towards the ocelot hybrid, who took a step back, starting to shake again.

" _I'm sorry,_ " and Lukas's voice cracked as he repeated, " _oh Notch, I'm_ sorry."

" _You got scared and all you can say is you're_ sorry? _"_ Axel growled.

"Easy, big guy," Petra said quickly. "It could've happened to anyone. Besides, I wasn't going to go through the portal anyways, remember?"

Axel didn't answer, eyes narrowing at the screen.

" _Back off, Axel,_ " Olivia put in, as Jesse went over and put her hand on Lukas's shoulder. He stopped shaking and turned to look up at her. She gently tugged on his arm and pulled him back to his feet as Axel stomped towards the portal.

 _"We gotta go back._ "

Olivia stepped in front of it, blocking his path. " _No!_ " she protested, " _we just have to wait. Think about what you're walking into._ "

Jesse nodded in agreement. " _Olivia's right. There's nothing we can do. We'd all just end up getting ourselves killed. Besides, Petra's tough. She's half Blaze. She'll be fine._ "

"Yeah, what she said," Petra said, giving Axel a smile. "I appreciate that you'd go back for me, but I'm kinda glad they stopped you."

Axel just sighed. "I hope you don't get yourself killed."

" _Maybe... but..._ " Axel was suddenly cut off by Lukas, who was pointing at the portal. " _Hey! There she is!_ " the blonde exclaimed.

The purple swirls in the archway swayed and wobbled, indicating someone was coming through.

" _Come on, come on..._ " Jesse whispered, staring at the portal hopefully.

But it wasn't Petra who fell through the portal. No, who fell through the portal was the man who'd started the whole mess in the first place. Jesse's hopeful look fell as Ivor scrambled to his feet.

"Ivor?" Soren asked, sounding surprised.

Ivor's eyes hardened into a glare upon seeing who was standing there. " _You again?_ " he sneered.

Whatever anyone would've said next, it was interrupted as a tentacle thrashed through the opening and curled in on itself, grabbing at thin air. Jesse dove out of the way with a shriek, Axel fell on his bottom in surprise and scooted away, Olivia bleeped several feet away in a spray of sparks, and Lukas let out a yowl as he bolted several feet away, hair standing up on end.

The tentacle thwacked against the side of the portal, wrapping around it and squeezing. The portal cracked, purple warping, before falling apart completely, the tentacle vanishing back through it moments before it disappeared altogether.

The audience gaped.

"Oh _no_ ," Olivia groaned. "How is anyone supposed to get through? How's _Petra_ supposed to get through?"

"I guess we'll have to find a different way," Petra said softly.

Onscreen, the group stared at the portal in varying levels of horror, Jesse slowly catching her breath and looking at Ivor.

He caught her eye and glowered at her. " _You ruined_ everything," he accused her.

Jesse's fists tightened, and she stared at the ground.

"Oh, crud," Jesse sighed, leaning forward onto one elbow. "Looks like I'm about to start blaming myself for everything."

"Do you do that?" Jace asked her.

Jesse let out a short bark of laughter. "Yeah. When things go _really_ wrong, I manage to convince myself that I'm the reason everything got so messed up. I guess that's 'cause of the way I was raised, I guess."

Unnoticed by her, several members of the audience arched their eyebrows at each other.

Jesse bit her lip onscreen as Ivor continued, just as harshly as before, " _Don't pretend you didn't know,_ thief. _You took my most valuable potion and what should've been my moment of triumph!_ "

" _I- I didn't take it!_ " Jesse protested, but her voice had dropped to a whisper, and it was obvious she was starting to tremble. She dashed her hand across her eyes, her fists clenching even more tightly. " _I didn't take the potion- you're the one who set off a Wither in a theater full of people!_ "

" _A Wither I could control,_ " Ivor corrected, " _until you showed up! There's nothing left up there! Nothing but that Wither Storm._ "

"Witherstorm... huh, kinda a catchy name," Magnus hummed.

Ellegaard glared at him. "Really? You're doing that NOW?"

"What? It is!"

Jesse shook her head again, making her barrette slip down and a curtain of hair drop in front of her face. " _I... didn't do anything..._ " Her voice faltered and broke at the end.

Olivia blinked and then looked worried. " _Jesse...? Are you okay?_ " she asked, sounding slightly alarmed.

Jesse reached up, before pulling her hand away to see sparkling droplets on her fingers- she'd started to cry. She quickly rubbed her arm over her eyes to get rid of the rest of the tears. " _Y-yeah_."

" _Why are we wasting time talking to this jerk?_ " Axel asked, putting an arm around Jesse and giving her what was probably supposed to be a comforting squeeze, but what really made Jesse squeak as he squashed some of the air out of her.

Jesse chuckled faintly and shook her head. Axel grinned sheepishly at her.

" _We have to go Petra-_ "

Ivor's eyes widened. " _The girl! I saw her._ "

" _What?_ " Lukas asked immediately, his head snapping back up to look at the man.

" _While I was running towards the portal, I passed her. She was running in the opposite direction. Such bravery._ " A short pause. " _Of course, there's a fine line between bravery and stupidity._ "

Jace's eyes hardened.

" _And your friend has crossed it._ "

Jesse shook her head, pulling the left wave of hair out of the way of her face, a nearly blank frown on her face. " _Don't talk about her like that_ ," she said, in a low and scary voice that had the barest quiver to it from crying just now. Her blood-red eye glowed, and in the hellish landscape of the Nether, dramatic warped shadows were being thrown over her face.

"That- that is _creepy_ ," Cassie said, shivering a little bit. "That is _really_ creepy, you know that?"

"Oh Notch yeah, I'm fully aware," Jesse agreed, shivering a little herself.

Ivor started back for a moment, looking taken aback, before regaining his composure. Jesse adjusted her barrette back into place and let go of her left wave of hair again as he spoke. " _Through that tunnel-_ " he pointed at said tunnel- " _is a network of minecarts built by the Order of the Stone. It's your only way out._ "

"Wait, so he's helping us now?" Olivia looked a bit confused. "I'm starting to think he's bipolar or something."

"I'm perfectly sane, thank you," Ivor snapped back at her.

"I never said you weren't," Olivia replied, deceptively calmly.

" _... I guess we should head that way,_ " Axel agreed grudgingly a moment later.

Lukas nodded. " _Time's a-wasting, let's go._ "

Jesse turned to look at Ivor oddly. " _What about you?_ "

" _What about me?_ "

Jesse spread all six of her arms out in a questioning motion. " _How are you going to get out of here?_ " she clarified.

"Yeah, how do we know you're not luring them into some kind of trap?" Petra asked, narrowing her eyes at Ivor.

Ivor rolled his eyes. "Why would I even need to bother? They'd probably die faster _without_ me leading them into some sort of trap."

"Was that meant to be _comforting_ , or...?" Jesse asked, giving him a bewildered look.

" _I'll use my imagination,_ " Ivor responded sarcastically.

Jesse glared at him, but before she could snap at him, a sound like a child whimpering or crying cut through the air. All of the teenagers immediately looked around. " _What was that?_ " Axel wondered.

"Um..." Petra scratched her head, looking slightly awkward. "Very, very bad news."

" _I would wish you good luck,_ " Ivor said, turning back to the group, " _but luck won't carry you through the Nether. You have my sympathies._ "

Jesse rolled her eyes at him. " _Gee, that's so much more valuable. Thank you so much,_ " she snarked back.

Jace chuckled at the black-haired girl's sarcasm. She smiled back at him.

Ivor took out a potion and drank it, pink swirls of smoke wisping off of him as he began to glow. And then, suddenly, he was gone, the empty potion bottle clinking to the floor.

The cry sounded again, and they all turned to see a big, white monster floating up behind them. Jesse let out a little gasp as it made another sound, but sounding much angrier, and the eyes opened, revealing glowing red orbs that rivaled Jesse's.

"Oh Notch," Gill said. "Is that what I think it is?"

"Probably," Ellegaard said in a faint sort of voice. "That, my acquaintances, is a ghast."

Jesse and the others started backing away from it as it stared at them. " _Run?_ " Jesse asked conversationally.

" _Run,_ " Olivia agreed, just as conversationally, before they all turned tail and bolted for the tunnel Ivor had pointed out, the ghast floating after them. Passing a zombie pigman, they skidded to a stop at a little hill, where six minecarts sat on some tracks. Without a word, they bolted for the minecarts, just as a fireball slammed into the area above it and made several of the stone-like blocks topple to the ground.

Jesse vaulted into the one behind Reuben, Lukas jumping in a moment later and crouching on the floor of his, Olivia bleeping into sight into the one behind him, and Axel gave the carts a good hard shove before hopping into his. The carts started moving, before hitting some powered rails and practically leaping away from the area, the ghast giving angry little cries behind them but giving no indication of following them.

The screen faded to black.

* * *

 **A/N: Ohhhhh that was such a fun chapter to write. Hard to write in Jesse's crying naturally, but I think I did okay xD**

 **I just realized I never answered the RQTC of the last chapter. It was a recommended app in the Washington Post xD so I decided to buy it.**

 **RQTC: Chocolate or vanilla?**

 **Chocolate.**

 **S4SH4L4SH4theGaMeR101: Glad you like it so far!**

 **Guest: Nice! I haven't watched Stacy before, but nice!**

 **AquaK13: That's cool!**

 **MissyMattingly: Cool, cool :3**

 **Kaos Ruin: Nope, it's more like she's from a different timeline where they don't exist... I think xD I'm literally making this part up as I go, so xD**

 **Luna96: That was an excellent decision xD**

 **Meow Shadow: Cool! And sure, of course I don't mind :3**

 **sailor. mikuchan: (laughs)**

 **RapidSammi: (joins in on the screaming)**

 **DynamiteHunter6: Here you go!**

 **x.X. A.L. X.x**


	18. Deadly Roller Coasters

The screen came back in to the whole group riding over a huge ocean of lava, passing several lava falls. It was oddly beautiful... in a really, REALLY dangerous way.

" _Wow,_ " Lukas breathed, looking around with his hands perched on the edges of the minecart. " _The Nether._ "

" _Yeah,_ " Olivia agreed, looking around a bit herself. " _That's a lot of lava. And fire. And other things that could burn you to death."_

Lizzie made this odd little choking sound that sounded a bit like a laugh.

Suddenly, Reuben let out this terrified squeal and crouched into his minecart. Jesse's face went pale as well. " _Oh gosh,_ " she said, quietly.

"What? What's wrong?" Dan asked, practically bouncing in his seat and making the other YouTubers bounce as well inadvertently.

The screen zoomed out to reveal this very long, very steep drop.

"Oh." Soren winced and rubbed his head. "I remember that part."

" _Oh, that is a drop,_ " Lukas said, eyes widening and his ears flattening against his head again, " _that is very, very much a drop._ "

" _What are you talking about, new guys? What droooOH_ crap! _You weren't kidding,_ " Axel exclaimed, his own eyes widening. Reuben let out an oink of agreement at this.

" _Get ready!_ " Jesse warned them, before the carts suddenly dropped forward at an alarmingly fast speed. The screen slowed down and gave them a good look at their faces, almost like the rides at amusement parts. Axel had his hands in the air, Lukas's knuckles had turned white and his ears were flattened against his head, Olivia had slapped her hands over her eyes, Jesse's eyes were wide, and Reuben looked utterly terrified.

"Oh man, look at their faces!" Maya laughed, although she didn't look like she was making fun of any of them.

"I would like a picture of that," Stampy agreed, grinning.

They slammed into the bottom and barreled forward, still rushing along at high speeds. Rocketing into a tunnel, there was a low wall blocking space for their heads. _"Oh_ no, _"_ Jesse groaned, " _who puts this stuff in?!_ "

"Yeah, why _did_ you put that stuff in?" Jace asked, twisting around to look at the Order.

Ellegaard shrugged sheepishly. "We didn't use that track all that often. Besides, we all knew it was there, and none of us bothered to go out and fix it."

Onscreen, the whole group ducked down with a yelp or yell. When the wall passed, Jesse sat back up and turned to look at her friends, but another wall was rushing up.

" _Watch out!_ " Olivia screamed, and Jesse ducked down just in time.

They shot out of the tunnel and were rushing over the sea of lava again, but this time they were headed straight for a lava fall. " _Okay,_ " Axel squeaked in an unnaturally high-pitched voice, " _so, I'm not the only one who sees that we're running out of track, right?_ "

" _No_ ," Lukas replied.

" _Good!_ "

"Okay, why'd you put THAT in?!" Jesse exclaimed, turning to look at the Order of the Stone.

"To keep out intruders," Gabriel replied.

"Yeah, well you could try not to _kill_ the intruders in the process!" Jesse yelped, flailing her arms and nearly smacking Axel in the face.

Onscreen, Jesse shifted and leaned out as far to one side as she could upon spotting a lever. " _Ohh, boy..._ "

" _Jesse!_ " Olivia shouted, " _that switch! Flip it! Now!_ "

Jesse bit her lip, and then leaned out as far as she seemed to dare, her fingers barely whizzing over it as she missed- the audience gasped.

One of her lower arms flailed out and slammed right into the lever, making the minecarts screech to a violent stop, making all of the passengers jolt slightly from the impact. The screen zoomed out to show hundreds of thousands of pistons beginning to retract, dropping the minecart lower and lower.

Jesse giggled nervously, still shivering from just a moment before. " _Haha, wow! I thought we were going to die there, but, I guess everything's WHOA!_ " The last part came from the carts starting to move forward again, but splitting up and taking unexpected turns, the passengers all letting out surprised yells.

"She jinxed it," Petra called out.

Jesse found herself alone on the track with one empty cart. She looked around anxiously. " _Um... Axel? Olivia? Lukas? Reuben? Hello?_ " she called into the emptiness, her voice echoing back slightly.

A squeal cut through the air, and she twisted to see Reuben squealing in fear as a skeleton towered above him in the cart, arrow pointed at the pig.

" _What in- okay_ ," and Jesse stood up quickly as the cart turned so that she was only feet away from the skeleton, her cart right alongside Reuben's. " _Hang in there, Reuben!_ "

She whipped out the gold sword Petra had given her, eyes hardening, firelight glinting off the blade, before lashing out and smacking the sword straight into the skeleton, which turned to her, bow drawn and aimed right at her face. She sliced through the string, making the bow's limbs straighten out violently and twang uselessly out of the skeleton's hands, before slamming the blade right into its ribs and knocking it out of the cart and into the lava below.

"Nice one, Jesse!" and Axel high-fived the girl over Jace's head.

" _Reuben!_ " Jesse called out, sounding relieved, sword still out. Reuben let out his own pleased squeal and hopped into the empty cart behind her. Well, now it wasn't empty, because it was full of little pink pig, but- you get the point!

" _Okay, so, I know I said- well, I was trying to say- that everything would be okay?_ "

Petra groaned, jumped out of her seat, and punched Jesse on the shoulder, making the black-haired girl flinch with a yelp. "Stop jinxing it!"

"I can't help it! I'm an optimistic person!"

" _Well, I was wrong then, but I have a good feeling about oh_ ships of the ocean," Jesse transferred straight into a groan as a ghast went flying straight over her head before turning to face the two of them, two other ghasts blocking it.

"Wow, you've got to have the _worst_ luck _ever_ , Jesse," Lukas said, wincing.

"That's... incredibly inconvenient," Otto agreed.

The short girl threw her hands into the air with this frustrated grunt. " _Notchdammit!_ " she snapped.

The middle ghast shot a fireball at her, and Jesse automatically ducked down, one hand bracing herself on the minecart rim and the other one holding her sword. The fireball rebounded off her sword and hit the ghast, injuring it.

"Or... maybe not."

" _Right!_ " Jesse said, eyes hardening, and she stood back up, swinging her sword to block the next fireball and sending it flying back at the ghast, killing it. " _Now that I think about it, it's like a game of baseball._ " A short pause as she smacked away another fireball. " _Albeit a rather deadly game of baseball._ "

This prompted several laughs from the audience.

As the last ghast rose up to shoot another fireball, Jesse smacked it back, but her sword slipped out of her hands, making her gasp. Olivia squeaked and tightened her grip on Axel's arm, making the burly boy wince in pain. Her lower arm grabbed the sword, and tossed it back up to the upper set just in time for Jesse to send one last fireball flying and kill the last ghast.

"Way to go, Jesse!" Olivia cheered, her hands relaxing.

"Who knew you had it in ya? You look like you couldn't hurt a living creature," Petra said, grinning.

Honestly, she probably deserved that pillow that got chucked at her head for some reason or another.

"Oh, come on," Aiden scoffed, "I could beat five of those things with one arm tied behind my back."

"You wanna try? We can spawn some in here and-" Isa asked sharply, obviously tired of hearing his bragging. Aiden's eyes widened and he shook his head and hands quickly.

"No! No. I'm good."

"Thought so."

Jesse let out a relieved sigh onscreen and sheathed her sword. " _Whew- okay- not dead. That's pretty good,_ " she gasped, before turning around to see her pig, who popped out of the minecart he'd been hiding in. " _Well, Ghasts are officially off my to-see list._ "

Petra let out a groan. Jesse gave her a sheepish grin.

" _Done with 'em. Never need to see them again ahhhh crap._ " The last two words came from her spotting a ghast watching her through a hole in the wall, before turning a corner to see the ghast hovering near the track, which went up... and up...

And then ran out entirely.

"Oh _come on!_ " Lizzie exclaimed, "why is _that_ in there?!"

Magnus cleared his throat. "That- ah- that was an accident."

Jesse stared at him, before turning back to the screen. "Magnus, if I die because of this, I'm expecting you to pay for my tombstone."

The ghast shot another fireball at them, and Reuben hopped out of his cart and into Jesse's lap. Just in time, too, because the fireball blasted the empty minecart behind them into the lava. " _This is bad, this is bad, this is very, very, VERY bad,_ " Jesse practically chanted as the cart started gaining speed and going up the track, all six of her hands tightening on the minecart so hard that her knuckles were white.

Olivia covered her eyes again.

Jesse let out a scream as the cart soared right off the tracks, right past the ghast's uncaring face as it slowly turned to watch them, before the cart slowly started to obey the laws of gravity and slammed back down onto some more tracks, connecting to the ones in front of them with a bang.

Lukas, Olivia, and Axel swiveled in the same direction to stare at them.

"We're alive!" Axel cheered.

"Thank Notch for that," Jesse sighed, leaning into Jace with a hand over her thudding heart.

Ellegaard hummed. "Oh, yes, I remember that track. It was the first one we made. Although we stopped using it after Magnus _blew it up_ ," and she sent a glare in his direction.

"I _said_ I was sorry!"

Jesse was panting, her eyes wide. " _Is... is everyone okay?_ " she asked, when she seemed to have regained her voice.

There was a short pause.

Everyone slowly turned to face the front again, Axel's face pale. " _I mean, I'm not_ dead. _I guess that's pretty good."_

" _Ditto_ ," Olivia said shakily, " _ditto on the 'not dead'._ "

" _I can't believe Petra comes down here all the time,_ " Lukas said faintly, his ears flattened against his head again. " _This place is awful._ "

Petra shrugged noncommittally but didn't say anything.

A second later, Lukas joked, sounding extremely faint, " _Your throat's gonna be sore later, Axel._ "

" _Why?_ "

" _I'm just saying, wasn't that you doing all that screaming before? Sounds like you were really shredding your larynx,"_ Lukas said, his ears slowly perking back up.

" _Oh yeah,_ " and Olivia turned to look at Lukas again, " _I heard that too. Really high-pitched? Sounded like a squeaky piston?_ "

" _What? No. Shut up,_ " Axel said, his cheeks turning faintly pink.

Real Olivia and Lukas laughed a bit, Axel playfully glaring at them both.

" _Never mind,_ " Lukas said, although he was definitely smiling faintly now. " _Must've been something else._ "

Jesse regained control of her vocal cords at this point. " _You know those experiences that people reminisce on and talk about for the rest of their lives?_ " she asked, conversationally.

"Where's Jesse going with that?" Maya wondered.

Onscreen, the rest of the group slowly nodded, obviously wondering the same thing.

Jesse's face went perfectly deadpan. " _This is not one of those. Let's never speak of this again._ "

"Oh."

" _I think I'd be okay with that,_ " Olivia agreed.

The minecarts rattled on, and the screen blacked out.

Jesse heaved a relieved sigh and flopped down backwards onto the carpet. "Okay... none of us are dead yet. That's pretty good," she said, absentmindedly testing her pulse.

"But what about redhead here? We don't know if she's okay," Magnus said, pointing at Petra.

"Her name is Petra," Cassie said, pointedly gesturing at her own red hair. "Please do not refer to her as 'the redhead'."

"Thank you!" Petra said.

* * *

 **A/N: I has a YouTube channel now! Look up 'Ariza Luca' in the search box and you'll find me :3**

 **RQTC: ... I don't actually have one this chapter xD**

 **Meow Shadow: I'm glad you like it! And I actually just am going off of Hybrid's dialogue and changing it slightly whenever I feel like it's being rushed or it doesn't fit well.**

 **LittleAngelbun: I like Sherbet too xD**

 **RapidSammi: (laughs) I can't wait to keep writing this, honestly. Hopefully that'll answer your questions xD**

 **AquaK13: oh noes, does this chapter fix the insanity?**

 **Kaos Ruin: (laughs) Okay, cool.**

 **Emily The Avenger: (laughs)**

 **S4SH4L4SH4theGaMeR101: Nope xD and neither can I, haha!**

 **sailor. mikuchan: Noice :3**

 **Guest: No spoilers xD**

 **MissyMattingly: Cool :3**

 **x.X. A.L. X.x**


	19. Spider Cookies(better than Spider Donut)

The screen came back in to them climbing out of the minecarts and going up a small flight of steps. " _Can you throw up inside your body?_ " Jesse asked as she climbed out.

Olivia nodded. " _Uh huh. I know, because I just did. About five times._ "

The group reached the top to see a circle of land, multiple minecart tracks leading to and from it. Archways were looping over each other above them, and Jesse looked around, her eyes practically sparkling. " _Wow!_ " she breathed, " _wow, wow, wow, wow! Just_ look _at this place!_ "

"Agreed with Jesse- that's amazing," Lukas called out, raising his hand like a schoolboy. Jesse laughed, making him grin slightly.

Olivia looked just as awed, her right eye seeming even brighter than before and the skin around the eye having gotten a bit darker. " _All of these tracks converge at this point,_ " she said, looking around. " _You could probably get anywhere in the world from here!_ "

Ellegaard nodded. "Yes, you can. It took years to build- mainly because _I_ was the one doing most of the work," and this was said with a pointed glare at her teammates.

"Hey, I helped!" Soren said, sounding affronted.

"We helped with _some_ of it," Gabriel defended himself.

" _There's the portal!_ " Lukas called out, and indeed, there was the Nether Portal, looking just as nice as the one that had been destroyed. It was also lit up, so that was one less thing they needed to worry about.

" _This is what Gabriel was talking about,_ " Lukas said with a nod.

Axel started walking towards the portal. " _That's our way out!_ " he exclaimed.

" _It must lead back up to the surface..._ " Olivia mused, crossing her arms.

Lukas's ears suddenly flattened, as a worried look crossed his face. " _The surface is also where that creature is._ "

At this, Axel came to a sudden halt, only a good foot from the portal.

" _Oh, crap, he's right,_ " and Jesse touched her lip with a small frown. " _We have no clue what we're walking walking into. It could be... really dangerous..._ "

"Jesse should probably go first," Soren said. "She's the only one with a sword."

"Axel can explode, though, remember?" Stacy asked. "Wouldn't he be fine?"

"I'm not sure he can control it, though," Petra mumbled, narrowing her eyes at the screen.

"Oh, true..."

Axel bit his lip and turned back to the portal. " _Okay... I guess I have to go through now. I'm going. I'm... going right now,_ " he said, sounding nervous. He didn't move one inch though.

He suddenly yelped as Jesse threw her arms around his neck in a sudden hug attack, making him stumble back a step. " _I call dibs on going first!_ " she called out jokingly.

He pouted at her, although his eyes practically shone with gratitude. " _That's not what I was saying,_ " he whined a bit, but everyone could tell he was faking.

"That was nice of you, Jesse," Lukas said.

The black-haired girl gave Axel a pat on the shoulder. "Hey, he's my friend, right? That's nothing."

Jesse let go of him and poked him in the bis playfully. " _Too bad, I just called dibs,_ " she teased him, making him grin at her. " _Besides, I've got the six arms. I'll be fine!_ "

She moved in front of Axel, staring into the swirling purple doorway, before turning to look back at everyone else. " _Welp, see you guys on the other side, I suppose._ "

" _Be careful,_ " Olivia said, looking and sounding concerned.

" _Thanks, Jesse,_ " Axel added.

With that, Jesse turned around, took a deep breath, and walked right into the purple.

She walked out of the other side and made a splashing sound, looking down. She was in an ankle-deep body of water in the nighttime, a smaller waterfall forming the pool of water she'd just stepped into, which flowed over the cliff into two separate waterfalls which went who knew how far.

"Huh. That's... not a temple," Olivia hummed.

"The temple's not that far from there," Soren said dismissively. "It's just a security measure to make sure people don't break in."

" _Huh. Not what I was expecting,_ " Jesse hummed, stepping further into the water, before a zombie seemed to appear to her side. Her head snapped up at the first groan, and she looked around at it.

Axel blinked. "Oh. Good thing I didn't go first, I guess."

With a yelp, Jesse sent another string of silk at the zombie. The moment the string had attached, Jesse was twisting and using the string as a sort of lasso to hurl the zombie over the edge of the waterfall, ripping the silk off and then letting it go, letting the long string of white trail like a veil as the zombie fell who knew how far.

"Radical, brah!" Nell cheered.

"I'm assuming at this point that radical means something along the lines of 'awesome' and not the dictionary definition, so thank you, I think," Jesse said, shooting her a smile.

Axel stepped through the portal, blinking as he saw Jesse pulling off the rest of the silk that was still attached to her hand. She looked up at him when she heard the sound of him stepping through. " _There was a zombie_ ," she offered by way of explanation, as she walked over to some stairs leading out of the water.

" _Oh. Is it dead?_ " he asked.

Jesse shrugged as she shook some of the water off of her dungarees. " _I mean, I tossed it over the edge, so I don't know. Most likely it is...?_ "

Olivia and Lukas followed through the portal a minute later, all of them climbing back onto the grass and looking around at the trees and grass surrounding them. " _Where are we?_ " Olivia finally asked.

" _In the dark. In what seems like... the middle of nowhere,_ " Jesse said finally, looking around at their landscape but finding nothing of interest.

" _Maybe we should bed down for the night,_ " Lukas suggested, " _it's dangerous to be out when it's this dark._ "

"That's probably the best idea," Petra said. "Better to go find the portal in the morning, when it's light and there aren't monsters wandering everywhere."

" _Though we were heading towards a temple,_ " Axel retorted.

Olivia simply shrugged at the faintly accusing tone in his voice. " _We're looking for a giant building. It should be pretty obvious._ "

" _Ivor said-_ "

Axel cut Lukas off. " _Ohh, 'Ivor said'. Well then maybe this is the temple._ " There was a moment's pause. " _I'm being sarcastic._ "

"Uh oh," Harper winced. "I think the shock's wearing off." When she got several odd looks, she explained, "since Lukas is a member of the same group that pretty much bullies Jesse and her friends, it's likely that now they're not in a dangerous situation, her friends are going to be... unpleasant towards him."

" _Axel, c'mon,_ " Olivia said, frowning at the creeper hybrid.

Jesse quickly cut in, cutting off whatever Axel had just opened his mouth to retort. " _We have to build a shelter,_ " she said quickly.

Lukas blinked at this. " _I... thought that was what I said, but... um..._ "

" _Let's just build a hut,_ " Jesse decided after a moment. " _We can just block the entrance up with some dirt blocks. It's only for one night, anyways._ "

" _Yeah_ ," Axel agreed. " _A treehouse'll be spider town. I hate spiders._ "

Jesse sent Axel a perfectly deadpan look. This made Real-Jesse laugh and Axel rub his head sheepishly with an odd grin at this. Axel seemed to realize his mistake onscreen and backpedaled. " _I mean, except for you, Jesse. I mean, you're not trying to suck our blood or anything like that. Don't spiders eat like that?_ "

Jesse rolled her eyes and then put her arm in front of her face, imitating having lifted a cape to block her face. " _I vant to suck your blood,_ " she joked.

This prompted a small round of laughter from the audience, even though they were all still incredibly tense and a bit nervous.

She dropped her arm and the weird Transylvanian accent while turning to look at Olivia and Lukas. " _This'll probably be faster, anyways,_ " she added.

The two of them just shrugged. The screen sped up so that the hut was built in a matter of seconds, once again, before they all trotted inside. Jesse stacked two dirt blocks in front of the 'door'. " _And... there. No monsters can get in here now._ "

There was a short pause in the darkness of the hut, before suddenly there was a spray of sparks, and a torch came flickering to life. Lukas was staring with this extremely perturbed look at his hands.

Mainly because he now had _claws_.

"Oh, wow. You're getting more cat-like by the minute," Jesse joked faintly, making Lukas grin weakly at her.

The screen slowly faded so that there was now a small fire in the center of the hut. Jesse and Olivia were sitting right next to it, Reuben sitting in Jesse's lap. The screen changed to show Axel standing with his back to the fire, and Lukas sitting in a corner a few feet away from everyone else. All of them had their arms crossed over their stomachs.

"When was the last time we ate, anyway?" Jesse suddenly wondered. "I mean, with Endercon, and all that running around..."

Abruptly, Axel's voice cut through the awkward silence. " _Oh man!_ "

" _What?_ " Olivia asked the burly male, his back still to all of them.

" _I'm going to tell you something, but you have to PROMISE not to freak out,_ " Axel said, still not facing any of them.

Jesse tilted her head and blinked at him innocently. " _What?_ "

"Okay, no, seriously, you _don't_ look like you could hurt a living being," Sparklez spoke up suddenly.

Jesse shot him a joking glare. "Gee, thanks."

He turned back around to show that he had a handful of cookies. " _I have_ cookies."

"Oh. There you go. You won't starve, at least," Petra said.

Axel trotted over to the group, putting one cookie in his pocket. " _One for me._ " He handed one over to Olivia, and then another one to Jesse. " _One for Olivia. One for Jesse._ "

" _Thanks, Axel_ ," Jesse said gratefully, and raised the cookie to her mouth. She paused when she saw Lukas looking at it. His eyes flickered back up to Jesse's, and he glanced away awkwardly.

" _And one for... Reuben._ " And Axel put the last cookie in front of Reuben, who started to nibble it hungrily.

" _Sorry, Lukas, I only have four,_ " Axel 'apologized' to Lukas.

Jace frowned at Axel. "Axel, that's not really cool."

Axel winced a bit and rubbed the back of his head, but he didn't actually say anything. Probably because he didn't know _what_ to say.

Onscreen, Jesse seemed to have had the same idea, because she frowned at Axel. Lukas shook his head again, looking away from all of them. " _Oh no, it's- it's okay. I'm not that hungry anyways._ "

His stomach growled a bit, and there was this short, awkward silence where everyone was looking at Lukas and he was blinking back at them. He picked up a moment later, awkwardly. " _I'll just... grab something in the morning. Or something._ "

Jesse got up immediately and walked over to Lukas, holding out the cookie slightly. Lukas stared at her blankly, not understanding what she was doing. " _Take it._ "

Lukas's eyes widened, and he looked over at the dark-haired female sitting on the couch. She'd turned her face away just enough that the only thing he could see was the back of her head, though.

Onscreen, Lukas seemed to have had the same reaction, his eyes widening as he shook his head slightly. " _Oh... no, no, Jesse, you already got me out of the basement... I-I can't do that-_ "

Jesse reached down, took his hand, and set the cookie in it gently. " _I insist._ " Her voice was quiet but firm.

Lukas looked over at Real-Jesse, catching her eye as she turned her head back around, and smiled at her, not sure what else to say. She looked at him for a moment, before slowly returning it.

Lukas opened his mouth to say something, before stopping. He then slowly smiled at Jesse, gratitude shining in his eyes. " _I... thanks, Jesse,_ " he thanked her.

She grinned and patted him on the head, making him squint his eyes shut with this pleased look as his ears flicked, before going back to her spot by the fire and sitting back down.

Axel scowled a bit as he looked over at Jesse. " _That was for you, Jesse. Not him._ "

Jesse shrugged. " _I'm not that hungry anyway._ "

Her own stomach gave off this louder growl than Lukas's. She blinked down at it for a moment, before rolling her eyes with this barely repressed grin. " _Stomach, why hast thou betrayed me_ ," she joked.

This made the audience laugh again, onscreen Olivia and Lukas chuckling faintly as well.

There was another silence for a few moments, the sound of eating taking over the conversation, before Olivia looked over at Lukas, having finished her cookie. " _If you had to, which would you rather fight: a hundred chicken-sized zombies, or ten zombie-sized chickens?_ "

* * *

 **A/N: Yep, so, there's this chapter xD**

 **RQTC: Did you give Lukas the cookie or not?**

 **No new reviews :3 I hope you enjoyed this chapter!**


	20. Out of Line Journals

Lukas gave a small chuckle as he recognized the question from the beginning.

Onscreen, Lukas gave a similar chuckle. " _That's a good one. Let me think..._ "

" _How can you guys joke around at a time like this?!_ " Axel suddenly burst out, snapping at them. " _Petra's still out there. She's all by herself. There's nothing funny about that._ "

Petra's grin faded. "You know, it's always good to keep your spirits up in bad situations..."

"I don't think he's actually angry," Dan said slightly dismissively. "He's probably just worried about you."

Jesse shrugged at Axel onscreen, her own faint smile fading away. " _Axel, Petra can handle herself. If she can handle the Nether as casually as she does and still come out completely unharmed, she can survive. She wouldn't mind at all. She'd want us to keep our spirits up._ "

"See? Jesse agreed with me," Petra said, pointing at the black-haired girl, who blinked at her innocently. "And I'm pretty sure Jace agrees, too."

Jace hesitated. "Well, I mean, I am worried about you... but if you can handle the Nether as though you're going for a walk down the street, then I'm pretty sure you're fine, too," the boy said at last. The redhead smiled back at him, making him return it carefully.

Axel's sharp expression softened a bit. " _If I were her, I'd... I dunno. It just feels wrong._ "

" _Fine then,_ " Lukas conceded, standing up. " _We should probably get some rest. We gotta start looking for this temple as early as we can. Now, my guess is, if we start at the portal, and... kind of split up-_ "

Axel's expression sharpened again as he glared at Lukas. " _Whoa, what are you doing?_ " he snapped at the blonde.

Real Lukas looked startled at this. "I- I was helping, wasn't I?" he asked, looking around at everyone with this bewildered look.

" _Did I do something to you?_ " Lukas asked sharply, his own blue-green eyes hardening. His tail flicked a bit, and his ears, showing that he was getting irritated. " _I'd really like to know. You keep getting on my case for what seems like no reason._ "

" _He's just trying to help, Axel,_ " Jesse said, getting to her feet and raising her arms placatingly.

Axel crossed his arms and glared at Lukas. " _I'm sorry, Jesse, but I'm not going to just sit here and listen to this guy telling us what's what._ "

"But- but I wasn't!" Real-Lukas protested. "I was just trying to help!"

"We know that, and _I_ know that," Axel spoke up, before gesturing at onscreen him. "But _that_ me doesn't."

Lukas glared back at Axel, obviously having reached the end of his tether. " _I'm just trying to get ready for tomorrow,_ " he said, sounding frustrated.

" _You're the only one wearing that stupid jacket,_ " Axel shot back, " _don't tell us what to do._ "

Lukas's eyes widened in anger, the reflective blue-green irises appearing to glow as his pupils narrowed into slits. His hair was starting to stand on end, his tail going ramrod straight. " _Take. That. Back,_ " he hissed angrily. It didn't take a biological genius to tell that he was pissed off.

" _Can't. Wouldn't_ ," Axel responded, his arms crossed firmly.

" _You know what?_ " Lukas stepped towards Axel, even though he was a full head shorter, his tail flicking angrily. " _I get to where this jacket because I know how to build. But that doesn't mean I don't know how to_ break _things._ "

"Oh Notch, this is getting out of hand," Olivia groaned.

Axel hissed and backed away a step, although it seemed more reluctant than he would've liked. " _Your threats don't scare me, now that we know how you really are._ "

" _Jesse, your friend is way out of line!_ " Lukas whipped around to Jesse, eyes narrowed.

"And yours never were?" Cassie asked drily.

Jace nodded and patted Jesse on the shoulder as Lukas rubbed his head awkwardly. "Honestly, I don't mean to rub it in, Lukas, but at this point all of us would have the right to say 'he's just trying to mess with you' and get away with it."

" _I wasn't going to bring it up, but I can only take so much._ "

Jesse crossed all of her arms, sending both boys a sharp look. " _Let's just drop it,_ " she said, lightly but firmly at the same time.

" _Don't be like that, Jesse,_ " Axel said.

Jesse repeated herself slowly and much more insistently. " _Just. Drop. It._ "

Instead, Axel turned around to face Lukas again, his eyes having dilated to huge extents. " _Haven't you done enough damage for one day?_ " And he shoved Lukas backwards, making the blonde stagger backwards. " _Petra might be_ dead _because of you._ "

"Whoa!" Petra exclaimed.

Jesse winced and shook her head. "That- that was _not_ okay, Axel."

" _Axel, what the heck?!_ " Olivia exclaimed onscreen, throwing her arms into the air.

Lukas hissed again, glowering at Axel. " _I don't have to take this. Listen, why don't I just leave, and let you guys hash this out-_ "

"You _are not going anywhere,_ " Jesse snapped back immediately, making everyone look at her with this slightly taken aback look onscreen.

Petra let out a sigh of relief. "Thanks, Jesse."

The black-haired girl simply shrugged. "That was all Axel right there, Lukas did nothing wrong."

Aiden and Gill exchanged startled looks.

" _Axel, stop antagonizing Lukas._ "

" _But, Jesse-_ "

Jesse cut him off while making a short, violent chopping motion with her hand. " _No. That's enough. We are all on the same team right now. He- is-_ staying," she snapped at him again.

"Wow... thanks, Jesse," and Lukas looked over at the black-haired girl. "First the golem, then the cookie, now this... you're really selfless, you know that?"

Jesse simply shook her head with a small smile. "No need to thank me. You did let me have your slime ball so we could track Ivor down."

"That doesn't even it out," Lukas pointed out, a faint smile twitching on his face.

"Oh, yeah." A short pause. "No need to thank me, anyway."

There was a short silence, before onscreen-Lukas slowly sat back down, Jesse joining while staring at Axel with this look that basically dared him to snap back again. He didn't, but he glared at the fire as if it had personally offended him.

A long silence stretched out, before the sound of thunder, and then a heavy rain interrupted it. Finally, Jesse let out a sharp sigh and made them all look at her. " _Since we're all going to just sit here in silence forever unless_ someone _says something,_ " she pulled out the red leatherbound book from Ivor's library, but made no move to open it, " _perhaps we can all talk about our being hybrids?_ "

Another awkward silence, before Jesse held up the book, pointing at the symbol scratched into the cover. " _Does anyone here recognize the symbol?_ " And she poked it with her finger.

Axel walked over to get a good look at it and leaned forward, squinting at it, before he stiffened and stepped back automatically, the glare fading to a wide-eyed look. Lukas winced as Axel stepped on his tail, but didn't say anything. Olivia's eyes widened once she'd gotten a good look at it, and Lukas gave a faint nod, tail tucked between his legs to protect it from getting stepped on again.

" _Thought so. I found this in Ivor's weird basement. This book must have... well..._ something _to do with us, if we all recognize it. Now, exactly what, I have no clue..._ " she looked down at the book for a minute, before looking back up. " _But it has something to do with our being 'hybrids'. Does anyone know how, by any chance?"_

Axel was the first to shake his head, slowly. " _No. I didn't even know until I, uh, 'exploded' earlier. I was just..."_ He trailed off, before finishing rather lamely, " _I didn't even know before that._ "

Olivia shook her head as well. " _No... I never realized my right eye was..._ " she trailed off, covering her right eye automatically.

Lukas simply shook his head once. " _I never knew,_ " he uttered quietly, looking though as he were in a bit of shock.

" _Neither did I. I don't know how we're hybrids, or how we never knew._ " A short silence. " _I guess we'll find out in a minute._ "

Her fingers slowly slipped under the cover and flipped it open to the first page, which was covered in a messy but legible scrawl. It was quite obvious that the writer of the entry was a bit scatterbrained from all the cross-outs and the wandering spacing.

" _'The Bureau of Amalgamology contacted us today,_ " Jesse started reading it out loud, squinting as she tried to make sense of the handwriting. " _What they do is_ fascinating _, they create hybrids. Mixes of animal and human, and in a few of the cases monsters and humans. They've taken five children- mainly because children are less likely to fight back too much, apparently- and injected monster DNA that was painstakingly extracted from the monsters. The effects have been extraordinary, according to them, and they said they'd be honored if we came to look at them. Ellegaard-'_ "

Ellegaard's eyes widened.

Olivia interrupted right there, her own eyes widening. "'Ellegaard'? _Like, Order of the Stone Ellegaard?_ "

Jesse shrugged at this. "I don't know any other 'Ellegaard's in existence, do you?" She looked back down at the page and continued, "' _Ellegaard and Magnus are all for it. Gabriel thinks it might be interesting, and even Ivor-_ "

The audience all looked at Ivor automatically.

" _Wait, Ivor?_ "

Jesse gave a jokingly long-suffering sigh at the second interruption, but she was grinning a bit. " _Yep. Maybe he worked with the Order before, and that's how he knows them? It would explain why he seemed to have such a grudge with Gabriel,_ " she suggested.

The Order all exchanged glances.

Onscreen, Axel had sat down by now, and Lukas shrugged in response to what Jesse had just said. " _I guess that makes sense._ "

" _Even Ivor thinks it would be fascinating to see them. I honestly cannot deny that I'm a little curious, so tomorrow, we'll head to their lab and go have a look at the children. ~Soren.'"_

The handwriting changed to a more neat, uniform sort of text, with very minimal cross-outs if any at all. It almost looked like some type of font. " _The handwriting changes in this next part. 'We arrived at the lab yesterday. The children are all pretty small, around 5 or 6 years old. The scientists told us that they were all quite dangerous, but really they seem quite armless. They were all rather frightened upon us entering the room, but after only a few minutes they warmed up to his. Ivor took the spider hybrid and the two of them read one of his potion books together for a bit. Her hair was only about chin-length, very short. I guess it's too much trouble to keep it long._ "

Jesse automatically fingered her own long hair.

" _'Anyway, the Enderman hybrid developed a fascination with redstone after a couple of minutes with me. I think I like her! And Magnus had some fun with his creeper hybrid. I think Gabriel liked the Blaze hybrid, and Soren, upon getting over his disappointment over not getting the Enderman hybrid, and his ocelot hybrid had some fun together as well, although none of them will ever admit it. Boys. ~Ellegaard.'"_

This prompted a small round of laughter from the audience, where the Order members glared at Ellegaard, a bit playfully. She just grinned back at them.

The next entry had extremely messy handwriting, cross-outs and scribbles and some doodles in the margins making the text barely legible. Jesse squinted at it but kept soldiering on through her reading. "' _Today, we couldn't stay that long, but we decided to name our hybrids. And great, we're already considering them 'our' hybrids. We just happen to like spending most of our time with the kid we spend time with. It's too much trouble to just keep pointing and go 'hey you'._ "

This prompted several snorts from the audience.

" _'Soren went first with his ocelot hybrid. He took about ten minutes to name the... kid..._ " Jesse trailed off, her eyes widening, before slowly picking back up, " _'Lukas, with a 'k' and not a 'c' because he thought it sounded cool._ "

Soren's eyes widened, and he looked over at Lukas, who was returning the look.

" _'Then I got to go... my... dad always wanted to name me... Axel and fought with my mom about it before I was born, apparently. So I decided to... use that name. It's a pretty good one..._ " Jesse trailed off again.

Axel and Magnus turned to glance at one another.

" _Um, 'Ellegaard got to go next, and decided on Olivia. I don't know why, it's... kind of a boring name in my opinion._ " Jesse's eyes were getting wider and wider by the minute.

Ellegaard and Olivia glanced at one another, both engineers looking supremely startled by the turn of events.

" _'Gabriel decided to name the Blaze hybrid... Petra..._ "

Petra and Gabriel glanced at each other, eyes wide and mouths hanging open slightly.

" _'Ivor spent about ten minutes before naming the spider hybrid... Jesse. I don't get some of these names, but whatever... ~Magnus.'_ "

Ivor and Real-Jesse looked at one another, barely catching each other's eyes before Jesse glanced away awkwardly and Ivor returned his gaze to the screen.

Onscreen, the hybrids and Reuben all stared at each other in varying levels of shock, the only sound audible being the rain drumming on the roof of the hut and the crackling of the fire.

Jesse finally shut the book that was sitting in her lap. " _I think that's enough reading for tonight._ "

The screen blacked out.

For once, none of the audience members had any idea what to say.

* * *

 **A/N: I meant to put in a shippy moment last chapter but I didn't have any time to in the thirty minute period I had, so... xD Sorry.**

 **RQTC: How many of you have checked out my YouTube channel yet? C'mon, be honest xD**

 **Guest: I assume you meant 'shippy' moments, not 'snippy' moments xD but sure, I'll try. You did, but I probably didn't see it when I was writing that chapter, lol xD**

 **Meow Shadow: Oh. No, I watched a YouTuber play it and just went with their decisions, except for part of Episode 5 and Episode 8, where I wanted to do something more specific. And waaaaaayyyyy more chapters than that, lol xD something along the lines of 200, I think.**

 **Kaos Ruin: You mean Jesse? ... but now that you mention it, yeah. xD**

 **AquaK13: Haha xD**

 **ahnjoseph87: You bet I am (grins) and here is more!**

 **Guest: ...?**

 **RapidSammi: Uhhh... I'm not sure? xD And haha, glad to see Aiden's excited.**

 **DynamiteHunter6: (laughs)**

 **EthanDaCabbage: Yes. xD and yes, I do like cabbage.**

 **mEEplePeoPLe: (laughs)**

 **S4SH4L4SH4theGaMeR101: Both you and me, child xD**

 **Idon'tlikecheese: (laughs)**

 **x.X. A.L. X.x**


	21. Point the Way

The screen came back on to show the sun rising above the hills. The small group was walking along, looking around through some of the trees and grass as they went along. Jesse spotted the blonde walking and staring at the ground a bit behind her, so she backed up so that they were walking at around the same pace. " _Hey, Lukas... sorry about last night,_ " she apologized, rubbing her head awkwardly.

"You really don't have to," Lukas said, still staring at the screen blankly from the shock he'd just received. "You didn't do anything wrong."

Lukas shook his head a wry smile coming over his face. " _You don't have to be... I'm, um, more embarrassed than anything, to be honest._ "

Jesse nodded in return, before speeding up to where Olivia was. A few moments later, they came to what looked like a big wall that was covered with vines. Jesse scrambled up the thing with ease, ignoring the vines that covered the rock surface. The screen switched so that it showed her head as she climbed to the top, and her jaw dropped in surprise. " _Wow!_ " she exclaimed.

" _What? What is it?_ " Lukas's head popped up next, his own eyes widening as he saw what Jesse was looking at. Olivia bleeped into sight in a spray of sparks, staggered, and nearly fell right back off the top of the wall again.

Axel clambered up behind them, grumbling under his breath, but his eyes widened and the scowl fell right off his face a few seconds later. " _Wow,_ " he agreed breathlessly.

The screen switched to give them a good look at what they'd been looking at. A huge building that looked as though it was mostly in ruins, vines crawling over most of the surfaces, except for a huge stained glass emblem that hung over the entrance. It still had it's own ethereal beauty to it, though.

"Wow," Ellegaard hummed, rubbing the back of her head, "it's _really_ gone downhill, huh?"

Onscreen, Jesse squinted for a moment, before her eyes widened, and she started rifling through her pocket as Axel mused, " _I wonder what this place is..._ "

" _It's the Order of the Stone's temple! Look!_ " And Jesse held up the amulet, the screen switching so they were looking at the amulet from Jesse's point of view, the design that made up the amulet perfectly matching the emblem over the entrance.

Lukas let out a low whistle, and Olivia said, sounding rather impressed, " _Well, would you look at that._ "

" _Do you think they're in there?_ "

Magnus arched his eyebrow. "If we were in there, would that place be such a mess?"

Mevia nodded once. "That's true... that place looks like it hasn't been touched in years. Why'd you send them there if the other members of the Order weren't going to be there?" She directed this question at Gabriel.

"The amulet works as a sort of... tracking system," Gabriel began to explain, but onscreen-Jesse cut him off and he quickly shut up so he wouldn't miss anything.

" _It's pretty run-down, Axel. So I don't think so. Still_ ," and she hopped down the hill that made up the other end of the 'wall', walking towards the building. " _There has to be SOMETHING there that's useful somehow. C'mon!_ "

And the rest of them followed her into the entrance. The archway, which had been bright and cheerful, gave way to a darker, much creepier atmosphere. Cobwebs strung themselves everywhere in the hallway.

" _If you see anything, call it out. We don't have too much time,_ " Jesse instructed her friends, all of them nodding affirmatively at this.

Axel looked over at the wall as the dark tunnel opened into one that was much brighter. " _Isn't it weird how dispensers are made to look like faces?_ "

The screen switched to show them a good view of the wall, which was lined with several of the spooky little faces of the inactivated dispensers. " _What do you dispense, little guy?_ "

"Uh-oh," and Gabriel winced. "I forgot about that..."

Olivia winced a bit. " _I... get the feeling we don't want to find out._ "

A hiss behind them, making the whole group stop and look over their shoulders. " _What was that?_ " Jesse asked warily.

Another hiss, and Reuben, who had already started shaking, let out an alarmed squeal and galloped away down the hallway. " _Reuben!_ " Jesse yelped, racing after her pig. The rest of them followed, before two loud thunks sounded. Jesse stopped, before looking back.

The screen switched to show that two pressure plates had been pressed down.

" _Ah, crap. That's... bad,_ " Jesse stated.

A gate slammed down over the entrance where they'd come from, preventing them from going back. The dispensers started making heating up sounds, indicating they were about to fire whatever they dispensed at them. " _Aw, c'mon dispenser faces!_ " Axel complained to the dispensers, " _I thought we were friends!_ "

" _Run!_ " Olivia shouted.

She bleeped out of sight and reappeared in a spot down the hallway, where the arrows didn't fire.

"Aww, you're lucky," Jesse complained, making the dark-skinned girl grin at her.

Onscreen-Jesse leaped out of the way of an arrow and found herself at a perpendicular angle to the floor. There was the hiss of an arrow rushing through the air, and she bolted forward, scrambling across the wall, dodging the arrows with surprising accuracy. Reuben had galloped after Olivia, so he was fine.

Landing back into the empty space next to Olivia, the girl whirled around. The screen switched to show Axel dodging the arrows safely before landing in the empty space, nearly knocking Jesse over. Lukas was doing pretty well, too- he was near the ground, so he only had to dodge an occasional arrow that shot out on the floor.

" _Oh_ no," Olivia groaned, as the screen zoomed out to reveal even more arrows firing endlessly. It seemed to be miles long.

Jesse turned back to the entrance, crossing her arms thoughtfully. " _Hm. Well, we_ could _build something to try to trigger one of the pressure plates again,_ " she hummed, thoughtfully.

Lukas bit his lip thoughtfully, ears twitching a bit. " _Hmmm... or, we could have Olivia teleport onto one of them,_ " he suggested.

"That's not a bad idea," Ellegaard hummed thoughtfully.

Jesse considered the hallway, before shaking her head. " _I don't think that's a good idea- see, the arrows also go through the area where she'd have to stand to trigger it, so Olivia could get hurt,"_ she pointed out.

Lukas blinked, before stepping behind where Jesse was standing and putting his head right next to hers, squinting. The next minute, he nodded and leaned away again. " _Oh. You're right. I didn't see that before. Wrong angle, I guess._ "

"Good thing you didn't just try it," Olivia said with a relieved sigh, "I'd really rather not become a pincushion anytime soon."

This made several members of the audience snort.

Jesse bit her lip. " _Hmm... okay, everyone, empty your pockets. We've got to have something that we could use,_ " she instructed.

Lukas pulled out a small bundle of sticks. " _I've got some sticks from building the shelter last night,_ " he offered.

Olivia reached through her own pockets. " _Hmm, all I've got is some flint and... a piece of string,_ " she held up her own contribution.

Axel sighed and pulled out a handful of feathers, some of them drifting onto the floor. " _All I've got are some feathers from when that chicken machine broke back at Endercon,_ " he said simply.

Jesse reached through her own pockets. " _Hm, I've got the book... the amulet... and my sword. Oh! And I could definitely make some string,_ " and she created it quickly as her contribution.

Axel stared at the rather pathetic contributions on the floor. " _Okay, sticks, flint, string, and feathers... we gotta be able to make SOMETHING with that,_ " he said, finally.

Jesse stared at the items, her eyes narrowing- when suddenly her expression cleared, as if an idea had occurred to her. " _A bow and arrow wouldn't work- the arrow might get knocked off course. But..._ " She took Olivia's piece of flint and slapped her palm, which was still trailing string from her contribution earlier, right onto the flint. When she released the flint, it dangled from her hand like some sort of bizarre yoyo.

"Ooh! Nice improvisation," Otto said.

Jesse turned around, aiming her palm, before firing. The flint flew through the air, hit the floor, rolled a bit, bounced, and then landed right on top of the pressure plate, switching it off. The hail of arrows that had been trapping the whole group in that one section disappeared, switching back off. Jesse flicked her wrist, making the string retract, the flint slapping neatly into her palm. It took her a second to detach the flint and return it to Olivia, before she scraped her hand off on the nearest wall.

" _All right,_ " Olivia said with a grin, taking her flint back.

" _The Bureau of Amalgamology's luck is changing,_ " Axel agreed with a grin.

Jesse nodded with a smile of her own, and they continued through the hallway. The screen switched to the library that they'd seen in the prologue. Well, it was covered in cobwebs, but it was the exact same one.

" _Isn't this room like Ivor's creepy basement?_ " Axel wondered.

"Oh yeah. I thought I recognized it. You modeled your villain lair after our old enchanting room? I'm touched!"

Ivor didn't respond, glaring at the screen.

Jesse hummed onscreen, looking around. " _Yeah, kinda is. Must be their enchanting room or something like that._ "

" _Looks like it,_ " Lukas agreed, before the group split up to look around without another word.

Jesse shoved open a chest, coughing a bit as a rather large dust cloud rose from it. Waving it away from her face, she reached into the chest and withdrew a red cloak, with three buttons that fastened it shut.

"Oh, hey, that's Ivor's old cloak," Soren said, pointing. "He always liked using it whenever it was snowing or raining."

"Oh, yeah. So that's what happened to it," Ellegaard hummed.

Jesse looked over at Lukas, who seemed to be the nearest person. " _Lukas, you think the Order will mind if I borrow this to hide... uh... this situation here?_ " And she gestured at her four extra arms with one hand, the other five holding onto the cloak.

"It's an old cloak, I haven't used it in a while. I don't think I mind at all," Ivor said after a moment. Everyone glanced at one another. It was one of the first times the man had said something even _resembling_ nice.

Lukas shrugged in response. " _Probably not. And if they do, you can apologize and return it, after all._ "

" _True._ " And Jesse swung it over her shoulders, fastening up the buttons as it fluttered back into place.

Lukas looked over at her from his shelf perusing and nodded a bit, letting out a slight whistle. " _Huh. You look good in red._ "

Real-Jesse threw her hands into the air, nearly smacking Jace in the face by accident. " _Everyone_ says that!" She paused afterwards, before giving him a smile. "But... thank you for the compliment."

Jesse looked down at herself onscreen. " _Oh. Thanks, I guess._ "

He gave her a smile and a thumbs up, before returning to the shelf. Jesse looked around, before seeing a book hovering over an obsidian block in a niche int he wall. She trotted over and gave it a good look. It had a red cover, but gold edges and a few diamonds embedded in it.

" _Hmm,_ " she hummed thoughtfully.

* * *

 **A/N: Welp, this is going well so far. Surprisingly so. I already have over THREE THOUSAND VIEWS and almost TWO HUNDRED comments in the first WEEK of this being up. 0-0**

 **Seriously, guys...**

 **Thank you all SO much!**

 **LunarStarsMoons: (laughs) It's fine, don't worry. And why are you guest right no- haha, I'm just kidding xD**

 **S4SH4L4SH4theGaMeR101: (laughs) Nice!**

 **sailor. mikuchan: He is indeed bae xD**

 **AquaK13: That's what I get for not proofreading, lol xD**

 **Meow Shadow: (laughs) Alrighty, cool.**

 **RapidSammi: Thanks, Sammi-kun xD**

 **rebekahtpe: (laughs) I know that feeling. And laptop, I type a lot faster on it.**

 **LittleAngelbun: Hehehe xD**

 **x.X. A.L. X.x**


	22. Please Hurry

" _The battle was fierce,_ " Jesse read aloud, " _but the Order of the Stone emerged triumphant, saving the land and ensuring that peace and prosperity would reign forever._ "

" _Well,_ " Lukas commented, coming over to where Jesse was, " _not exactly_ forever."

Jesse grinned at him a bit, before going back to the book and reading, her voice fading and being replaced by the narrator who'd introduced the prologue. " _These five friends would give so much to gain their rightful place-_ " Soren, Gabriel, Ellegaard, and Magnus had walked through their various-colored archways, before the screen came a stop on someone wearing brown robes and carrying a brown leather bag. "- _as FIVE heroes. They would author their own end."_

Everyone's eyes widened as the figure turned around, revealing it to be none other than Ivor.

" _They would slay a dragon._ "

Everyone in the room who was not the Order of the Stone let out a gasp or a shocked exclamation.

"Ivor _was a member of the Order of the Stone?_ " Olivia stared at the book, mouth agape, " _the stories never mentioned him._ "

"You- you lied," Jace said, sounding more stunned than anything else. He turned to look at the Order with a slow shake of the head. "Why did you lie?"

The Order all exchanged uncomfortable looks, before Ellegaard finally sighed, "It's... a very long story."

Jesse crossed her arms onscreen, staring at the book. " _This would definitely explain why Ivor was in that journal we found... and of course why he had such a grudge towards Gabriel._ "

" _This is so... crazy,_ " Lukas breathed.

Olivia frowned as she crossed her arms. " _They lied to us_ ," she said simply, " _they lied to the whole world!_ "

" _Why would they do that?_ " Axel wondered.

" _This is so crazy,_ " Lukas repeated, as if he really couldn't believe it.

Jesse let out a little sigh, touching her fingers to her temples. " _The Order... might have lied, but we need their help if we're going to defeat this Witherstorm. And Petra is still out there- that_ monster _is still out there._ " Her tone was urgent and sharp.

Lukas nodded, straightening back up. He took a deep breath, pulling himself together. " _Jesse's right,_ " he said simply, " _we should focus on what we came here to do."_

Olivia trotted over to a white staircase that had been partially behind a bookshelf, looking at it curiously. " _Where do these stairs go?_ " she wondered, craning her head back up as she followed the staircase with her eyes.

Jesse shrugged in return, stepping onto the steps. " _Only one way to find out,_ " she responded simply.

And they all trekked up the stairs.

They emerged into what used to be a large room, but now there were holes in the walls and floor, and the walls were crumbling. Even with that, the building was ethereally beautiful, and onscreen-Jesse let out a gasp at it. " _Wow!_ "

" _What happened to the walls?_ " Axel wondered, looking around the place.

" _More like what happened to this whole place..._ " Jesse murmured, before looking around, the amulet back in her hand as she poked it out from under the red cloak she was wearing. " _Let's all look around- there has to be something- something that'll use the amulet somehow to find the rest of the Order,_ " and she gave the amulet a wave to punctuate her point.

The group all split up. Jesse watched them go, before sitting down a small wooden stair, pulling out the journal with a weird look. " _Okay, well... maybe this thing has a clue?_ "

She started reading it quietly aloud, Reuben sitting at her feet and listening intently. " _'These children are tested every other week. Apparently, they all excel in the speed tests, but when the other tests come into play it's more murky. Sometimes, the children have aversions towards fighting in general, because they apparently can't control their talents or powers or whatever they're called. The one I have 'custody' of- Petra- nearly burned down the lab the previous week._ "

Jesse smirked onscreen. Petra grinned sheepishly as the Bureau of Amalgamology started giggling and trying not to.

"' _Well, the children all get along well with one another, and are kept in the same room for the sake of easier monitoring. Well, that's how the scientists put it... I don't really mind, it makes it easier to visit them all in one go. ~Gabriel.'"_

She paused before peeking over the edge of the journal at Reuben. " _Should I keep reading, Reuben?_ "

The pig let out an agreeing oink.

" _Okay... 'I don't really know what to write here. Well, I'll just start with our hybrids, I guess... my hybrid and Soren's don't really seem to like the idea of fighting much, and would much prefer to sit in a corner and read if they had to. Although whenever they do spar with us, the find it very enjoyable. Jesse's already gotten very good at it and knocked me down the other day._ "

Jesse pumped her fists in the air, making Jace laugh at her. She punched him on the shoulder, but was still grinning broadly at him. The Order all exchanged amused looks.

"' _I don't think I'd be able to recognize these children if I didn't see them for a while, to be honest. I don't tag along all that often. I'm usually too busy making healing potions for whenever Gabriel and Magnus decide to have one of their idiotic competitions and end up in a ditch somewhere.'_ "

"Oh yeah, I remember that. Didn't you guys try climbing a giant redwood to see who would get there the fastest?" Ellegaard asked, arching her eyebrow at both of them. "I'm pretty sure Magnus fell off halfway up, and Gabriel slipped and fell before landing on top of him."

"We were bored," Gabriel said faintly defensively as the audience sniggered.

" _'Gabriel tells me that whenever they go and I don't show up Jesse asks for me. Which, I guess is pleasing, but... well... I don't handle people very well. ~Ivor.' Well, that does explain why he didn't even seem to RECOGNIZE me,"_ she mumbled, shutting the journal. " _I don't think this has anything to do much with the task at hand..._ "

She trailed off, having spotted a sewn version of the amulet on an old white flag.

"Oh, there we go!" Soren exclaimed.

Jesse looked at the space above the amulet, before climbing up and popping it into place. The amulet reflected the rising sun right into her eyes, making her wince and hop back down, blinking to blink the spots out of her eyes. Walking around a huge hole in the floor to a table with levers on it, she regarded them for a moment, before her eyes lit up. " _This looks like a puzzle..._ " she said softly, " _I like puzzles._ "

She gave the levers all a cursory glance, before flicking them on and off. Some lights on the wall next to the huge map plastered on the wall flickered on. She flicked it back off, and she went through all the levers in the same way. She hesitated as she regarded it, before flipping all of the switches, and then flipping one more back. The lights all blazed, and a blazing beam of light shot from the lantern sitting in the middle of the table, hitting the center of the amulet, and shot two different colored beams of light across the map.

" _Wow_ ," Lizzie said, turning to look at the Order of the Stone, "that's absolutely amazing!"

"It took nearly three years to complete," Ellegaard said modestly, smiling faintly. "And we all had to give some of our blood."

" _Okay, NOW I'm impressed,_ " Olivia said onscreen, crossing her arms and arching her eyebrow with a grin.

" _This must be what Gabriel wanted us to find!_ " Jesse commented, " _it's showing where the Order of the Stone is, right now!_ "

Real-Jesse frowned at this. "But there's... only two lights?"

Gabriel's mouth turned into a thin line as he stared at the screen, eyes perfectly blank.

Lukas frowned a bit onscreen. " _There're only two lights... we don't know anything about how this map works. It might not show them when they're in the End or the Nether._ "

"So... h-he might've been able to duck into the Nether or the End or something!" Stampy said, trying to stay positive, "he could still be alive!"

Jesse nodded, looking at the red and green beams of light shining on complete opposite ends of the map. " _If there are only two heroes left, then we know what we have to do,_ " she spoke decisively and firmly, turning around. " _Petra's relying on us, and that Witherstorm is still out there. Gabriel was trying to tell me to find the Order of the Stone. So, I think the options are... Magnus,_ " she pointed at the green light, " _and Ellegaard._ "

"But they're on different sides of the world!" Isa exclaimed, making all of them look at her. "There's no possible way you'll be able to get both of them."

"Idiots," Ivor snarled, "neither of them are going to be able to save you! They never have!"

Milo glared at the man. "I am _heartily_ sick of you already, and I don't think we've even exchanged more than two sentences with one another in passing."

Onscreen, Lukas frowned. " _I can't go with any of you guys._ "

Several pairs of startled eyes turned to Lukas, as the ocelot hybrid continued, " _If there's any chance Petra is still out there, I have to make this place fortified by nightfall. I have to stay here. If I know her, she's doing everything she can to find this place._ " He paused and looked around, before giving them all a sheepish look. " _Maybe if one of you could stay behind and help me...?_ "

" _Sounds like Olivia'll have you covered while Jesse and I go look for Magnus,_ " Axel nodded.

Olivia gave Axel an incredulous look. " _Finding Magnus? You really think that's how it's going to go? We need Ellegaard. She's the world's smartest engineer. She'll figure out a way to stop that thing._ "

" _We're trying to destroy it,_ " Axel reasoned, " _and when it comes to destruction, Magnus is the master._ "

"YES!" Magnus cheered. Ellegaard rolled her eyes, directing a glare at him.

"What they need is _intelligence_ , not some idiot with a bomb!"

"Who're you calling an idiot?! They don't want some nerd, they want the KING!"

"You're fully aware that none of them can hear you, right?" Hadrian asked sardonically, pointing at the screen.

Jesse bit her lip thoughtfully onscreen. " _Hmm... honestly, if we need to fortify the temple, Olivia should stay behind... no offense, Axel, but-_ "

Axel waved it off, pumping his fist. " _None taken, it means we get to go find Magnus!_ "

"YES!" Magnus yelled again, jumping off his seat and pumping his fists. Ellegaard huffed.

Jesse shrugged. " _Okay, you could take it that way._ " She turned back to Olivia. " _Olivia, could you help Lukas and stay behind to fortify the temple?_ "

Olivia simply shrugged as well. " _Sure._ "

Jesse hesitated a moment, her eyes narrowing, before shrugging again and turning back to Axel. " _Let's get ready to roll, Axel._ "

" _Um... guys?_ " Lukas asked, softly.

A sound like thunder rolled through the sky, and Jesse turned to see what Lukas was staring at. The screen switched to show the silhouette of the giant Witherstorm writhing in the distance like some tremendous entity, before going perfectly black.

" _Please hurry._ "

The screen remained black, before slowly fading back into the menu. Everyone blinked. "Is that it? That's the first episode?" Slab asked, tilting his head.

"I guess so," Jesse said, getting up after Reuben crawled out of her lap and stretching. "Let's explore this place before the next episode. We should probably have some dinner or something. Besides," she was already heading for the door, "I'm sure there's some stuff we want to discuss."

* * *

 **A/N: I'm so hyped up for this that it's not even funny xD**

 **S4SH4L4SH4theGaMeR101: Huehuehue (Lenny face)**

 **AquaK13: Here. Is. The. Next. Chapter. xD**

 **Emily The Avenger: A bad one xD**

 **LittleAngelbun: Ahh, I see**

 **LunarStarsMoons: Ahh gotcha :3**

 **RapidSammi: Haha xD**

 **x.X. A.L. X.x**


	23. Dessert is Sweet and so is the Chapter

The house was honestly more like a mansion than a house. With three floors and a basement, about 30 bedrooms, a kitchen bigger than Jace's treehouse, a library in the basement that looked a lot like Ivor's, an enchanting room, an armor room, and a lab.

They'd mostly split up, although Jesse had spotted Ellegaard, Olivia, and surprisingly enough Harper tagging along to go the lab, and she was also fairly certain that Magnus and Axel were going to blow something up (along with several of the gladiators, meaning all of them) just for the hell of it. She'd also spotted Ivor running down the hallway to go hide. The other people... well, Jesse didn't know what they were doing, but she hoped they weren't trying to cause trouble or anything. Although, she HAD spotted Jace searching the mansion with Petra for Ivor, so there was that.

She was just wandering around with Reuben, since for some reason the pig had started sticking to her like glue, and trying to process what was in this alternative path to the future.

It was better than her current path of the future, honestly.

The garden had lots of flowers in it, and there was a small farm a little beyond that, but she was mostly exploring the garden, since Reuben seemed to like the flowers quite a bit. There was a part of her that wanted to stay in this strange place with no monsters and an endless supply of food, but there was another part of her that knew she had to face her future, the one that she didn't care about or want to go to.

She had to wonder how the others felt. Would the Witherstorm destroy their home?

Would the Witherstorm destroy their _world?_

She bumped into someone as she wandered under a tree, and she looked up to meet a pair of startled blue eyes. "Oh! Lukas?" she asked, sounding faintly surprised.

"Oh... hi, Jesse." Lukas paused as he stared into the pond he'd been staring at before Jesse had collided with him. "... do you think some of us are going to die?"

"What?" Jesse asked, taken aback by this.

Lukas turned to face the shorter girl, his hands clenching into fists, eyes grim and mouth set into a line. "Do you think some of us are going to die?" he repeated, more firmly than before.

Jesse stood there for a moment, before looking back at the ground, then up at Lukas. "I... I don't know. I don't think so."

The two of them watched Reuben roll around in the grass a bit absently, before Lukas spoke up again. "The other Ocelots die, don't they?" His voice quivered only once, but he wasn't looking at Jesse anymore, so she couldn't tell what he was feeling.

"You don't know that. None of us know that. You can't just assume that," Jesse responded immediately, although she'd honestly been wondering the same thing. "And I can't believe that none of us are going to be the only survivors, even in your future. Besides, even if there's a difference with your future and the one that's being shown to us, we can try to change things-"

"No, we can't!" Lukas snapped, making her flinch back a step instinctively. His eyes were sparkling with tears that he didn't want to cry. "You didn't see the note, Jesse. It said that once we're sent back, we're not going to remember anything. We'll just... have extreme deja vu. And _feelings_ about things. And you're not even going to exist in our future! I know that you're basically Jace, but- will he make the same decisions you do? Maybe not! This is an alternative path to the future-!"

"Hey, enough with all the doom and gloom, okay?" She cut him off sharply, but softened her tone when she spoke again. "Even if this happens in your future... it's much better than what's awaiting me in mine."

Lukas stared at her, his stance slowly deflating. "You're going to remember everything," he continued finally, in a whisper.

Jesse blinked; she hadn't been expecting that. "What?"

"Since you're not in our future, this doesn't affect you... you're going to remember _everything_ about this. The note said so," he said, his own voice beginning to shake as he furiously tried to repress tears. "But you... you're not going to be able to help us..." his voice broke again, and he gritted his teeth as he tried to repress it.

Jesse was silent for a moment, before she shook her head once, sadly. "No, I won't. And I'm sorry about that." And then she instinctively gave him a warm hug around the midriff, gently squeezing. "But hey... let's stop worrying about this, alright? We should probably get some food ready in the kitchen, and I can't cook worth beans."

"Can you cook beans?" Lukas asked drily, shaking himself out of the dark place he'd been thinking in and looking down at the short girl currently wrapping her arms around him in a comforting hug.

Jesse laughed at this, and the dark mood that had settled over the both of them cleared up, even as she released him and smiled up at him. "Nope. I burn them in the fire of my previous culinary failures."

This made Lukas totally lose it, cracking up and falling backwards onto his butt. Jesse giggled before extending her hand to him. "C'mon, let's go."

The two of them walked back towards the mansion, neither of them noticing Aiden watching them from a third-story window with cold green eyes until they disappeared from sight, standing perfectly still.

They didn't encounter anyone on the way to the kitchen, but the two of them could've _sworn_ they'd heard someone shrieking curses that sounded _suspiciously_ like Ivor. That probably meant Petra and Jace had found them.

The kitchen was empty, but it probably wouldn't take very long for everyone to start making their way there, once they realized how hungry they were. Lukas vocalized this thought before his stomach gave a loud growl and Jesse laughed.

"What should we make?" Lukas wondered, poking through the chest. "There's some beef, some chicken, quite a bit of cake, mushrooms, apples... ooh, how about we have salmon?" he asked, looking back at Jesse.

The black-haired girl shrugged with a nod. "That sounds good. You mentioned there was cake?" she asked, going back to the more pertinent question at hand.

Lukas nodded as he began to pull out the uncooked salmons. "Uh-huh. Lots of it, too. Why do you ask?"

"I'm thinking we should have that after dinner for dessert. It's been ages since I've had something sweet like that," Jesse said, poking through one of the chests herself. Then- "Ooh! Potatoes." And she pulled out said potatoes.

Lukas laughed and raised his eyebrow at her. "Do you want baked potatoes with the salmon!"

"Ooh! Yes please."

He laughed again and took the potatoes off her hands before putting them into the furnace, adding a generous helping of coal to it. That done, the two of them started setting the table, chatting about nothing in the process.

"So, Gill grabbed the nearest thing in the room, which happened to be a pineapple, and chucked it at my head," he said, grinning at the memory.

"Didn't that hurt?" Jesse asked, setting down the last plate. Lukas shrugged theatrically, making her giggle a bit in amusement.

"I wouldn't know. I ducked and it hit Aiden in the stomach right as he came in looking for me. He thought someone had kicked him in the stomach at first. Gill's stronger than he looks."

"How strong?"

"Strong enough to make chucking a pineapple at you feel like someone just roundhouse-kicked you."

"Oh! Was he okay?"

Lukas chuckled a bit at the memory. "Yeah, but he had a stomachache for a couple days afterwards. He swears to Notch and back that it was caused by the pineapple."

"Ouch."

"Whatcha guys talking about?" Olivia asked, coming into the room. She, Ellegaard, and Harper were covered in a thin layer of redstone dust, dusting it off with sharp swats and making a thin layer of red powder begin to dust the floor.

"Nothing really, we were just setting the table. You should, um," Jesse pointed at the redstone dust all over them with a faint smile, "probably wash up before eating dinner, though. We made salmon and baked potatoes."

"Alright, we'll be back in a minute. Want me to tell everyone that dinner's ready?" Olivia asked, about to leave the room. Jesse nodded at the curly-haired girl. "That would be nice, thanks."

Olivia shot her a thumbs' up before ducking out of the doorway with the two other women, all of them already beginning to engage in a chat about redstone as Lukas went to go pull out the salmons and potatoes. Jesse let out a chuckle and crouched down, scratching Reuben behind the ears. He let out a pleased snuffle and nudged her. "Ya like that, huh?"

"Oh! Hey, Jesse. Reuben really likes ya, huh?" and Jace popped his head into the room along with Petra, the latter smirking with satisfaction. Ivor came in a minute later, covering his black eye and skirting around the two of them with a wince.

"Yep, which is funny, considering I only met him earlier today," and she rubbed him on the head again, deciding not to ask what happened to Ivor. "Did you spot anyone else, by the way?"

Petra shook her head slightly. "Just Axel and Magnus, but they were already going to wash off. They looked pretty clean but it smelled like they'd bathed in gunpowder or something."

Jace wrinkled his nose. "Yeah, it was kinda sharp-smelling."

"Ahhh."

"Oh- thanks for the help, Jace," and Petra high-fived the mocha-haired boy, both of them grinning.

"No prob, Petra."

Slowly, everyone began to trickle back into the room, Isa and Reginald in a deep conversation with Benedict nestled in her arms, Milo trailing behind and chatting to Soren cheerfully, the YouTubers all having an animated discussion with Cassie nodding away in the background, Em and Nell coming in and chatting (well, Nell was talking, Em was just listening with her arms crossed), the gladiators, Magnus, and Axel looking completely clean but still smelling strongly of gunpowder, and Hadrian, Mevia, and Otto were discussing something quietly under their breaths. The only people who didn't say a word throughout dinner were Ivor and Aiden, the latter seeming to shoot Lukas this death glare.

After they all finished eating, they piled the dishes neatly into the sink, each taking a slice of cake or some other sweet and heading back to the living room. Lukas headed to the bathroom, so they all spent their time just absentmindedly talking within their own groups, although they did chat with one another every few minutes.

Lukas came back in to see Aiden was taking up two seats on the Ocelots' couch, and he raised his eyebrow a little. "Um... you're kind of in my seat."

"Oh, am I? Didn't realize," Aiden hummed, but he made no move to move.

"Then, um... can you move?"

Aiden's eyes went colder than ice chips. "Why should I?"

Lukas just looked bewildered now. "So I can... sit down?"

"You don't need a chair to sit down."

"Did I do something?"

"I don't know. Did you?"

"Could you stop that?" Now Lukas sounded faintly annoyed, his brow twitching as his eyes narrowed at Aiden.

"Stop what?"

"Asking me stuff I don't know! Why are you being such a jerk all of a sudden?! Can you just let me sit down?!"

Everyone was now watching this scene as though it were some sort of soap opera, eyes wide. Maya and Gill were especially quiet, wide eyes flickering between the blonde and the brown-haired boy. Aiden just 'humph'ed and tilted his head back at so that he was looking down at Lukas, even though he was at a lower height than the blonde boy. "You've got a seat on the floor."

Hurt and confusion were mingling on Lukas's face, but he jumped when he felt a hand on his arm. He looked to see Jesse touching his arm, blinking up at him with big green eyes. "If you want... the floor's more comfortable than it looks near the coffee table," she said softly.

He stared at her for a moment, before his gaze softened. "Thanks, Jesse..." Shooting Aiden one last confused look, he followed the shorter girl over to the coffee table and plopped down right next to her, their shoulders touching.

"What was that all about?" Axel wondered quietly, while the Order bickered about who would get the remote in the background.

Lukas shook his head, still looking hurt and confused. "I don't know... he was sending me these nasty glares through dinner, too. I wonder what I did...?"

"Maybe he's jealous?"

The group let out a yell and jumped- Petra had literally stuck her head right in between Lukas and Jesse's out of the blue, making the two of them jump violently. In fact, Lukas fell backwards to avoid conking heads with the redhead, making her grin at him.

"Why would he be jealous?" Jace asked, after he'd gotten over the shock.

Petra shrugged and squeezed her way in next to Jace, making Axel and Olivia scoot over, the dark-skinned girl slipping and nearly landing smack in Axel's lap. "Jesse's a better person than he is- both of them," and she pointed at both of them, "and he bullies them because he knows it, even if he's not going to admit it to anyone, let alone himself. So to see the people he's secretly jealous of go on this big adventure with the _Order of the Stone_..."

Jesse let out a comprehending hum. "And Lukas is the one that just so happens to tag along with us. I get it."

Lukas sighed and rubbed his head, feeling a headache coming on. "That's... I hope he'll get over it soon."

"Hopefully," Jesse agreed.

The episode started to load, the screen fading to black as Magnus shouted triumphantly, "Got it!"

Ellegaard snorted derisively at him. "The buttons literally say what they do, how did you not get it before?"

Magnus was about to retort, when Jesse's voice came on onscreen and cut him off. " _Previously on Minecraft: Story Mode._ "

* * *

 **A/N: Some (late) Lukesse fluff that is a bit off to me, but whatever! Yes, this is mostly a filler, but next chapter we get right into Episode 2!**

 **RQTC: WHO LIVES IN A PINEAPPLE UNDER THE SEA?**

 **Me xD**

 **I'm so sorry, I'm tired right now xD**

 **LunarStarsMoons: (laughs)**

 **AquaK13: HERE IS MOREMOREMOREMOREMORE xD**

 **Emily The Avenger: I know, right?**

 **Guest: HERE xD have some shippy moments**

 **Kaos Ruin: (laughs)**

 **S4SH4L4SH4theGaMeR101: xD**

 **RapidSammi: Glad to hear that, Sammi-kun!**

 **rebekahtpe: Nope, and it doesn't have anywhere near that amount... only about 58,000 views xD**

 **pensuka: Haha probably xD**

 **Meow Shadow: Probably there are going to be several filler chapters. And no xD They were not stolen.**

 **Slayer88: (cracks up)**

 **Luna96: (screams with you)**

 **DynamiteHunter6: Yay! (I only have two videos, so xD) And I'm glad you liked that part! And... no spoilers (looks at the ceiling)**

 **x.X. A.L. X.x**


	24. Boom Town

The screen turned back on to reveal Jesse, Olivia, and Axel trotting through the woods, Reuben at their feet, probably on the way to the Endercon Building Competition. " _Heroes can come from unlikely beginnings, and old friendships..."_ The screen turned black to fade back in to Ivor storming onto the stage at Endercon, before putting Petra's skull into place and then blasting the both of them off the stage. " _Can lead to dark rivalries._ "

The screen switched to show the Witherstorm rising in a mass of darkness, before to Jesse, who was running, before tripping and landing, catching herself using her extra arms. " _When the world is in danger, old pasts have to be dredged back up,"_ it switched to show Jesse holding the book, the symbol slowly glowing and the rest of the screen darkening around it, " _With no time to prepare for the shock that may come,"_ and it switched again to show the group riding the minecarts. " _As they go on journeys they'd only dreamed of._ "

Now it showed Lukas, Jesse, Axel, Olivia, and Reuben standing at the top of the hill, staring at the Order's temple, before to Axel and Jesse, whose red cloak was resting on her shoulders already. " _Our heroes, thrown together once again by fate, must now seek help from a legendary artisan of chaos."_

The screen changed to show Jesse's eyes widening in shock as she started, before to show the Witherstorm writhing in the distance, silhouetted against the sun. " _But the question remains... will it be enough to save the world?_ "

The screen went black.

"Well, I'm nervous now. This thing has so much faith in us, doesn't it?" Lukas asked drily.

Jesse laughed at this.

The screen showed the tracks in the Nether, before three minecarts zoomed over it, Axel very obviously in the back with his arms in the air. " _Whoo-hoo!_ "

Jesse glanced back at him, adjusting the red cloak a bit.

"Isn't that hot?" Jesse wondered. Ivor nodded slightly, speaking for the first time in a few hours.

"It is. Extremely so. I never wore it when going to the Nether."

"Aw man, I hate being hot..."

Lukas smirked. "You know, with no context, that sounds really awkward."

Jesse blinked at him innocently for a minute, completely unaware what he meant, when suddenly her eyes flashed in realization and she punched him on the shoulder, making him wince with a chuckle. "Get your mind out of the gutter, please."

" _Aw, c'mon, Jesse, you're not even having a little fun? I mean, I am!_ "

"How is that _fun?_ " Soren exclaimed. "One wrong turn and your corpse is at the bottom of a burning lava pit!"

Gabriel grinned. "Ignore him, he's always been scared of stuff like-"

Soren slapped a hand over the warrior's mouth, making Gabriel flinch a bit in surprise, laughing nervously. "Hahaha, yes, on with the moving pictures!"

Onscreen, Jesse just smirked slightly. " _Your idea of fun is a_ tad _bit different than mine, Axel. Besides, we need to get to Magnus as soon as freaking possible."_

Axel just kept grinning, nodding in return. " _Yeah. You're right. We're gonna find Magnus, bring him back to the temple, and he'll know how to blow that thing sky-high!_ "

"I will indeed," Magnus said, grinning.

Axel and Jesse grinned at each other, before Axel's eyes shifted upwards and he sucked in a huge breath, his grin falling off his face. " _Um... Jesse?_ "

The spider hybrid turned back around, her mouth dropping open. In front of them was a very angry ghast, and they were rushing right at it.

"Get your sword! Get your sword!" Olivia nearly screamed, flailing her arms in a hot panic.

" _... well, crap,_ " Jesse barely had time to state, before a fireball slammed into the carts, sending them all flying off the tracks with a scream as they went flying at a body of lava-

"Oh crap!" Petra yelled, making Jace flinch.

"Petra, that was my ear!"

"Oh, sorry!"

Onscreen, Jesse's red eye, which had been revealed, flashed, and she twisted and shot a strand of silk that slammed into a ledge, before swinging right into Axel, who grabbed ahold of Reuben, and the three of them tumbled into the stone-thing, tumbling head-over-heels before landing flat on their backs or their stomachs.

Olivia leaned into Axel with a relieved sigh.

" _Whew, thanks Jesse._ "

" _No problem. Hide!_ " And the girl grabbed Axel and yanked him behind a pile of the netherrack- at least, that's what they were fairly certain it was called- as a fireball whizzed over his shoulder, missing him by centimeters, plowing into the ground. Panting, they looked at each other, then back at the minecarts- which were slowly starting to fall into the lava below.

"It'll take them _forever_ to get to Boom Town without the minecarts," Soren groaned.

Onscreen, Jesse muttered something under her breath, none of them hearing it but all of them positive that it was not a term to be repeated.

" _Hurry!"_ Axel exclaimed urgently, " _use something on that ghast!_ "

Jesse flicked out her sword, just as another fireball blasted through the netherrack that they'd been taking refuge behind. Screaming, they scattered, Axel bolting for the minecarts with Reuben and Jesse whipping around to face the ghast. A fireball came right at her, and she flicked it and sent the fireball right back at the ghast, injuring it.

It shot another one that was going more at Jesse's feet. She flung her hand up, string flying from her hand and sticking to a ledge, before rappelling herself out of the way as the fireball slammed into the floor. Jesse flipped in midair so that she was dangling upside down, gravity pulling her hair and her cloak down so that she looked rather bizarre, and swung the sword with all of her strength as the ghast shot another fireball at her.

"Go Jesse!" Nell cheered, making Jesse look around at her with this faintly surprised look.

The fireball glanced off the blade, rebounding and hitting the ghast dead-on, making it flash red as it fell to its side, vaporizing into a huge puff of smoke.

Petra slapped Jesse on the back, nearly knocking her into the coffee table by accident. "Nice job, Jesse!"

"Ow," came the quietly uttered answer.

Axel grinned up at Jesse as the minecarts came back up to safety, and Jesse flipped back over and let the cloak settle back over her arms as if she'd done it a million times before. " _Well aren't you the expert,_ " he teased gently, " _Miss Fancy Flipper._ "

Jesse bowed at the waist sarcastically with a grin. " _Thank you, Sergeant Sarcasm,_ " she teased back, before the two of them laughed and she straightened up with a grin. Reuben bounded over, and the girl leaned over to pat him on the head.

Real-Reuben snuffled from where he was resting in Jace's lap this time, and Jesse grinned and reached over to fondle his ears.

" _Okay, let's get going!_ " Axel hopped into the first cart, making it roll towards the powered rails, Jesse leaping into the middle and Reuben into the back moments before it took off again. " _You were awesome, seriously. With that ghast, chasing the minecart... this is the perfect warmup for when we get to Boom Town!_ "

"Hang on- _Boom_ Town?" Olivia asked, twisting to look at the Rogue. He just nodded with a grin that was practically splitting his face in half.

Onscreen, Jesse did not seem to share the audience's shock, because she just arched one eyebrow. " _Boom Town,_ " she said simply.

" _Yeah! Boom Town!_ " They shot past a sign with rainbow letters that read _!BoOmtoWn!_

Olivia and Ellegaard looked as though they might die right on the spot.

Jesse twisted around to look at the sign. " _Whoever wrote that sign has atrocious grammar. Must... fix..._ " she joking reached for it, making Axel snort and the black-haired girl grin cheerfully at him.

The minecarts finally came to a stop near another portal with another rainbow, poorly written sign next to it. " _This is it!_ " Axel cheered, practically dancing with excitement. Jesse rolled her eyes with a cheerful grin at him, starting towards the portal.

She paused just in front of it. " _Well? Ready to go in? You could probably get away with exploding, Axel. You know, as a creeper._ "

A thoughtful look came over Axel's face. " _Hmm, only in an emergency,_ " he decided. " _I'm still not used to it._ "

" _That seems fine. Same with my Spider-Jesse abilities,_ " Jesse joked, making the two of them chuckle before turning back to the portal and walking in. The screen blacked out.

"This is going to be _chaos_ ," Ellegaard groaned.

"It's not THAT bad!" Magnus protested.

The screen came back on to a city with buildings that all had _some_ kind of damage done to them, random fires burning. An explosion went off in a single building, then another.

Ellegaard stared at Magnus with a raised eyebrow.

"What? It's perfect!"

"It's no wonder people avoid Boom Town," Gabriel mumbled, the architect sitting next to him nodding in agreement.

Jesse and Reuben stepped through the portal, before suddenly falling forward, a seeming lack of ground beneath her feet. Her eyes widened. " _What in the-?!_ " She quickly tucked into a forwards roll, rolling a few feet, before landing on her butt, blinking. Twisting around, the screen zoomed out to reveal that the portal was one of the 'O's in Boom Town, except it was one of the Os in the 'Boom', which was suspended in the air.

"Oh. That would explain why that happened," Jesse hummed mildly.

Axel stepped through himself and fell suddenly, screaming. He started flashing white in shock, and both Jesse and Reuben let out a loud yell and furiously backpedaled, moments before the explosion went off. Axel went flying through the air, did a 360, before crashing to the ground in front of Jesse, sprawling flat on his stomach.

Lukas winced sympathetically. "That's going to leave a mark."

Jesse winced and leaned down to help him. " _Oh, jeez, you okay?_ "

Axel lifted his face from where it had landed in the dirt. " _Yep. I guess in a pinch, my explosion can be used as a sort of cushion,_ " he groaned up to her.

She helped push him up to his feet, brushing some dirt off of his face and his hoodie. " _Well, that was certainly an... interesting entrance,_ " Jesse murmured.

Cassie put her hands into the air. "Understatement of the century." This was accentuated by several chorusing agreements in the audience.

" _Yep,_ " Axel said, stepping forward so that Jesse wasn't leaning over so much, before a loud click rang through the air. Both of them looked down, the screen switching to show that Axel had just stepped on a wire.

"Burning buildings, traps everywhere- who would want to _live_ here?!" Ellegaard nearly shouted, making Gabriel and Soren wince away from her.

Magnus grinned back. "Quite a lot of people, as it turns out."

"... _crap_."

"Is that all the two of you can say at that?!" Olivia exclaimed in shock.

She was cut off as the ground exploded, making the two of them scream as they got blasted backwards. Jesse leaped to her feet, another explosion sending dirt up in a violent spray next to her, the three of them starting to run away, explosions forcing them to dodge and duck to avoid dying on the spot. Another one went off right next to Jesse's right, Axel running further to his right with Reuben, who had gotten confused, while Jesse whipped to her left, only for a griefer to appear holding a piece of TNT from around the corner.

"Why didn't they go to Redstonia?" Olivia groaned. Harper gave a sigh and rubbed a hand down her face. She didn't actually say anything, but her facial made it abundantly clear that she was wondering the same thing.

Jesse let out a loud yelp and rappelled herself out of the way using her string abilities as the griefer charged, the TNT going off and taking the griefer with it, blasting a crater in the ground.

"Oh Notch!" Lukas gasped. "Did- did he just-!?"

"Did he just suicide bomb himself?!" Sparklez exclaimed, his eyes wide with shock.

Jesse winced onscreen, panting heavily. " _This place is_ insane. _And, good for exercise,_ " she added, raking a hand through her hair.

Jace let his head thud onto the coffee table, making everyone look at him. "We are going to Redstonia next time."

* * *

 **A/N: Hehehe xD**

 **RQTC: What do you think Jesse's thinking about Boom Town right now? (Female, not Jace)**

 **RapidSammi: (laughs) It's gonna take a while, so... yee.**

 **S4SH4L4SH4theGaMeR101: Hehehe xD**

 **Emily The Avenger: (laughs)**

 **x.X. A.L. X.x**


	25. Amulet Chase

Jesse put her hands on her knees as she tried to drag air into her lungs, but then she heard a snigger. Looking up to see another griefer on the roof, who was waving an egg, she dodged left as it hit the ground, cracking to reveal a tiny baby chicken. She didn't stop there, and scrambled into a nearby alley, heaving as she tried to breathe properly. Axel popped in, Reuben tucked under one arm. He was grinning. " _Did you see that?_ "

Jesse turned, the screen showing the ruined city, one of the partially destroyed buildings having what appeared to be a dancing griefer chucking TNT down into the city, where it exploded. " _Utter chaos, man._ "

Jesse simply let out a loud gasp in return.

Ellegaard gestured at the screen, shooting a glare at Magnus. "See?! Even HE agrees it's chaos!"

"I think he meant it as a nice thing, though," Jace said.

This made everyone turn to stare at Axel with a bemused look. He shrugged back, looking just as bemused. "What?"

" _Well, there you have it, Jesse!_ " Axel said with a grin, taking her gasp as awe or something, " _Boom Town in all it's glory! What do you think?_ "

"I think it's the worst place on the planet!" Ellegaard exclaimed. Although several of the people in the room chose not to actually say anything, it was pretty clear from their facial expressions that they agreed wholeheartedly. Well, it was hard to tell with Jesse, actually- she was just watching this with interest.

Onscreen-Jesse just gasped again.

"Er... is she in shock?" Cassie asked.

" _It's like I've finally come home. These are my people._ "

"Well then," Magnus said, grinning at the boy sitting on the floor, "remind me to take you there sometime after this is all over."

Axel beamed.

The sheer ridiculousness of this statement seemed to snap onscreen-Jesse out of her 'shock' or whatever had just happened to her. "AUGH! _Axel!"_ she cried out, " _how does anyone LIVE here?!_ "

As if proving her point, a loud BOOM went off in the background, making the floor of the living room tremble.

" _They're adventurous, Jesse!_ " Axel said cheerfully, putting his arms into the air. " _It's awesome!_ "

"Awesome is _not_ the word I would use," Petra said, flatly.

" _Axel, you'd think a poisonous potato was awesome if it had TNT strapped to it!_ " Jesse responded, throwing her hands into the air.

Magnus, Axel, and the gladiators all looked at each other with a gasp, eyes widening.

"NO," everyone in the room chorused immediately.

Onscreen, Axel developed this thoughtful look on his face. " _... well, can't deny that._ "

Jesse giggled a bit at this, before spotting a banner of the amulet and pulling out said amulet. The green gem was glowing brightly.

" _Dude, it's freaking glowing!"_ Axel exclaimed.

" _Huh... I think I know what it means!_ " Jesse's eyes widened, before she started rotating in little circles. " _And look! It glows brighter when I move in a certain direction..._ " She began to follow the glow, staring intently at the amulet.

" _Maybe a little to the left?"_ Axel suggested. " _No, the right. I mean your left. Right. I mean, you're right. About left._ "

"What?" Hadrian, Mevia, and Otto chorused flatly.

" _What in the world are you articulating, Axel,_ " Jesse joked onscreen, making both Axels crack a huge grin. " _And... hm!_ " She pointed the amulet, being careful not to move the cloak too much. The screen switched to show a huge black tower with the middle part practically blown out.

Olivia's jaw dropped open. "Uhh... is that safe?" she asked, a bit faintly.

Magnus thought about this for a second. "Uhh, nope. Not really."

"You live th- wait, what am I saying. Of course you live there," Dan sighed, pressing a hand to his forehead.

" _And I'm willing to bet money that THAT'S where we'll find Magnus,_ " Jesse said, with another hum.

A blue-haired girl with her hair in pigtails, a pink t-shirt, and a black mask on jumped from the building she'd been standing on, making the three of them turn to look at her. " _Hey there, new people._ "

"Uh oh," Magnus said.

"Uh oh? What do you mean by 'uh oh'?" Jace asked, voice beginning to show a hint of alarm to it.

Jesse blinked as the girl landed on the ground. " _You, ah... you said you know where Magnus is? All the griefers here in Boom Town wanna find Magnus, y'know._ "

The raven-haired girl casually slipped the amulet back into her back pocket. " _Do you really?_ " she asked conversationally. You'd be excused for thinking that the other girl had just asked her if she wanted a cup of tea or something.

" _Yep_ ," the girl said, popping the 'p'.

" _What's going on?_ " Another griefer appeared. And then another one.

" _Nohr found some noobs with a thingy that can find Magnus,_ " yet another griefer responded, all of them beginning to advance on the vulnerable group.

Jesse's eye twitched in irritation, the cloak rippling a bit as though she'd raised her arms, before she facepalmed quietly.

NOHR whipped back around to the other griefers with a glare. " _Bunch of scavengers! This drop is mine!_ " she snarled.

Jesse let out a long sigh, making everyone look at her. " _Since we're new to Boom Town,_ " she began, in a light voice that was still somehow dripping with sarcasm, " _I bet you think we're all scared and incredibly awed by your amazing griefing skills and expertise and expect us to be cowed into doing whatever you_ want."

"Huh. Who knew you had it in ya. And here I thought you were just a wallflower," Magnus hummed.

Onscreen Jesse let out a light hum. _"Well, we're not. We're in a hurry, and I would_ love _for something to be easy, just this freakin' once. And because of that, I have just one thing to say to you all."_

She remained silent for a moment, before lifting one hand and waving cheerfully, giving them a bright yet sarcastic smile. " _Bye!_ "

A huge strand of string launched out from underneath the cloak, hitting the roof of a damaged house. She grabbed ahold of Axel, who seized Reuben, and then retracted the string. The two of them zipped into the air, before Jesse released the string, they flew through the air, and then slammed down onto the roof of the house hard enough to make several shingles clatter off the roof.

The audience winced sympathetically.

" _Ouch!_ "

" _Sorry, Axel-!_ "

" _Ow, OW! That's my hand-"_

Jesse winced and rubbed her head. "Haha, sorry, Axel."

The boy reached over Petra and Jace to clap Jesse on the shoulder, nearly knocking her into the coffee table again. "No problem, Jesse."

Below them, the griefers could be heard shouting, and Jesse let out another sigh. " _Wonderful,_ " she muttered.

" _Since when did you get so snappy?_ " Axel wondered, straightening up and dusting himself off.

" _Since we're in a hurry to save the world."_

" _Good point._ "

Jesse sprinted away from the place where the griefers were, Axel following. A moment later, his foot slipped on a shingle, and he yelped as he wobbled before toppling off the roof.

"Oh no!" Olivia yelled.

Time slowed down onscreen as Reuben let out a terrified squeal, and Axel glanced at the pig before tossing Reuben up into the air, his body flashing white as he squinted his eyes shut, a hard look coming over his face. He blasted himself sideways, tumbling onto the ground harshly, but he'd barely even landed before lunging back to his feet, running back over, and catching Reuben, staggering a step as he was slightly off balance.

"Whoa! Nice moves there, Axel!" Jesse cheered.

Onscreen-Jesse poked her head over the roof. " _Ouch_ ," she called down to him. " _You alright?_ "

He nodded up at her. " _Yeah. Split up for now, you'll move faster without me on the roof."_

" _Got it!_ " And Jesse was off again, running until she reached a spot where there were no rooftops anywhere nearby. Instead of coming to a stop, she simply lowered her body and barreled forward, before she tensed her knees and jumped off the roof. She landed a moment later, crouching and rolling forward in a perfect parkour roll before running towards the black spire.

She didn't get much farther when Nohr suddenly popped out of a doorway near her.

"What in- how did she get there?" Maya wondered, looking bewildered.

Gill wiggled his fingers at Maya. "Magic," he joked.

She slugged him on the shoulder with a playful scowl.

" _Hey, know what the best time of year is visit Boom Town?_ " she asked, grinning.

Jesse let out another sigh and sent a rather deadpan glare at the blue-haired girl. " _Lemme guess, fall?_ "

" _Nope. Winter. Good idea, though!_ " And Nohr flipped a lever.

The sandstone beneath Jesse gave way, and the girl yelped as she dropped into a deep hole, landing on her butt. " _No way out of there, dingus!_ " Nohr cackled, pulling a ladder out of her pocket.

"What does dingus even _mean?_ " Lizzie wondered.

"It's used to refer to something someone cannot or does not wish to refer to specifically," Harper responded, eyes still fixed on the screen.

"... ah."

" _That's where you're wrong,_ " Jesse murmured, before shooting another string of silk to the top of the hole. With a flick of her wrist, she rappelled towards it, before flipping over the edge of the hole and landing running away as fast as she could.

" _Hey!_ " Nohr shouted after her.

Jesse stuck her tongue out at Nohr over her shoulder. " _Who's the noob now?"_ she shouted over her shoulder, before skidding a stop as Axel joined back up with her.

" _Axel!_ " Jesse exclaimed, sounding incredibly relieved.

" _Jesse!_ " he panted out. " _Quick, toss me the amulet!_ "

Jesse gave him a surprised look. Axel made a frustrated little sound and gestured his arms in a flailing motion. " _I mean, you're surrounded by griefers, they'll tear you apart to get it!_ " he exclaimed. True to his word, there were griefers approaching in the distance, although they were still way too far away to see them properly.

"C'mon, Jesse," Axel mumbled, more to himself even though he was still perfectly audible to everyone, "don't you trust me?"

Onscreen Jesse immediately nodded, fished the amulet out of her pocket, and gently slapped it into his hand. " _Don't lose it, 'kay?_ " she asked, giving him a lopsided grin.

Axel perked up immediately. Olivia gave him a grin, and Petra let out this soft sigh of relief.

Onscreen Axel returned the grin. " _Don't worry about me. I got this. You just worry about you, and keep 'em distracted._ "

" _Gotcha. Good luck,_ " and she gave him a thumbs up.

Axel sprinted off in a different direction, Reuben following him after giving Jesse one last worried look. She playfully saluted to the pig, who still watched her for a moment before bolting off.

" _There she is!_ "

Jesse turned to see a group of griefers running towards her. She let out this agitated sigh. " _Well, I did need to get some exercise..._ " That being said, she ran full tilt at a nearby wall, before reaching a spot only inches away from it and explosively jumping upwards, grabbing ahold of the wall and scrambling up it without any trouble, eight limbs propelling her up the wall at a rapid clip.

"That is seriously cool," Stacy said suddenly. Jesse blinked at the girl.

"Oh... thank you?"

" _Hey! At the top!_ "

Vaulting over the ledge of the roof, she nearly tripped over a rather large pile of abandoned eggs on the ground.

"Alright, Jesse! Get some payback!" Olivia exclaimed, pumping her fists a bit.

Jesse grinned and scooped up the eggs. " _I love a good table-turning. Egg-cellent._ "

There was a short pause where everyone tried to process the awful pun she just made, before Lukas simply banged his head on the coffee table. "Jesse, are you kidding me..." he groaned.

Jesse was pinching the bridge of her own nose, looking as though she had a rather acute headache. "I- _no_ \- why did I just-" she muttered under her breath.

Onscreen, Jesse made a face. " _Oh..._ Notch, _I can't believe I just said that..._ "

Two griefers poked their heads over a staircase, and Jesse immediately pivoted and hurled one of the eggs at the nearest griefer. It smacked him square in the chest and knocked him backwards into the other one, and both fell off the side of the stairs.

"Bulls-eye!" Stampy exclaimed.

Jesse kept throwing eggs at the griefers, knocking them all back before bolting up the next set of stairs, although all too soon they were right back on her tail again. Reaching the top of the stairs, she found herself standing next to a block of TNT that was placed near a small fire.

"Yes! More explosions!" Facemeat cheered.

A grin formed on both Jesse's faces. " _Well,_ hel- _lo, opportunity,_ " and she snatched up the block of TNT and held the string close to the fire. It sparked, and she ran back towards the stairs, looking at the long line of griefers running and shoving to try to get up to her.

" _Sorry,_ " she called down, before shoving the TNT down at them.

One of the griefers, who was wearing a white mask, barely had any time to look up and widen his eyes at it before it exploded, sending griefers flying everywhere and demolishing the staircase. Jesse was blasted backwards by the blast so that her back slammed into the floor. With a soft groan, she pushed herself back to her feet and shook her head, before dropping to all eights and scrambling across the ground at a much faster clip than running would've achieved.

The screen switched so that she reached a bridge that lead straight to the spire, with two iron doors opening into the spire, Axel and Reuben standing there on the bridge.

"Well, at least you all made it in one piece. After that, it should be a straight shot," Lukas said mildly.

Jesse and Petra both turned in perfect unison to stare at Lukas with completely deadpan looks, even as Magnus gave a faintly awkward cough. Lukas blinked before his own expression went deadpan. "I... just jinxed it, didn't I."

"Yes. Yes you did."

"It's not that bad; if they can get past my booby traps, it _should_ be a straight shot..." Magnus said, faintly defensively.

This time, Jace, Petra, Olivia, Jesse, and Lukas all turned in perfect unison to stare at Magnus. He blinked at them before realizing what he'd just said.

"... oh."

Onscreen, Reuben turned around with a cheerful oink.

" _Jesse, you made it!_ " And then Axel literally _lifted Jesse off the ground_ into a hug, the much-smaller girl letting out a rather squeaky laugh from where she was now being lifted awkwardly off the ground.

She patted him on the back slightly. " _Whoa, good to see you too, big guy!"_ she chuckled, before he set her back down on the ground, her tilting her head back to get a good look at him. " _You have the amulet?_ "

"' _Course. Me and the pig, we totally rocked it!_ " Axel said, pulling out said amulet and handing it back to Jesse, Reuben nuzzling Jesse's side and making the girl chuckle.

"... _one second._ " Jesse crouched down and pulled the arrowhead out of his leg carefully, making the creeper hybrid give a little hiss of pain, before tossing it to the side and pulling some silk out of her hand, quickly wrapping a small length of it around his leg. The screen switched to show Axel with this warm smile on his face, although Jesse was oblivious to it.

"You really care about people, don't you?" Hadrian asked the black-haired girl lightly.

She nodded with a small smile in his direction. "Yeah. Like I've said before. I'll do anything for my friends."

Axel silently and suddenly reached around Jace and Petra and Olivia to give Jesse a tight hug, making the girl go "Oh" very softly in surprise.

" _And... there ya go, you should be good,_ " and Jesse sat back on her heels and gave the makeshift bandage a grin.

" _Thanks, Jesse._ "

Jesse grinned up at Axel and bounced to her feet. " _No problem. Anyway, let's get in._ "

Axel tried the door, but it just rattled a bit without budging. " _Huh. Maybe it's, I dunno, locked or something. That's a thing people do to important doors, right?_ "

This made several audience members laugh a bit.

" _Yes, people tend to do that when they want to keep people out,_ " Jesse said, sounding faintly amused. She then stepped closer to the iron door and knocked firmly on it neatly.

"Is that going to work?" Lukas asked, raising his eyebrow.

Jesse had just knocked the fourth time when the doors banged open, making both her and Axel jump in surprise and Reuben let out a loud squeal. At least it was inwards and not outwards; or else it would've ended up making contact with Jesses face.

"Okay, never mind. Shows what I know," Lukas said, putting his hands up in the air in surrender.

" _Okay,_ " Axel said with a faintly grudging smile, " _so knocking worked. For once._ "

" _I guess so. Let's get inside, shall we?_ "

The both of them trotted inside the spire slowly, looking around as they peered into the darkness of the spire. Reuben stopped next to them.

Suddenly, some trapdoors beneath them swung open, and the two of them screamed as they plummeted into the darkness, Reuben falling into Jesse's arms. The spider hybrid looked down before squeezing Reuben tightly to her chest in a hug, the screen turning black.

"Wait, what? What just happened?" Lizzie asked, looking disoriented.

"Like I said," Magnus said plainly, "booby traps."

"Do NOT tell me they're going to fall straight into a pool of lava," Petra said flatly, Olivia letting out a groan at the thought.

Magnus thought about this for a few seconds. "... eh, probably not?"

Jesse put her head in her hands and slowly shook it. "That is... not comforting."

"You probably should do something about that 'kingdom' of yours," Harper spoke, giving the Rogue a concerned look. "How many people die there on a daily basis?"

Magnus shook his head. "None, usually. The most we have a month is four, unless there's some sort of accident. My griefers might be deadly, but they do know what they're doing."

"That one guy _suicide-bombed_ himself-!"

"Okay, except for that guy. I don't know what he was thinking."

"What counts as an accident in Boom Town? The buildings are on FIRE!" Ellegaard exclaimed.

"I am not going to answer that, Ellie."

Jace turned to look at them. "Can we please watch this? I think Jesse would like to be assured that she's not going to die simply because she went to Boom Town instead of Redstonia."

"Yes, that would be a nice thing to know, indeed," Jesse groaned, head still buried her hands. Lukas gave her a gentle pat on the back.

* * *

 **A/N: Boom Town makes my hands cramp, lol xD**

 **RQTC: Have you ever solved Einstein's Riddle before? It's actually surprisingly easy if you think about it carefully, I solved it in 17 minutes xD**

 **LunarStarsMoon: (laughs) And indeed, to both of those things xD**

 **AquaK13: (cracks up)**

 **LittleAngelbun: That's literally the only line of the theme song that I remember worth beans xD**

 **Emily The Avenger: Hahaha! That's gold xD**

 **Guest: (laughs) That's Lukas's fault for bringing it up in the first place.**

 **Darkbeast Dend: Yes, I did know Dragonhearted was made by Sparklez x3 and I'm glad you like it!**

 **Idon'tlikecheese: Yep xD**

 **Meow Shadow: Hehe xD**

 **EthanDaCabbage: (grins)**

 **x.X. A.L. X.x**


	26. The King of Boom Town

The screen faded back in to show Jesse slamming onto her back on the ground, Reuben flying out of her arms upon impact, Axel landing next to her, and then Reuben landing on Axel's back and shoving his head back into the dirt, before rebounding on Jesse's back, sending the amulet flying out of her pocket.

"Oh _crap_!" Petra yelled.

The amulet hit the ground, bounced, over a small bridge over a pool of lava, twirled around once, before clattering securely to the floor right before it neared the edge. Jesse let out a relieved sigh.

The screen zoomed out to show that the room around them was comprised of sand and obsidian, pools of lava on the floor, with that one short bridge from where they'd landed to where the amulet had rolled to.

"Okay, that doesn't look _too_ bad," Lukas said, voice slightly shaky. "I mean, sure, there's a LOT of lava, but it doesn't look like there's any traps or anything." He meant to comfort Jesse, but her expression was still utterly deadpan.

"That probably just means that they're all hidden super well," she replied.

"Oh.. yeah, I didn't think about that," Lukas hummed thoughtfully. He paused before patting her on the back. "Well, I'm sure you'll be fine anyways."

"Your confidence in me has been noted," Jesse sighed, in a rather matter-of-fact voice.

Jesse climbed to her feet onscreen and began to walk towards the amulet, but then a familiar voice rang out in the room, making her start slightly. " _You are completely surrounded by hidden death traps... one step closer... and KABOOM!_ "

A lever being toggled sounded, and a sand block popped up to reveal a TNT block beneath.

Half the audience jumped out of their skin.

Jesse yelped and hastily backpedaled, nearly tripping straight into the lava in surprise.

A man stepped out of the shadows and leaned down to pick up the amulet, the green gem's glow becoming a bit painful to look at at his touch. The screen zoomed out to reveal none other than MAGNUS.

" _It's Magnus!"_ Axel said excitedly. " _We totally got caught by Magnus!_ " His smile fell a second later, and he sheepishly rubbed the back of his head. " _And... I think we're gonna die now._ "

" _I think that's pretty accurate,_ " Jesse agreed tiredly.

"Yeah, that's- that's probably bad," Stampy said, wincing slightly.

Magnus sneered at them. " _Did you really think you could sneak up on me? Ha! You're two of the worst griefers I've ever met._ "

"That would probably be because we're not griefers."

Lukas snorted at the sardonic response from the black-haired girl sitting next to him.

" _And a PIG? Really? Hardly stealthy._ "

Both Reubens snorted angrily at this, rather offended.

Onscreen Jesse looked at Axel, then back at Magnus. " _We're here to ask you for help,_ " she replied calmly.

Magnus interrupted whatever she'd been about to say next. " _Uh-huh, uh-huh, sure. So, you're not a couple griefers here to catch me unawares? Because, haha, let me tell you, that guy-_ " and he pointed at Axel. " _\- he's got griefer written all over him._ "

"Okay, so _I'm_ not a griefer," Jesse amended the statement. This made Lukas laugh outright, Jesse giving him a pleased smile at that.

Axel seemed touched by this. " _Man, you don't know how much that means to me._ "

"Really, Axel?" Olivia asked, arching her eyebrow at the burly boy next to her. "Really?"

Onscreen, Jesse looked at Axel again, and then back at Magnus. " _I mean... okay, yes, he_ is _a griefer. But... well, c'mon, a girl in a cloak with her pig, does that seem particularly griefer... ish... to you? At all?_ " she asked tentatively.

Magnus simply gave her an amused smirk. " _Riiiight. So, tell me something then, 'Not Griefers'. How'd you find me? You working with someone? Or maybe you bribed another griefer."_

Jesse glanced nervously at the TNT on the two-block-wide 'bridge'.

"Magnus, if you blow up what might our only chance of defeating the Witherstorm, I swear to Notch..." Ellegaard said, her eye twitching.

" _... Gabriel sent us,_ " Jesse finally replied.

Magnus laughed derisively at that. " _Gabriel? You're seriously telling me you're buddy-buddy with Gabriel?_ "

Jesse rolled her eyes a bit onscreen. " _Not really, since I only talked to him for a total of, like, five minutes,_ " she muttered sarcastically so that only Axel could hear. He smirked at that.

" _You know how often people try and tell me that one?_ "

Gabriel blinked. "People tell you they're friends with me?" he asked Magnus.

Magnus let out a groan at this. "You wouldn't believe how many..."

" _This is all sounding pretty weird, dudes._ " Magnus flipped a lever, and the TNT blocks shot out of the way before exploding, leaving the way clear. Jesse tentatively stepped forward, before rushing across the bridge but skidding to a halt not even two feet later when Magnus pulled another lever and more TNT shot onto the path. " _Who are you really? Why are you here?_ " He set his hand on another lever, but he didn't pull it. Yet, anyway. His eyes were narrowed as he stared at the both of them. " _I want answers. Now._ "

" _I'll answer the first question first,_ " Jesse said quietly, slowly reaching up to the buttons on her cloak. Carefully, she undid them, before slowly and carefully sliding the cloak off her shoulders and putting the cloak into her pocket.

Magnus's narrowed eyes widened, before he turned his head slightly. The screen switched to show Axel pulling one sleeve up to reveal his mottled green arm, a nervous look on his face.

Magnus stared at them, eyes flicking from Jesse to Axel, before he spoke again, his voice low and quiet and shocked. " _Axel...?_ " His head turned back to Jesse slightly. " _Jesse?_ "

"Oh, there you go, you recognize us," and Jesse flopped sideways so that she was leaning on Lukas, breathing a sigh of relief. Lukas looked down at her before patting her on the head, making her stick her tongue out at him tiredly.

Onscreen, Jesse's eyes and body relaxed slightly. " _You recognize us,_ " she breathed out in relief, " _you recognize Axel and me, don't you?_ "

Magnus stared.

"I think he might be in a bit of shock... I guess it's a bit of a shock if you see someone you haven't seen for ten years," Mevia said quietly, making everyone glance at her.

" _There's a huge monster eating up the entire world... nothing can stop it. So that's why Gabriel told us to reunite the Order. Please... you have to come with us,_ " Jesse said, plaintively, " _you might be the only chance we have left!_ "

Magnus kept staring, before he slowly flipped the switch, and the TNT blocks shot out of the way and blew up again, leaving the way clear. Jesse tentatively approached him, as the Rogue said, his voice louder but not quite the volume it had been before the reveal, " _Okay. Let me believe you, for a second then, that Gabriel DID send you- two people I haven't seen for_ ten years _, and could possibly just be new hybrids from the Bureau of Amalgamology. You expect me to take your word for it? Two strangers with wild stories, and nothing to show for it... except an amulet that's not theirs._ "

Jesse's brow furrowed onscreen as she kept edging towards him. " _Are you that paranoid?_ " she asked slowly. " _Do you really not... trust anyone?_ "

" _It's how I've survived this long._ "

Axel and Jesse shared a look, before Jesse quietly spoke again, sounding almost like a child in that moment. " _It sounds lonely_ ," she responded.

Magnus simply looked away in response, not saying anything.

" _Please trust us,"_ Axel spoke up suddenly, " _and if you don't trust me, trust Jesse, because she's the most trustworthy person I know."_

Both Jesses looked a bit surprised at this, Real-Jesse blinking at Axel before a smile came over her face. "Thanks, Axel."

She ducked away as he reached over to clap her on the back. "Ah, but... please don't clap me on the back again."

"Oh, okay..."

Magnus was silent for a moment, before finally sighing. " _Fine. Okay. You sold me. I'm in._ "

Most of the audience breathed this tremendous sigh of relief.

" _Oh,_ " he added suddenly, walking over to them, " _but... we might have a bit of a problem getting out of here._ "

"Oh... right. Can't believe I forgot about that," Real-Magnus winced slightly.

" _Why? You're Magnus,"_ Axel said puzzledly, " _you can just walk out of here._ "

Magnus scoffed in response to this. " _Um, I don't know if you've been around this place, but it's... kinda full of griefers!"_

"Yes, we've noticed," Cassie responded drily.

" _But... that's kinda awesome. Right?"_ Axel asked tentatively as Jesse pulled the cloak back on over her shoulders, fiddling with the buttons to make sure the cloak didn't just slip off her shoulders.

" _Wrong!_ " Magnus huffed and crossed his arms. " _You both- seriously, it's hard equating you two with those two kids ten years ago-_ _you both know about the whole 'challenging the king to his crown' thing right? It's their thing."_

Real-Jesse let out a moan. "Please don't tell me he's about to say what I think he's about to say-"

" _So long as I'm King, I can't leave this tower._ "

"Nope, he said it. Fantastic."

Onscreen-Jesse bit her lip thoughtfully, one hand touching her chin.

" _Not as fun as you might think,_ " Magnus huffed. " _Of course, I do get to spit on their heads occasionally, so that's something._ "

Both onscreen Jesse and Real-Jesse smirked at this, before she suggested, " _Just choose a new king or queen, then. Then you can come with us."_

Magnus shook his head. " _Nah, I've beaten them dozens of times, they're not worthy. They'll see right through it. But you... you're the mysterious newcomer with the cloak and the amulet. By now, there's sure to be all sorts of rumors of how awesome you are."_

"Er... thank you?" Jesse said slowly.

" _If you can beat me, then I'll be able to leave!"_

Jesse tilted her head thoughtfully onscreen. " _I guess I could just let another griefer beat me, and that would be that,"_ she hummed, before her face fell at the gaping flaw in the plan. " _But how in the world would I be able to beat_ you?"

" _I know, right? But you won't have to!_ " Magnus said. He was getting all excited, which obviously worried onscreen Jesse, because her face was starting to get all anxious. For that matter, so was real-Jesse's. " _Ohhh this is going to be so good. I'm actually really excited about this! We gotta make sure it looks legit, though. The Death Bowl's never seen the carnage we're about to create."_

"Uh... 'Death Bowl'?" Olivia asked, her face having gone pale. That was nothing compared to Jesse's face, though; Jesse's face was literally pure white in terror. Jace gave the black-haired girl next to him a sympathetic pat on the back.

"Yeah, the Death Bowl! Where a griefer battles the King to get the crown! Of course, no one's ever beaten me..."

"This is worse than the games," Em groaned.

"Why is it called the Death Bowl, exactly?" Lukas asked, his own face having gone rather pale. "It's not like anyone's _died_ there, right?"

Magnus developed an extremely acute interest in the episode.

The screen zoomed in on Jesse's face. She looked a bit as though she were about to faint. " _Death Bowl?"_

The background switched to the outsides, before zooming out to reveal this huge stadium/arena thing that looked as though it had been blown up to hell and back, griefers cheering in the stands so loudly that the audience actually covered their ears with a wince.

The camera went back onto Jesse, who was standing in between Magnus and Axel, this numbly terrified look on her face. When she spoke again, it was in a voice so soft that it was almost inaudible over the cheering.

" _Um... what's the Death Bowl?_ "

* * *

 **A/N: Yes! Oh I'm excited to write this (evil grin)**

 **RQTC: WHO'S HYPED FOR DA DEATH BOWWWWLLLLLL xD**

 **Emily The Avenger: Lol xD**

 **rebekahtpe: NOOOOOOOO xD But in all seriousness, pen.**

 **S4SH4L4SH4theGaMeR101: Probably a gas line blowing up or something.**

 **AquaK13: (laughs)**

 **RapidSammi: (laughs) Welp, that's enough TNT to last me six years xD**

 **x.X. A.L. X.x**


	27. The Death Bowl

" _Welllllcome, ladies and gentlegriefers,"_ shouted a griefer in a suit and 3D glasses, " _to the DEATH BOWL!_ "

Cheers rose up from the crowd of griefers in the stands.

" _In one corner, we have Magnus, your king of Boom Town-_ " Magnus waved to the crowd with a cocky green as the griefers cheered again, " _who is prepared to defend his title and crown._ "

Magnus turned to Jesse, with a grinning Axel standing a few feet behind her. " _So, Tiny. Welcome to the Death Bowl._ "

Jesse frowned at him and crossed her arms at him. " _Hey, I'm not THAT short..._ " she complained.

He just patted her on the head, making several members of the audience laugh at this little scene, before continuing, " _The Grief-Off to end all Grief-Offs._ " He leaned in a little, dropping his voice so that no one else could hear them. " _How you wanna fake this? What's your grand plan?"_

"This was _your idea!_ " Jace exclaimed to the Rogue.

Jesse stopped and thought about this for a moment. The griefers chanting something that sounded suspiciously like 'burn 'em' probably didn't help her thinking process.

" _We'll... start off small. Then I'll... throw some TNT. Let it graze you, and we'll call it a finish,_ " Jesse finally decided after a few moments, shrugging at him.

Magnus nodded. " _Okay. Something about TNT. Awesome._ "

Onscreen-Jesse rolled her eyes.

"You know, I was starting to like Jesse here," Ellegaard said pointedly, sending a glare at Magnus from around Soren and Gabriel.

"Ms. Ellegaard, would you please stop referring to my imminent death?" Jesse asked politely, her face having turned a shade of pale _green_ , "It's starting to make me queasy."

Lukas patted her on the back.

As Magnus stepped back again, 3D Glasses came up to Jesse. " _And you? What name do you go by?_ "

Jesse blinked at him, surprised at this turn of events. He dropped his voice to a normal volume and said to her, much more quietly than before, " _I'm gonna need a name._ "

The tiniest smirk came over Jesse's face. " _The Spider,"_ she uttered.

A grin came over Petra's face, and she clapped Jesse on the back. "Nice, nice. And it's accurate, too."

"I probably would've gone with something like 'The Destroyer' or something like that," Axel hummed.

"Well, yeah, Axel, you're you."

" _You heard the name, folks,"_ 3D Glasses called to the crowd, " _give a big Death Bowl welcome to the_ Spider!" Cheers grew to a deafening level, enough for all of the audience members to wince and for Onscreen-Jesse to wince and put one hand over her ear. " _Let's begin!_ "

Jesse turned to face Magnus again, as 3D Glasses declared dramatically, " _Opponents will craft their own griefing towers, which they will then use to grief each other."_

" _Any rules about the tower?"_ Jesse asked.

He glanced back at Jesse. " _I was just about to get to that. The only rule is-_ "

A griefer interrupted, flailing his arms in the air like pinwheels. " _That there are no rules!_ "

" _... no eye poking,_ " 3D Glasses finished, earning some boos from the crowd, " _other than that, do whatever you want. Go crazy. Seriously._ "

"Well, at least there's one actual rule," Otto mumbled.

Jesse gave Magnus a nervous smile. He gave her a wicked grin in return.

"I'm sure that calmed my nerves," Jesse said drily, making several members of the audience laugh.

Petra threw one arm around Jace and leaned forward, dragging him forward with her. "This is going to be interesting."

" _Spider! Pick your building material! And Magnus, you-_ "

" _Nah,"_ Magnus cut him off, " _I'm good. Brought my own supply._ "

" _Let the griefing begin!_ "

And a blast of cheers made Jesse and the audience wince again, before trotting over to her side of the arena. " _Okay. Some wood. Stone. And... um..._ " Reuben started jumping around and squealing excitedly, grinning at Jesse as if to say 'This one! This one!' "... _pink... wool._ "

"Ohh, Jesse, please don't pick the pink wool just because Reuben likes it," Petra groaned, her arm still draped over Jace's shoulders. The mocha-haired boy was starting to blush a bit with his face literally being pressed up next to Petra's.

Jesse frowned her three options, before shrugging. " _Well, if I fall over, pink wool would probably hurt less than the other options,"_ she sighed, and went for the pink wool. Reuben let out a happy squeal at that.

Upon spotting the deadpan glare Petra was shooting at Jesse, the black-haired girl simply shrugged. "Can't fault that logic."

The screen sped up as Jesse built her tower, which seemed to be mostly hollow and had a small space at the top that walled her in. There was also a small makeshift TNT launcher at the top of it. A little ways away was Magnus, which looked as if it were made out of chiseled stone and some... other pink block that quite a lot of people didn't recognize. And a TNT launcher that made Jesse's look like a toy.

" _Okay... I have extra pink wool in here. Guess it'll have to do,_ " Jesse sighed, straightening up and putting her hands on her hips, before spotting Axel jumping up and down at the bottom of Magnus's tower. " _Axel, what are you doing?!_ "

Real-Jesse shot Axel a deadpan look. He grinned back at her sheepishly.

" _Thought you might bring that up,"_ Axel called back sheepishly, " _it's just that Reuben wanted to take your corner, and I didn't want to crowd him or anything, so I thought that I'd, um, watch from over here._ "

Jesse facepalmed. " _Gee, thanks, Axel,_ " she sighed, a joking undertone to her voice, before looking back up at Magnus.

An excited look came over his face. " _Take your best shot!_ " he shouted to her with a single nod.

Jesse pulled out an egg, tossing it once into the air and catching it, reminding them of Lukas back at Endercon with his slime ball, before chucking the egg at Magnus. He was forced to dodge sideways as it hit and spawned a tiny baby chicken.

" _Ha!"_ Magnus cackled. " _You grief with me, you grief with the best!_ " And he turned to the crowd with a proud grin, putting his hands on his hips.

"Wow. I didn't know you were such a good actor," Soren hummed.

Jesse lobbed another egg at Magnus, and this time it hit him right in the back of the head and knocked him over. Another baby chicken joined the other one already running around, and Jesse grinned slightly as Magnus climbed back up to his feet.

" _So, Spider. Taking an amulet isn't enough... you need to take my crown as well, huh?_ "

The audience all clapped, the Rogue standing up and sweeping a dramatic bow. His acting WAS really good.

"Do you even have a crown?" Axel suddenly wondered out of the blue.

Jesse simply shrugged. " _I don't exactly discriminate in accessory-taking, so I guess your crown shall be mine,_ " she called back.

Magnus turned and kicked both of the little chickens off of the edge of his tower.

"Not the chickens!" Lukas cried. This made Jesse giggle.

" _You are but a student!_ " Magnus declared loudly. " _Prepare yourself! For I am here to give you your final lesson!_ " And he headed over to his giant TNT launcher.

" _Oh-_ hoh _, boy,_ " Jesse giggled nervously, her eyes widening. " _Please tell me you're not going to fire that..."_

Magnus pulled the switch, Jesse ducking, which ended up being unnecessary as the TNT soared over her tower entirely and hit a random part of the stands, scattering several members of the audience, including 3D Glasses.

Real-Jesse let out a relieved sigh.

" _Er, that was... just a warning,_ " Magnus cleared his throat, awkwardly, as the crowd booed at him.

" _What? A warning that you need glasses?_ " one of the griefers shouted from behind him.

" _Maybe,_ " Jesse hummed mildly, " _in that case, go for a pair of the 3D ones, they look cool. Anyway, it seems that the student has become the master. And like a spider manipulates its strings to get to their prey, I'll manipulate this battle to get to a win!_ "

"Wow!" Lukas exclaimed, sounding startled but impressed. "That was- that got kind of philosophical."

"I'm pretty sure I was just b-sing my way through that," Jesse hummed back, still pale but less so, making several members of the audience laugh.

" _I don't know what that means,"_ another griefer shouted, " _but I love it and I want to put it on a t-shirt!_ "

Onscreen, Jesse smiled slightly and moved to her own TNT launcher, before toggling the switch. The TNT sailed right at Magnus, but the Rogue turned around and stacked slime blocks in front of him, making the TNT bounce off and sail right back at Jesse.

"Er... that seemed a bit too real," Soren said slowly.

Jesse dove away from the TNT as it blew up a lower portion of her tower, climbing back to her feet and giving Magnus a quizzical look. " _What happened to getting hit by my TNT?_ " she asked, in a voice that was quiet enough that the rest of the audience couldn't hear.

Magnus certainly could, though, because he narrowed his eyes at her: " _Nobody messes with the BOOM MASTER!_ "

"Oh. Welp. I'm going to die. Nice knowing you all," Jesse groaned, thumping her head onto the coffee table. "I leave everything in my will to whoever wants it."

"He's going to kill her," Ellegaard shook her head, "oh Notch, he's going to kill her." She swiveled to stare at Magnus with a piercing, furious look. "You just can't bring yourself to give up your stupid crown, can you?"

Magnus wisely decided not to try to defend himself, seeing as at least half of the room was now glaring at him.

Onscreen, Jesse dropped her head into her hands, the cloak still hiding her extra arms. " _Notch-frickin'-DAMMIT, can't things be_ easy _just for once?!_ " she groaned, although she was still keeping her voice low.

" _Jesse, you okay?_ " Axel called out, rushing over to her tower.

Before Jesse could even nod in response, Magnus bellowed from the top of his tower, " _Had enough yet? All righty, I think Noob Time... is over. Luck sometimes visits the most unskilled of us, but it never lingers. Skill... mastery... these are the things that will see you defeated!_ "

"I mean, they do have to keep it up if they want the griefers to keep believing it's real..." Sparklez offered weakly by explanation.

"I'm not sure it's going to matter if she's _dead!_ " Lukas exclaimed.

"WOULD EVERYBODY PLEASE STOP REFERRING TO MY IMMINENT DEATH?! OTHERWISE I JUST MIGHT THROW UP ON THE SPOT!" This was easily the loudest, and the most hysterical, anyone had ever heard Jesse's voice.

" _Magnus, craft a cannon!_ " one griefer shrieked.

" _Yeah, finish 'em with a cannon!_ " a different one agreed.

" _If it's a cannon you want, it's a cannon you'll get!_ " Magnus agreed, making the crowd cheer raucously.

Axel sighed. " _Yep, he's completely lost it, dude's going for the kill! Jesse, you better craft... I dunno, the best thing of your life. Like, right now!_ "

Jesse stared at the stuff in her chest, before she let out this defeated sigh and stacked up the rest of her pink wool to make a thick wall with a hole so she could still see Magnus and then fortifying the floor a bit.

"She's gonna die," Magnus grumbled under his breath. "And if she dies, we all die. Great. I just murdered the whole world. And not even in the way I really wanted to."

" _Okay, well... it's pathetic. What do you think, Axel?_ " Jesse asked, leaning over the edge of her tower to look at the burly boy. He rubbed his head awkwardly.

" _Yeah, it's... yeah. It... might do. But, Jesse, look._ "

Jesse looked up, and her eyes widened and her face turned the shade of snow. The screen changed to show Magnus was standing behind two levers. He threw his head back and laughed as the screen zoomed out to reveal a cannon that was shaped like an open-mouthed skull with enough TNT inside to blow Boom Town sky high in the mouth, and a double lava fall.

"Don't anybody mention anything about my imminent death or I swear to Notch I will throw up on them," Jesse said, her voice back at a normal level and surprisingly steady, but still outright hysterical.

Lukas patted her on the back comfortingly, before looking at Jace. "When you need to go pick who to go find, please go to Redstonia," he said simply.

"After seeing this, wild horses couldn't drag me here," Jace responded, his chin resting on the coffee table, eyes glued to the screen.

" _You were supposed to throw the fight..._ " Jesse grumbled onscreen, rubbing her forehead as if she could feel this massive headache coming on.

Magnus cackled as he toggled a lever, a block of TNT shooting out of the skull's mouth at Jesse's terrible little fort. She leaped back to avoid it, the TNT immediately demolishing the wall, and more TNT started flying at her.

"No no no no no," and Olivia covered her eyes, making the tiniest spaces between her fingers so that she could peek through.

Onscreen, Jesse bit her lip, before letting out this harsh sigh and unbuttoning her cloak. " _You know what? Screw it!_ " she snapped, balling the cloak up and hurling it down at Axel, who caught it. Gasps of shock rang out through the crowd of griefers, but Jesse's eyes were narrowing at Magnus. " _Alright. If you're going to go hard on me, don't expect me to go easy on you!_ " she yelled, before all of her arms raised and fired.

Six strings caught six blocks of TNT, and she thrashed them away, mostly trying to aim over the stadium walls to avoid actually hurting anyone in the crowd, before tearing off those strings and catching more and more, as fast as she could.

"See? You're not going to die!" Lukas said, patting her on the back again. Jesse looked much less like she was about to vomit, her face having gone back to a more normal shade as she watched the screen intently.

Jesse rolled sideways, another TNT block blasting through part of her tower. The screen switched to show Magnus was flipping levers so fast that it was almost faster than the speed of sound, irises replaced with glowing balls of fire, sending more blocks than she could handle at once at the girl, but had she not been able to throw them aside with the speed she was doing it at, she already would've died.

The screen switched to show Reuben looking up with an angry oink, before turning away and running off.

"Hey, where's the pig off to?" Gill wondered.

Aiden shrugged. "Explosions are going off everywhere. Isn't it obvious it's running away?"

Reuben snorted at him, annoyed.

Jace's eyes darkened, and he muttered, so quietly that only Petra, whose face was practically right up next to Jace's, could hear, "Don't call Reuben an 'it'..."

Axel looked around frantically onscreen, before spotting the three chests Jesse had been going through earlier and running over to them, flipping one open and rooting through it as he tried to find something to help Jesse, Magnus still firing TNT at an insanely quick rate.

Jesse's tower had turned into randomly floating chunks of blocks in the air that were strung together with string. The reason why was shown a second later as Jesse shot another string at a block beneath her, quickly webbing it together so that she had some mobility. Magnus yelled from his tower, " _You're going up against the King of the Griefers, and you pick pink wool? Ha!_ "

Onscreen, Jesse's mouth fell open. The screen switched to show Reuben rounding a corner and coming up behind Magnus.

"Alright, go Reuben!" Dan shouted.

Onscreen, Jesse shook her head slightly. " _I owe you ten billion carrots after this whole mess is over, buddy,"_ she mumbled. Real-Reuben's ears perked up at the sound of 'carrots'.

" _Get off!_ " Magnus yelped, as Reuben started squealing up a storm and kicking his legs and knocking Magnus away from the levers, the fire in his eyes dying a bit, " _No pigs allowed!_ "

" _I thought the only rule was 'no eye poking',_ " Jesse shouted to him in return.

Real-Jesse returned the high-five that Lukas directed at her, looking almost back to normal by now.

" _Stuff!_ " Axel yelled as he ran back to Jesse, an arrow in his hands, " _I've got cool stuff!_ "

He chucked an arrow up to Jesse, the girl shooting a string and retracting it, slapping the arrow into her open palm, the arrow glowing slightly. " _I got you an arrow for your bow. It's enchanted or something!_ "

"When did Jesse get a bow?" Sparklez mused.

Slab shrugged after a moment, making everyone look at him- this was the first he'd actually spoken for a while. "Maybe it was between the first episode and this one?" he suggested.

"... oh yeah. That makes sense," Petra hummed.

Jesse gave him a look. " _Axel, really? A bow? In a cannon fight? There's all sorts of clichéd lines about this!_ " she shouted to him.

"Eh, she's got a point," Cassie murmured.

" _Yeah, but the TNT- inside the cannon!_ " Axel pointed at the skull mouth.

Jesse's face lit up at the suggestion. " _Axel, you're a_ genius!" she yelled, pulling out said bow.

Axel grinned at the compliment.

" _Time to see how well you fly, pig!_ " Magnus yelled, the fire returning to his eyes as he grabbed Reuben and set him in front of the TNT launcher, making the pig squeal in fear.

Jace, Real-Jesse's, and Onscreen-Jesse's eyes all widened at almost the same time. " _Reuben!_ " Onscreen-Jesse yelled.

Magnus yanked the lever, launching Reuben into the air, squealing in fear.

"Well... Magnus is definitely gonna get it now," Lukas said, pinching the bridge of his nose.

Jesse aimed and fired with her palm, a web shooting from her palm and catching Reuben, sending him at the ground at more of an acute swing. The screen switched to show Axel racing along the ground, looking up at Reuben. " _I gotcha, I gotcha!_ " he shouted, before jumping up to catch Reuben, setting the pig back on the ground a moment later. " _Man, you smell delicious right now,_ " he joked faintly, kneeling down to get rid of the string.

Jesse scraped it off her hand, and turned to glare at Magnus with this deadly glare. " _Hey, Magnus!_ " she barked angrily.

" _Yeah, short stuff?_ "

Jesse jumped onto the highest part of her tower's remains, thrashing her hair out of the way so she could get a clear look, red eye glinting in a lethal way as she pulled the bow back at full draw, fingers pulled back to her cheek, " _Flying pig jokes are totally played out!"_

"See? Look at that," and Lukas patted Jesse on the back, the short girl twisting to get a good look at him, "you hurt one of the people Jesse cares about and she gets _super_ intense. It's... actually, it's kind of sweet."

"Unless you're on the receiving end of it," Mevia uttered, quietly.

"Yeah, unless that."

Magnus started laughing again at the sight of the single bow and arrow, and started flipping the levers again. Jesse's eyes narrowed, and her knees tensed before she leapt into the air, a TNT block destroying her floating island of pink wool, and fired.

The screen followed the path of the spinning arrow, as it soared straight into the mouth of the skull and embedded itself in one of the TNT blocks dead-center. The fire left Magnus's eyes as they widened. " _Oh, crap!_ " was all he had time to say before the TNT exploded, triggering more explosions, knocking Magnus off his tower with a yell. The griefers gasped, Reuben was grinning, Axel's mouth was wide open, and Magnus slammed onto his back on the ground.

The audience all winced sympathetically.

Jesse's eyes narrowed as she fired another string at a floating block of pink wool, before she swung down and then up, doing a flip in midair before landing perfectly atop a pink wool block, her eyes still narrowed in concentration and panting heavily.

After a good moment of silence except for her panting, she gave the fallen Magnus a grin. " _Good... good game,"_ she panted down to him.

Magnus glared at her for a moment, before a smirk came over his face and he shook his head slightly.

The watchers all snapped out of their shock and started applauding, except for Ivor (although he did seem to have a faint smirk on his face), Hadrian and Mevia (both of them admittedly looking rather impressed), Aiden, and- at the brown-haired boy's glare- Maya and Gill.

" _We have a winner!_ " 3D Glasses bellowed, " _the Spiiiiderrrrrr!_ "

The crowd exploded into cheers, and Jesse jumped down, doing a parkour roll and landing on her feet, Axel doing this sort of excited victory/war dance, as 3D Glasses said to Jesse, " _You gonna say something then, champ?_ "

Jesse paused, scratching her head, before nodding as Axel ceased doing his dance and pulled her cloak back out. " _Yeah... sure. All you griefers who want to be King or- Queen- or whatever- of Boom Town? Go right ahead."_

Gasps from the griefers, and indeed several surprised gasps from the audience as they looked at Real-Jesse, who didn't really look all that surprised about it.

Jesse took the cloak back from Axel and swung it back around her shoulders. " _I mean, don't get me wrong, this place is... great..._ " There was a short pause before she said 'great', " _but... I would really like to just get back home right about now._ "

Real-Jesse let out this long, relieved sigh, and slumped into Lukas, the blonde looking at her before patting her on the head.

A short silence.

Everything suddenly began to shake, a low roar sounding.

Magnus's eyes widened. " _Oh,_ crap," he repeated, " _that your Witherstorm?"_

Jesse whipped around, and her own eyes widened as she let out a groan, shaking her head slightly in shock as the screen switched to show the Witherstorm towering over Boom Town, in all it's three-headed glory.

"It's at Boom Town," Petra gaped, "how- how did it get from home to _Boom Town_ that fast?"

"It- did it- did it get _bigger?_ " Stampy gasped.

"That thing's going to eat my kingdom!" Magnus shouted.

" _Yep, that monstrosity is what we call the Witherstorm,_ " Jesse sighed, before lunging forward and seizing Magnus's wrist. " _Okay, now enough staring at it in horror, RUN!_ "

And the four of them did exactly that, as the tractor beams started roving over the tower and lifting things up, griefers, buildings, _anything._ "Oh my Notch," Soren said quietly.

" _STOP EATING MY KINGDOM!_ " Magnus yelled at the Witherstorm, coming to a stop and making Jesse, who was still holding his wrist, jolt to a halt as she desperately tried to get him running again. " _YOU'LL REGRET MESSING WITH BOOM TOWN!_ "

" _MAGNUS!_ " Jesse yelled, making his head snap to her. " _Come_ on!" A hint of desperation was beginning to rise in her voice as she started yanking at his arm again.

His eyes hardened, before the group started running again, racing towards the portal. It was even _more_ chaos than before, the terrified screams of griefers ringing out in the air, more and more explosions going off, griefers getting sucked into the Witherstorm left and right.

Jesse grabbed Magnus, who grabbed Reuben and Magnus, and launched a string at the portal, the string sailing straight through the mouth of it. " _Hang on!_ " Jesse nearly screamed, before the group got jerked off their feet and they were thrown straight through it, the screen going black.

"Oh my Notch," Ellegaard gaped at the screen. "That- that was so _fast..._ "

Magnus's eyes were hard as he glared at the screen, before turning slightly to look at Jesse. "Well, kid... at least you know I'll definitely be helping you now," he said, a hint of steel making its way into his voice.

* * *

 **A/N: Easily my longest chapter yet! It didn't help that my computer froze up three times during the writing of this chapter...**

 **RQTC: What subject do you hate at school?**

 **Math.**

 **Just...**

 **Math.**

 **sailor. mikuchan: (laughs) (high-fives you)**

 **LunarStarsMoon: (grins) True**

 **RapidSammi: (cracks up)**

 **Meow Shadow: (laughs) Welp, hope you enjoyed this.**

 **rebekahtpe: Um... be a complete asshole for no reason. Otherwise it's extremely difficult to actually annoy me.**

 **S4SH4L4SH4theGaMeR101: (cracks up) I wonder how the villagers felt about it...**

 **AquaK13: Here's the Death Bowl!**

 **Emily The Avenger: (grins)**

 **Luna96: Hehehe xD**

 **Guest: Kewl :3**

 **Darkbeast Dend: ... ahh... thank you? I think xD**

 **x.X. A.L. X.x**


	28. Green and Red Clash (on the Color Wheel)

The screen came back in to show Jesse climbing up the side of the hill to the temple. " _Okay, just a bit further!_ " she called down to Axel and Magnus, lower arms hugging Reuben.

Magnus's head popped over the edge of the small hill first. " _Wow,_ " and he stepped over to the edge and looked at the archway. The gaping holes that had been there had been completely blocked up by redstone, with an iron door blocking the entrance. " _Someone went bonkers with the defenses, huh?"_

Lukas felt a grin come over his face, one eyebrow rising. "Wow, Olivia. You're really good with redstone."

"Thanks," Olivia said, grinning back.

Onscreen, Jesse simply shrugged. " _Well, I like it._ "

They all hopped down and headed towards the entrance of the temple, before a loud hiss met their ears, the creeper staring directly at Magnus. Axel stepped in front of him and glared at the creeper, hissing slightly in anger. To everyone's surprise, the creeper stopped and tilted its head at Axel curiously.

Well, until five arrows impaled it, killing it and making it burst into a cloud of smoke. " _Who goes there?_ " The screen switched to show that it had been Lukas who'd shouted dramatically, ears pricked up. His blue-green eyes widened, and he lowered the bow. " _Jesse? That you?_ " he called down.

Jesse grinned and waved back at him. " _Lukas!_ " she called back. Axel hissed slightly and Magnus gave Axel a raised eyebrow, mumbling something about "you two didn't change much, did you?" which Jesse chose to ignore. " _Hey, we're back!_ "

" _I'm so glad you're back!_ " Lukas called down, his ears actually perking up a bit at the sound of her voice.

Aiden's scowl, forgotten in the madness of Boom Town, returned at the sight of Lukas being excited at the Order of the Loser's return.

" _And we brought Magnus!_ " Jesse pointed at the master of explosions next to her.

Lukas's grin grew even wider. " _Fantastic!"_ He disappeared, the screen changing to show him opening the door, blue-green eyes actually _sparkling_ with excitement. " _You guys are NEVER going to believe who showed up while you were gone._ "

Jesse poked her head inside the building, to show Petra leaning against a wall and grinning casually. Her face lit up. " _PETRA!"_ she shouted, unknowingly echoing Axel's, Olivia's, Lukas's, and the two Jesse's exclamations.

"You're alive!" and Lukas accidentally squashed Jesse and Jace into the hug as he lunged to give Petra a hug, Axel and Olivia quickly joining with Reuben. Petra was laughing and trying to keep them all from falling over.

"See? Told you I'd be fine!"

Jesse raced inside the building and threw her arms around the redhead as she pushed herself off the wall. Petra stumbled back a step, but she was still smiling at them. " _Hey, guys. How's it going?_ "

Reuben raced over as well, squealing happily and running in little circles around her, making the redhead grin down at her from where Jesse was still hugging her.

" _Petra, you made it!_ " And the two girls let out a loud, surprised gasp Axel literally lifted the two of them off the ground in a tight hug.

" _Axel, ribs,_ " Jesse eked out, although she was still smiling.

" _Sorry,_ " and he let go, dropping the two girls back to the ground, but still grinning, all of them grinning at each other.

Petra let out a low wolf-whistle and grinned at Jesse, one hand on her hip. " _Nice cloak._ "

" _Thanks,_ " Jesse nodded, a grin still fixed on her face.

"What about Gabriel...?" Ellegaard asked softly.

Petra nodded, and said, a bit more quietly, " _Back there in Gabriel's bunker... it got pretty dicey._ "

Jesse's big smile faded as she nodded again. " _It's_ such _a relief to see you,_ " she agreed, " _I'm so glad you're okay._ "

" _You pulled me out of that Witherstorm's clutches, and I ran, and ran, and ran for the temple. If you hadn't saved me..._ " Petra paused again, before continuing, seriously, " _well, I owe you everything, Jesse. I'm just glad I heard Gabriel telling you where to go."_

Jesse's smile was completely gone now. " _D-did anyone else get away?_ " she asked anxiously, twisting her hands together, eyes worried.

Petra looked down at her feet, mouth in a grim line. " _It's all a blur, but the Witherstorm left almost nothing behind. Everything... everyone... was just... gone,_ " she said, so quietly that it was almost inaudible.

Jace shook his head slowly. "Gabriel, that butcher, the other Ocelots, our home..." His voice was hoarse, and tears were beginning to gleam in his eyes. "They're all just... gone?"

Maya buried her head in her hands, beginning to cry. Gill wrapped a comforting arm around her, his lips pressing into a thin line as he tried to keep himself from crying. Aiden's hands were clenched in his lap.

"Out of all those people at Endercon..." Petra shook her head. "Only _six people_ make it out? A-and one of them's a pig."

Reuben let out this sad whine, Jace tightening his grip on the pig as he stared blankly at the screen, doing his best to not cry. Jesse reached out and squeezed his shoulder comfortingly, but she couldn't bring herself to say anything.

The other people in the room were uncomfortably silent at this, staring grimly at the screen.

" _It even got Gabriel,_ " Petra finished, turning around and leading them all further into the temple. Jesse looked back at Magnus, whose mouth was hanging open, eyes wide. He slowly shut his mouth and looked back at the floor without saying a word, which really wasn't like the Order of the Stone member.

Soren reached over and gave Gabriel an impromptu hug, an upset look on his face. "Oh, my old friend..." he sighed. Magnus and Ellegaard all looked at the ground, trying not to meet eyes with Gabriel, the warrior staring blankly at the screen, a grim look on his face.

The screen switched so that they were ascending the stairs, Magnus looking around. " _Wow. Been a while since I've been here-_ whoa."

His face contorted into a glare, fists clenching. Both onscreen Jesse and Real-Jesse flinched back a bit in surprise and apprehension. " _What. Is. She. Doing. Here?_ " the Rogue asked slowly, deliberately, and most of all angrily.

Jesse turned to look over her shoulder, mouth falling open as her eyes widened.

The screen switched to show a chatting Olivia and ELLEGAARD standing near the crumbling wall. Ellegaard had this warm smile on her face as she talked to Olivia, and the Enderman hybrid was waving her hands around animatedly.

Soren's eyes widened. "Oh. Well. That's not good. They're going to kill each other."

"What's Ellegaard doing there? I thought we agreed to go after Magnus!" Axel said, sounding surprised.

Jesse hummed, making all of them look at her. "Hmm! ... maybe that's why I hesitated last time. I get the feeling that Olivia's a bit stubborn, so that me must've found it suspicious that she was just agreeing with the idea."

"... now that you mention it..." Jace touched his chin.

" _Call this a hunch,_ " Petra said tentatively, " _but, uh... do you two not like each other?_ "

"More like _despise_ each other," Soren said. Magnus and Ellegaard simply looked away from each other at that.

" _Right, I forgot to mention,_ " Lukas added sheepishly, rubbing his head as Jesse turned to stare at him, " _Olivia went on a little 'expedition' of her own, while you were gone..._ "

Magnus frowned at them. " _And this, 'Olivia'_ _person, came back with_ her?" He turned to Jesse, eyes narrowed in suspicion. " _Did you know about this? Did Ellie-_ " he cut himself off, closing his eyes in frustration for a moment. " _..._ Ellegaard. _Did_ Ellegaard _put you up to this?_ "

Everyone shot Magnus a look, as if to ask what that was about. He just shrugged.

Jesse shook her head, frowning slightly. " _And this... is a problem?_ " she asked, slowly.

" _You bet your butt it's a problem,_ " Magnus snapped, " _no way am I working with her. Not after... ugh._ "

This caused several raised eyebrows.

Jesse's eyebrow went up as well, but at that point Olivia spotted them. The skin around her right eye had darkened to jet-black, and the eye was a glowing shade of magenta, but the dark-skinned girl was grinning as she flailed her arms in a wave at Jesse. " _Jesse!"_ she called out. " _Jesse! Look- I found Ellegaard!_ "

Jesse looked back at Magnus with an apologetic look. " _One moment, I'll- I'll go and figure out what's happening._ "

" _Good,_ " Magnus snapped at her, " _you do that._ "

Olivia was practically glowing at this point. " _Guys!_ I get to go to Redstonia! And I get to meet _Ellegaard!_ How awesome is that?!" she nearly squealed. If this had been an anime, she would've been surrounded with sparkles.

"Tell you what, Olivia, since Magnus is taking Axel to Boom Town, why don't I take you to Redstonia sometime?"

Olivia squealed again. Jace turned to give Ellegaard a grin. "That was a very enthusiastic yes."

She reached over Petra to flick the boy on the shoulder.

" _Easy now, Olivia,_ " Ellegaard was saying to Olivia onscreen, who seemed to have actually grown a bit _taller_ , " _let's try and play it cool, hmm?_ " She turned back to Jesse, gaze hardening. " _So, who are you? And why did you bring_ him _with you?_ "

Jesse sighed and pulled aside the cloak. Ellegaard's eyes widened. " _Oh._ Oh! _I see. Olivia just called you Jesse, but I didn't realize... yes, okay, I see now. Hello, Jesse. But, ah, doesn't answer my second question._ "

"I barely followed that," Axel said, blinking at the screen.

Jesse kneaded her forehead onscreen. " _Yeah. We're- we're trying to reunite the Order of the Stone._ "

Olivia's magenta eye was _literally_ glowing with excitement. " _It was kinda crazy, actually. I went to Redstonia, and there were all these_ amazing _engineers and inventors... it was a bit intimidating, actually. But Ellegaard's made me her protege!_ "

Real-Olivia's grin was in danger of splitting her face.

" _Way to go, Liv!_ " Jesse cheered, grinning up at Olivia. " _I was Queen of Boom Town. For like, twenty seconds._ "

This made Real-Jesse snort.

Olivia grinned back at Jesse. " _That's awesome! Great job!_ "

Before any of them could say anything else, Magnus came over, seemingly having lost all patience. " _Oh, hoooo-ray. It's Ellie. And here I was just starting to enjoy myself."_

" _Hello, Magnus,_ " Ellegaard responded primly, returning the glare he was sending her, " _your voice is exactly as pleasant as I remember. Which is to say, not at all._ "

"Burn!" Clutch shouted out, making several audience members jump a bit in surprise.

" _Ow, my feelings."_ Magnus stepped closer, arms crossed. " _That the same wit you're gonna use to save the world?_ "

Ellegaard stepped forward as well, her eyes practically burning with anger. " _Why? You here to tell me how to do it better?_ "

" _Oh, I would never dream of doing that. Unlike you,_ " and now the two of them were right up in each other's faces, inches from one another, so close to one another that had Jesse shoved Magnus and Olivia shoved Ellegaard they would've kissed, " _I actually_ do _things instead of just talking about them._ "

" _Hey,_ " Olivia interrupted, " _that's Ellegaard you're talking to! Show her some respect!_ "

Ellegaard gave Magnus a smug grin, to which the Rogue just stuck his tongue out at her.

" _Wow, you've finally found yourself a live one,_ " Magnus said sarcastically.

" _Hey!_ " Olivia repeated, sounding offended this time. Magnus continued, " _your devotees are usually more on the bookish side._ "

Lukas blinked at this onscreen. " _What's wrong with books? I like books. And Jesse does too. I mean, when we were back in the lab, Jesse would pet me while reading a book-_ "

Axel suddenly shivered, Olivia went ramrod straight, Lukas's hair rose on end, Jesse shifted into a defensive position, and Petra shuddered. Lukas blinked rapidly again. " _Holy crap, where did... where did that come from? I never... I don't think I remembered that before..._ "

Jesse shook her head to clear it before turning to Magnus and Ellegaard, pressing her palms together. " _Well, would you two please cut it out? Let's focus on the bigger picture here. We have a very hungry Witherstorm who is in the process of turning our world into its dinner,_ " she said, trying to steer the conversation away from the bickering.

" _Yeah, I'll admit, that thing looked real nasty. And I've seen some nasty stuff in my time,_ " Magnus agreed.

" _Too much for you, was it? Your usual brutish approach didn't cut it?_ "

The audience groaned.

" _Hey!_ " and Magnus whirled back on Ellegaard, " _you weren't there, alright?_ " The screen switched to show Jesse's closed-eye, annoyed expression twitching. Then Lukas's ears, which were starting to twitch, hair standing on end. Petra was starting to spark slightly, looking rather annoyed herself. " _You didn't see how this thing tore_ everything _up-_ "

" **ENOUGH!** "

The audience jumped at the three simultaneous voices that rang out and interrupted the bickering.

The screen switched to show Petra, Lukas, and Jesse, all of them looking downright _furious._ Petra was literally smoldering, smoke starting to curl off her shoulders, sparks spitting off of one arm and gold eyes red-hot, starting to glow with heat, although it seemed a bit dim. Lukas's hair was standing on end, his tail bristling and his pupils full slits as he hissed angrily. Jesse's red eye was glowing brightly, her fists tight, hissing herself.

"Holy crap, you just pissed the three of them off," Axel said, looking startled.

" _The_ entire world _is being eaten,_ " Petra spoke, her voice oddly calm but quivering with fury.

Lukas picked up where she'd left off, his claws slowly unsheathing, his canines having become needle-sharp points, " _and you're both here acting like little_ children! _"_

" _Would you two_ please _put aside your differences,_ " Jesse agreed with her two friends, voice deceptively calm, " _because we don't have the_ time _for petty-_ **ARGUMENTS**!" All three of them yelled the last word at the same time, making the audience flinch.

Ellegaard and Magnus glanced at each other guiltily.

" _Whoa!_ " Magnus recoiled onscreen, looking slightly nervous and a bit taken aback.

" _Yikes,_ " Ellegaard agreed.

Olivia nodded faintly in agreement. " _They're right,_ " she agreed timidly. " _We don't have time to argue. We have to find some way to stop that thing._ "

The screen switched back to show Petra's body going back to normal, Lukas's hair relaxing, and Jesse brushing her hair back in front of her left eye, all of them becoming more calm about the whole thing.

Ellegaard hummed thoughtfully. " _Yes, but... this place isn't_ nearly _the stronghold it used to be... most of our supplies are gone._ "

" _It would take a_ mountain _of TNT to kill that thing!_ " Magnus said, throwing his arms into the air.

Ellegaard sighed a bit at this, putting one hand on her hip. " _Yes, I hate to say it, but judging from the stories Olivia's told me, you have a point,_ " she said reluctantly.

" _At least they're agreeing now,_ " Lukas sighed, relaxing onscreen.

Axel patted him on the shoulder with a nod. " _I know, right?_ "

Olivia raised an eyebrow. " _Are they getting along?_ "

" _You talking about Ellegaard and Magnus, or Lukas and Axel?_ " Jesse replied, arching her eyebrow.

" _If only Soren were here,_ " Ellegaard mused, " _he might have something we could use..._ "

Soren blinked at that. "I do?"

Lukas made a very odd sound that he disguised as a cough, but when he removed his hand again he was still smiling.

" _Ellie, not this again,_ " Magnus sighed, rubbing his forehead. " _You know I hate it when you brag about you and Soren's little brainy club."_

" _I'm not bragging!_ " Ellegaard huffed back, " _I think I've got a legitimate idea here!_ "

Jesse looked over at Ellegaard, tilting her head to one side. " _What are you talking about?_ " she asked, curiously.

" _Soren had a kind of... 'super TNT'_ ," Ellegaard responded, " _stronger and more explosive than anything else in the world. The Formidi-Bomb._ "

Soren's eyes widened, before he rubbed his chin thoughtfully. "The Formidi-Bomb... that might actually work!" he muttered, eyes brightening in excitement.

" _Yeah, yeah, yeah,_ " Magnus dismissed, " _I've heard all about the 'F-Bomb' before._ "

Jace, Real-Jesse, and Onscreen-Jesse all snorted at that.

" _Yeah, Soren claimed that dropping the 'F-Bomb' could destroy anything._ "

Real-Jesse burst out laughing, burying her head into Lukas's shoulder in an attempt to stifle it. Jace was starting to make odd sounds while trying not to laugh, and Lukas wasn't doing much better as he covered his mouth, trying not to giggle. Petra was smirking, Axel was making a very odd face in an effort not to laugh, and Olivia was actually giggling slightly. Maya was giggling, Gill was grinning, and even Aiden was trying not to smirk. Cassie was chuckling softly, with Winslow making this sound that sounded _suspiciously_ like a snigger while Lizzie was biting her lip but still grinning. Stampy had his face hidden in his hands in an attempt not to laugh, Stacy was clutching her stomach and doubled over, Dan was stepping on his foot in an attempt to stop laughing (which still failed miserably), and Sparklez was grinning.

Harper was chuckling slightly, while even Ivor was smiling faintly at that and Otto was smiling. Hadrian and Mevia were laughing openly at this, Hadrian slapping his knee while Mevia was doubled over. Em was cackling quietly, while Nell was trying to repress a huge smile but failing miserably. Reuben was grinning as well, making odd snuffling sounds. The gladiators were all grinning or trying to stifle giggles. Isa had this very amused expression on her face, Milo was cracking up, and Reginald was chuckling and trying to muffle it with one hand. Gabriel had one eyebrow raised with an uncontrollable grin on his face, while Ellegaard had long given up and started giggling. Magnus was grinning as Soren admonished him, although a huge grin was still fixed on his face, "For the _last time_ , Magnus, that is _not_ what it's called!"

Onscreen, Jesse was giggling and obviously trying not to. The others were trying to keep a straight face but failing miserably.

" _A-anyway, the F-Formidi-Bomb sounds perfect!_ " Jesse said quickly, trying to stop her giggling. " _We should go get it. Like, right now._ "

Ellegaard rubbed the back of her neck. " _Erm, there's a little problem there... we don't know where Soren is."_

" _That sounds like a pretty big problem to me._ "

Onscreen-Petra's sarcastic comment set everyone off again.

" _But you found us,_ " Ellegaard said onscreen, ignoring Petra's sarcastic comment, " _do you know where he is?_ "

Jesse looked up at the map, and everyone followed her gaze. Ellegaard nodded at that, crossing her arms. " _Our map could locate him. Unless he's in the Nether. Or the End,"_ she amended, confirming Lukas's earlier theory. " _But, it's worth a shot._ "

Jesse stepped over and placed the amulet back in it's place, before going over to the table and flipping a couple switches, which made the lamp light up and shoot the beam of light at the amulet. The red and green lights flashed into being right next to one another at the temple.

" _Okay,"_ Magnus said, looking up at the map, " _there's your light... my light..._ "

He was cut off by a white light flickering to life at the top of the map.

* * *

 **A/N: I remember the first time I played the episode... I cracked up laughing upon Magnus saying the 'F-Bomb'. I'm weird. xD**

 **Just in case you don't remember, every other story except this one is on hiatus until I either complete it or get bored of it. I've said this once before, but I'm going to say it again in case you don't remember.**

 **RQTC: WHEN DID THIS STORY GET OVER 4000 VIEWS?!**

 **S4SH4L4SH4theGaMeR101: Ah. :/**

 **pensuka: (laughs)**

 **Idon'tlikecheese: Gotcha :3**

 **AquaK13: TUTOR ME PLS xD I suck at math, if you can't tell from that comment. xD xD xD**

 **Darkbeast Dend: Hey, I'm really sorry if this comes off as rude, but can you try to comment only once or twice per chapter? And please don't ask about other stories in the comments section of this story; I do check the comments of my other stories, so please comment on those if you would like me to update. Although, right now all of my other ones are on hiatus (like it says in the A/N above) :3 Once again, sorry if this comes off as rude.**

 **RapidSammi: Ahhh, that sucks.**

 **LittleAngelbun: If you don't like Algebra... then all I can say for when you reach Algebra 2 is OH SH-**

 **LunarStarsMoon: Ah, cool. :3**

 **Emily The Avenger: (cracks up)**

 **DynamiteHunter6: NO xD**

 **rebekahtpe: xD And... so, my last name is weirdly pronounced, so people always mispronounce it... long story short, a substitute teacher basically pronounced my last name as 'Sh*t', since most people think it's pronounced like the s-word without the 't'.**

 **x.X. A.L. X.x**


	29. Too Close For Comfort

"Soren!" Gabriel, Magnus, and Ellegaard chorused. Ivor's eyes widened in surprise.

" _Soren!_ " Ellegaard exclaimed onscreen. " _There he is. Soren's fortress was pretty deep inside the mountains. After the Order... broke up-_ "

Onscreen-Magnus developed an interest in the ceiling on the words 'broke up'. Jesse glanced at him but didn't actually say anything.

" _That's where he went to keep doing his experiments,"_ Ellegaard finished.

" _Look,_ " Magnus spoke up, " _he invited me a couple times, but it always seemed a bit..._ "

" _Weird, right?"_ Ellegaard finished for him, " _it always seemed a bit weird._ "

Soren raised his eyebrow at the two of them, the two Order members developing a _fascination_ in the screen in front of them.

Magnus nodded in agreement with that. " _Glad we can agree on that, at any rate,_ " he muttered.

Jesse interrupted, clapping her hands together. " _Well, then, let's stop hanging around here and go get that super TNT!_ " she exclaimed.

Abruptly, another light flickered on, this one dark blue and emitting from the center of the amulet.

"Wait, what?" Harper asked, looking a bit startled. "It didn't do that before..."

"No... no it didn't," Lizzie mumbled, touching the corner of her mouth thoughtfully.

Onscreen, their eyes all widened in surprise.

" _Whoa,_ " Ellegaard said, a bit taken aback. The blue light was moving towards the white light at a rapid clip now.

" _It didn't do that before,"_ Olivia frowned, crossing her arms and squinting at the screen. " _Is it working?_ "

Jesse's eyes had been narrowing at the light thoughtfully, before they widened again, the green and red irises shrinking to pinpricks in the whites of her eyes. " _Oh,_ crap! _"_ she cried out. " _That's Ivor!_ "

"That's Ivor?!" Petra exclaimed. "He must've just gotten out of the Nether!"

Onscreen, everyone's head snapped around to look at the map in shock as Jesse continued, pointing at the amulet and then at the map again, " _The part on the amulet that has the light is the same as the thing on Ivor's belt._ "

Everyone automatically looked at Ivor's belt, which did indeed have the same thing as the center of the amulet. He simply scowled at them all a bit. "If you would all please stop staring at my midriff..." he said pointedly. Everyone looked away and back to the screen.

"I- how did we never see that sooner?" Jace asked, tapping one finger to his temple. "That... _wow._ "

" _Holy crap, you're right!_ " Petra agreed, her gold eyes widening as well as she thumbed the corner of her mouth.

" _Ivor's going to Soren's!_ " Ellegaard stared intently at the map. " _We need to move."_

Jesse touched her lip thoughtfully, squinting at the map a bit. " _Hmm... I don't think we're too far. We could probably make it on foot,_ " she said musingly.

" _Perfect,_ " and Ellegaard put her hands on her hips, " _we can wait until morning and travel with a full day's sunlight-_ "

" _NO._ "

The screen switched to show Petra, her fists clenched, eyes wide, and a perfectly freaked out look fixed on her face. " _No. We are NOT letting that Witherstorm catch up with us._ "

Magnus nodded in agreement to that. " _Yeah, I think I've had enough for one day._ "

Ellegaard's lips pinched together. " _Right, because getting caught in the dark is_ so _much better,_ " she replied, although there wasn't much bite to her voice.

" _Why are we worried about monsters? We ARE monsters, or, well, most of us are half, anyways. We would probably be fine,_ " Jesse pointed out to them.

There was a momentary silence, before Lukas facepalmed. "I can't believe I just forgot..."

" _Yeah, let's- let's go now,_ " Jesse shuddered. " _I don't want that thing catching up to us._ "

" _Jesse here's talkin' a lot of sense. Let's just go with that plan._ "

Ellegaard rolled her eyes at the Rogue, who was next to her. " _You're just saying that because it's_ your _plan, but fine._ "

That said, the group started splitting up to go look through the temple, the screen going up to show the four lights on the map, before the screen faded to black.

"Honestly... it's probably a good thing you just left immediately," Em spoke, making a lot of them look at her. "With monsters you can always fight them off. But it's hard to do anything with that Witherstorm."

"Yeah..." Jesse was staring at the screen anxiously. "I just hope nobody gets hurt." Jace didn't say anything, but it was obvious from his facial expression that he agreed wholeheartedly.

Lukas gave her a comforting pat on the back, while Petra put an arm over Jace's shoulders.

It was dark when the screen faded back in to show the group of eight walking through the woods, all clumped together for obvious reasons.

" _Hi, Jesse._ "

Jesse started a bit as Ellegaard came up next to her. " _Oh- hi."_

" _We haven't had the chance to acquaint ourselves properly,_ " Ellegaard replied, " _well, seeing as... you don't remember anything from the lab, right?_ "

Jesse thought about this for a moment, tilting her head to one side, before shaking it at the woman again. " _Bits and flashes, but nothing concrete yet. Yeah, I don't._ "

" _Ah. I heard you saved Petra from the Witherstorm. Sounds like you're a pretty impressive person, nowadays._ "

Jesse's expression softened, and she looked over her shoulder. " _Thanks, but... I just..._ " The screen switched to show that Lukas was walking next to Olivia, Axel on the other side with Petra next to Lukas, Axel animatedly waving his arms around with Olivia's facial expression being one of mixed horror and amusement, Lukas having a faintly similar expression. Magnus was nodding a lot and talking, but none of it was audible. " _... I just want everyone to be safe,_ " Jesse finished.

"Aww, you love us," Lukas teased, poking Jesse in the cheek. She made a soft whining sound and batted him away, but she was smiling anyway.

Petra coughed something that sounded vaguely like " _Ishipit_ ". This made the members of the audience who'd heard the comment snigger, Jesse blinking innocently at them and Lukas just raising an eyebrow at Petra questioningly.

" _I can always appreciate humility. I like you,"_ Ellegaard stated, making all of the Jesses blink slightly at the comment, " _innnn any case, I sort of wish you'd taken my side earlier, but... water under the bridge and all that._ "

"Honestly, if I'd seen the Witherstorm for myself, I probably would've said we should leave immediately, as well," Ellegaard mused, tapping her lip.

Magnus pointed at her. " _Ha!_ See? I told you!"

"Don't be so full of yourself, you idiot."

" _Yeah... anyway,_ " Jesse said, putting her lower arms behind her back, " _you and Olivia seem to get along really well._ "

Ellegaard shot a warm smile back in Olivia's direction, the girl grinning back upon spotting it. " _Yes, she's very nice. She really hasn't changed much since your days back at the lab._ "

Jesse tilted her head for a moment, thinking about it. " _... she used to be more of a prankster,_ " she hummed thoughtfully, " _I think I remember that much about her back then. But, I may be wrong, so you can take that with a grain of salt._ "

Ellegaard nodded at the comment, although it seemed a bit absentminded. " _Mm, I see. Incidentally, why didn't you listen to her plan to come and recruit me?_ "

"Awww, are you jeawous, Ellie?" Magnus asked, in a baby voice as he leaned over.

Soren had to actively restrain Ellegaard from slapping the Rogue in the face.

" _Not to make it awkward or anything. Or to demand why didn't you want to recruit me?_ " Ellegaard gave an extremely awkward laugh for not making it awkward.

Onscreen Jesse simply shrugged. " _Nothing against you. It's just that Olivia's pretty good with redstone and building, so I thought it'd be better for her to fortify the walls and stuff. Besides, you've seen how Axel and Lukas get along. If I'd left those two together there's a fair chance the temple would've been demolished by the time we got back, especially with Axel's being half-creeper and tending towards the griefer side of things, like Magnus._ "

This prompted a round of giggling from the watchers. Axel sent Lukas a sheepish grin, which the blonde returned.

Ellegaard snorted a bit, covering her mouth when Jesse looked at her. " _Yes, he DOES seem rather like Magnus. And Magnus_ does _know how to blow things up with reckless abandon, that's for sure. I'll do my best to not let it hurt my feelings._ " The woman chuckled. " _Joke. That was a joke._ "

"A terrible one," Magnus declared. Ellegaard shot the Rogue an acidic glare.

Suddenly, there was a loud groan, and Lukas turned around, followed quickly by everyone else. The screen changed to show monsters approaching them. Thousands and _thousands_ of them. Jesse casually moved and stepped in front of the two Order members, everyone quickly moving so that they were surrounding the two Order of the Stone members protectively.

" _See, this is why I said we should go in the morning,_ " Ellegaard hissed.

"You _just_ agreed that it was better to leave immediately, you can't just go back on it now," Dan pointed out. Ellegaard shot him a disgruntled look.

"Why are you telling _me_ that? Onscreen-me can't hear you!"

"Oh yeah..."

" _I'd rather deal with these small fires than the big one,_ " Magnus whispered back sharply, before sucking in a breath as Lukas, the nearest one to the Rogue, elbowed him in the ribs to shut him up.

A creeper wandered extremely close to the group as said group slowly walked through the monsters. Real-Olivia's head was buried in her hands again, peeking through her fingers timidly, as Onscreen-Olivia practically chanted, " _Don't look don't look don't look._ " Not that she actually had to say it; none of them were looking at her.

The creeper wandered over to Axel, who swallowed nervously but didn't do anything otherwise, staring into the creeper's empty eyes. The creeper wandered away a moment later as Lukas started coming closer to it, his tail bristling in fear.

The screen faded to black as the whole group continued walking through the monsters, all holding their breaths and in perfect silence.

Jesse let out a loud sigh of relief and flopped into Lukas, making him wobble unsteadily as he caught her by the shoulders, keeping them both from flopping sideways onto the floor.

"So... none of us- you- whatever- are dead yet," Jace sighed, leaning into Petra. The redhead grinned and patted him on the head, which he didn't even blink at. "That's... pretty good."

"Although that was ever so _close,_ " Jesse breathed in relief. There was a general murmur of assent from the rest of the audience.

* * *

 **A/N: Next chapter will be shippy xD**

 **RQTC: How many of you know how to drive?**

 **Kaos Ruin: (laughs) I was at home at night. My parents actually looked at me, which doesn't happen usually in the evenings; since we all like to stick to our own things. xD**

 **Emily The Avenger: YOU ARE THE FIRST PERSON I KNOW TO FIGURE OUT THE CORRECT PRONUNCIATION WITHOUT ANY CORRECTIONS**

 **LunarStarsMoon: xD**

 **S4SH4L4SH4theGaMeR101: (thumbs up)**

 **RapidSammi: (grins)**

 **sailor. mikuchan: You can curse if you'd like xD I don't really mind.**

 **AquaK13: (cracks up)**

 **Luna96: (laughs)**

 **MissyMattingly: No problem! No, it's an alternative path to the future, so they're all just normal. xD**

 **LittleAngelbun: (laughs) Good point.**

 **Darkbeast Dend: Okay, please stop posting more than 2 reviews on a chapter. If you forgot to say something in the second review, wait until the next chapter to post again, please. And please stop asking me to post new chapters on Recode Reality; especially seeing as I addressed that situation in the previous chapter's A/N. I don't like repeating myself if it's not necessary, and if I have to repeat this a third time I'm not going to be very happy. I'm really sorry if this does come off as rude, but this is the second time I've had to address this and I don't want to do it a third time. Once again, sorry if this is rude.**

 **x.X. A.L. X.x**


	30. Grand Entrance

The screen faded back in to show the doors opening, Jesse walking in and arching her eyebrows with a low, impressed whistle. Stairs made up most of the room for pure decoration, upside down and right-side up to make the room look nearly diamond-shaped, a bridge going from the door to a staircase at the other end.

"Huh. Nice aesthetic decision," Mevia hummed thoughtfully.

" _Soren really lives here?_ " Lukas wondered, looking around the room. " _So far from... anyone._ "

" _Enchanting, isn't it,_ " Ellegaard hummed.

Soren arched his eyebrow at the redstone engineer. "Was that sarcasm?"

Ellegaard tilted her head at the screen, before saying in a rather matter-of-fact voice, "You know, I have no idea."

Suddenly, Petra started coughing, covering her mouth with her sleeve, making Jesse turn to look at her with wide eyes. Now that they got a good look at her, she did seem a bit paler than usual.

"I hope she didn't come down with a cold or something..." Jace mumbled, leaning forward with a look of concern.

Petra shrugged and clapped the boy on the back, knocking him forward so that his head literally rebounded off the coffee table. "Oh! Sorry!" she apologized as he sat back up, rubbing his forehead. "I-I was going to say that I was pretty sure it was just going to pass, b-but- are you okay?"

"Not really, no."

Petra winced and rubbed him on the back. "Sorry, sorry," she apologized again.

Now it was Lukas's turn to cough, very quietly under his breath, " _Ishipit_ ", making those who heard this smirk or giggle.

" _You okay?_ " Jesse asked onscreen. Petra straightened up and nodded silently, before continuing on after the rest of the group. Jesse watched her for a moment in concern, before silently following her.

They made their way up the stairs to reveal a gaping black abyss, the tops of columns protruding from the utter blackness. A pair of illuminated golden doors were on the other side of the huge room.

Jesse was gaping at the thing, green-and-red eyes wide. " _I- how-_ why?" she asked, finally.

Soren jerked his thumb in Magnus's direction. "That, you can blame him for."

"Why do you three always blame me?" Magnus complained.

"That would- ah-" Gabriel rubbed his head awkwardly, looking at the ceiling. "That would probably be because it's your fault." Magnus glared at the warrior.

" _Yeah, I'm not really feeling those columns,_ " Lukas said, rubbing his head sheepishly.

Magnus let out a loud sigh and did a huge leap, landing on a column. " _See? It's fine._ "

Axel took a running start and landed on his feet next to Magnus. The column didn't even shift upon landing.

"Well, if it can support Axel, then it'll support the rest of us," Petra said.

Axel jokingly glared at Petra. "Are you implying that I'm _fat?_ "

"Technically, she could be implying that you're heavily muscled. Muscle weighs more than fat," Jesse pointed out to the burly boy. He opened his mouth, paused, and then shut his mouth again.

Jesse and Petra high-fived.

" _Fair enough,_ " and Jesse jumped and landed on the column, Reuben following a step behind her. Olivia just blinked and bleeped out of sight, before the screen cut to show her bleeping back into view on the other side of the room. " _I'll just... wait here,_ " she called back to them, sounding faintly amused.

This drew out several giggles from the audience.

Axel made a face at Olivia onscreen and got another running leap in. " _Hey, no fair!_ " he playfully complained.

Lukas leaped over himself, having dropped to all fours, before darting over another huge gap. Petra hovered part of the way, but upon landing she stumbled a bit and nearly tripped, before regaining her balance again and doing another gliding leap. Ellegaard hopped past Jesse before the black-haired girl started moving forwards again.

She'd made it two more columns in, before she heard a loud squeal and whipped around. Reuben was teetering on the edge of the column, about to fall in.

"Reuben!" several of the members shouted.

" _Reuben!_ " Jesse unknowingly echoed said members of the audience as she started running back over, before suddenly her foot landed on the cloak awkwardly. Her eyes flickered downwards as she tipped forward, too far forward to keep herself from falling over the edge.

"JESSE!" Nearly every member of the audience shouted.

The screen slowed down as the black-haired girl pulled Reuben into a tight hug as she did a flip over the pig, toppling into the darkness. Reuben let out a muffled squeal of fear as Jesse fell, before suddenly slamming painfully onto her back on a stone floor, letting out an involuntary cry of pain.

Jesse felt Lukas's arm slide around her shoulders and squeeze slightly, but she didn't question it.

The black-haired girl lay on the ground for a moment, gasping for a few moments, before slowly sitting back up with another gasp. There was a bit of light surrounding the area where she was standing in from a sea lamp resting on the floor. She shakily got to her feet, before suddenly gasping again and averting her gaze hastily.

The screen switched to show an Enderman standing there, holding a stone block in its hands.

Olivia gasped and hastily buried her face in Axel's shoulder.

"Oh no," Axel gasped. None of them could actually look at the screen directly, most of them settling for turning their heads away and watching from the corner of their eyes, to keep an eye on what was happening. Olivia's head remained buried in Axel's shoulder.

Jesse stepped sideways to hide behind a stone column, the single step revealing a huge crowd of the teleporters behind the one she'd spotted, watching them cautiously. " _Oh boy... we've got Endermen,_ " the girl mumbled, sucking in a deep breath.

There was a yelp, and Jesse turned just as Lukas landed on the sea lamp. overbalanced, and toppled right off.

The audience winced sympathetically.

Onscreen-Jesse winced as well, going over to the ocelot hybrid. " _Lukas?_ " she asked in a whisper. " _You okay there?_ "

" _Yeah,"_ Lukas nodded, " _I heard you, so I thought you'd come down to help._ "

Jesse tilted her head back to look up, the screen switching showing nothing but darkness. " _Well, thanks, Lukas,_ " Jesse said, sounding a bit bewildered.

Real-Jesse looked over at Lukas. The blonde smiled at her a little bit, which the black-haired girl returned a moment later.

Lukas glanced over Jesse's shoulder, his hair beginning to rise on end. " _Endermen,_ " he breathed nervously.

Jesse nodded, looking back over her shoulder at them as well. " _Yeah, there's... a ton of them. I never knew they came in groups that big._ " She turned back to look at Lukas again. " _Thanks for coming back for me, Lukas- you didn't have to._ "

" _You didn't have to come after me with that iron golem, or give me that cookie,_ " Lukas pointed out to her with a warm smile. " _I did say I owed you._ "

Jesse smiled back at Lukas, a little smile of her own coming over her face, but before she could say anything else, Reuben squealed. " _Ah, I think Reuben's trying to get my attention."_ She turned- and then came face-to-face, eye-to-eye with an Enderman that had been leaning down to look at her. " _GAH!_ " she recoiled.

The audience jumped, some letting out shrieks of their own.

"Oh, they're gonna die, they're gonna die!" Olivia squeaked.

"Please do NOT refer to my imminent death!" Jesse squeaked back, doing her best to backpedal away from the screen.

Jesse's recoil sent her right into Lukas as the Enderman started screeching and knocked the both of them to the floor. Lukas's hair had gone on end, hissing with fear. Jesse was hissing as well, flopping off of Lukas and scrambling backwards in a hot panic. " _Run! Run run run!_ " she yelled out, before lunging to her feet and scooping Reuben up in her lower arms, grabbing Lukas's wrist, and hauling the boy to his feet before bolting away blindly.

The two of them dodged around the Endermen that teleported into their path, before the screen switched to show Jesse's feet, one foot stepping into thin air. Jesse's eyes widened, before the two of them splashed down into a rushing river.

"Oh! They're going to be okay! As long as they're in the water, they'll be fine!" Soren shouted.

The three of them resurfaced, the Endermen no longer pursuing but screeching angrily at the banks of the river, rendering them unable to climb out of the river. The screen switched a moment later to reveal a waterfall someplace else, and the three of them shrieked as they fell into a larger body of water.

Jesse resurfaced, eyes widening in surprise as she took in the room around them. Beyond the water was a huge statue of the amulet, an even more impressive one than the one back at the Order's temple. To the right were two statues decorated with light blue and red, and on the left were a pair of green and white statues.

"That," Gabriel goggled at the screen, "is _fantastic._ It's better than the one we had at the temple!"

"Right?" Soren grinned at his old friend. "Much better than that crappy glass one.

Jesse paddled after Lukas and Reuben, Magnus's voice coming into focus. " _Oh, be quiet, it's just some pointless building. That's all I'm saying. I mean, just look at-_ "

" _That's it!_ " Ellegaard snapped, " _I'm going!_ " She whirled around and started marching through the red doorway on the left, as Jesse climbed silently out of the water and wrung out her soaking wet hair and the cloak, a stream of water pouring onto the floor from both.

" _Oh, no no no!_ " Magnus growled back, " _you do_ not _get to be the one who walks away. See? I'm going. Super TNT, here I come!_ " and he marched through the green doorway on the other side, disappearing.

Gabriel sighed and facepalmed quietly.

Olivia gave Jesse a tired look. " _It's hard to pick 'glass half-full' when they keep kicking the glass over._ "

Jesse sighed and raked a hand through her tangled, wet hair. " _Well, I guess we should get going, then,_ " she said, before shaking herself off to get some of the water out. Lukas wrung out his Ocelot jacket, before doing a shake like a dog and making Axel recoil.

Several audience members grinned at this.

Jesse looked between the two doorways, still absentmindedly wringing her hair out, before trotting over towards the red one.

"Ha! They chose the one I went through!" Ellegaard gloated.

Magnus grumbled.

Before Jesse could lead them inside, Petra came up to the girl, eyes fixed on the floor. " _Uhh... hey, Jesse._ "

" _Petra? Are you okay?_ " Jesse asked immediately, turning back to the redhead.

Petra gave a little shrug, shoulders rising and falling, before saying, quietly, " _I'm sorry, I don't... I don't mean to worry you. I have something I need to discuss with you in private._ "

Lukas, Olivia, and Axel looked at Petra with this look of hurt confusion. "Why can't you tell us?" Lukas asked finally.

Petra shook her head, frowning at the screen. "I'm sorry, Lukas- it must be really important if I'm not telling all of you- something big."

"Do you think it has something to do with Petra not looking so good?" Maya wondered.

Gill shrugged after a moment of thought. "Maybe. I don't know. Let's wait and find out."

Jesse looked back onscreen as the others came up to her, before saying, faintly apologetically, " _Um, let's split up- we don't know which way is quicker._ "

They all nodded after a moment of hesitation, before sending Petra a worried look and turning back around to head through the green doorway.

Reuben looked up at Jesse, nudging the spider hybrid's hand, making real-Jesse reach over and fondle the little pink pig's ears, before the two girls and the small pink pig went through the red doorway.

The screen faded to black.

"I hope it's nothing too bad," Lizzie said, leaning forward. "Notch knows you guys need a break."

Jesse simply shook her head, making all of them look at her. "Hopefully not... but I still have a bad feeling about this."

* * *

 **A/N: Wow, we're getting pretty close to the end of the second Episode. That's... wow. 0-0**

 **RQTC: Cookies or MCSM?**

 **DynamiteHunter6: Aww, man xD**

 **EthanDaCabbage: I... don't like football xD I'm not planning on watching the Super Bowl tonight.**

 **RapidSammi: (laughs)**

 **LunarStarsMoon: Ahh. And, um... they read the comments, so...**

 **AquaK13: Continuing with the updates xD**

 **x.X. A.L. X.x**


	31. Withered Blaze

The screen faded back in to Petra leading Jesse down a dark hallway, Jesse watching the redhead patiently. Petra finally slowed to a stop, staring at her shoes intently. " _I feel bad about ditching everyone else, but I just wanted to talk to you about this alone,_ " Petra spoke at last. " _It's a little tough to talk about._ "

Several members of the audience frowned at this, but they didn't say anything.

Jesse responded with a warm smile. " _Hey, whatever it is, you can tell me,_ " she said in return.

Petra smiled back slightly. " _Thanks for being so understanding,_ " the redhead said with her own smile. Jesse reached out after a moment and gave Petra's hand a comforting squeeze.

The moment her hand squeezed, she released it, flinching back with a gasp. Her hand was smoking, but not from heat- now that they looked closer, frost had started making its way over Jesse's hand. " _Petra, you're_ freezing," she gasped, rubbing her hand slightly, eyes wide with surprise.

"Wait- what? Petra is half Blaze," Hadrian said, his eyes narrowing in confusion. "Why would she be cold enough to make frost form on Jesse's hands?"

"That's very odd indeed, Hadrian," Mevia murmured, looking confused herself.

Petra rubbed the back of her head, glancing away before speaking again. " _You got me away from the Witherstorm... but I'm worried that I didn't get away soon enough._ "

Petra paled as she finally realized what was wrong.

" _Petra?_ " Jesse asked in confusion.

The redhead pulled her sleeve up to reveal that her left arm was no longer gold, but in fact a shade of _silver._ A strange purple mark was radiating along her upper arm and part of her elbow, looking slightly like a bruise. The veins in her arm that weren't turning faintly silver were a disgusting shade of purple, angry red flecks decorating her arm.

Lukas's eyes narrowed, before they widened, and the arm that was resting on Jesse's shoulders tightened, making the smaller girl squeak inadvertently. "Oh my Notch," he said softly. "I thought- I thought it was a myth or something."

"What's a myth?" Cassie asked, looking from the blonde to the screen. "What's wrong with Petra?"

Lukas didn't respond, staring at the screen in stunned surprise.

" _Oh my Notch!_ " Jesse immediately gasped, eyes widening. " _Holy crap, what are we doing down here?! We need to get you help!_ "

Petra shook her head a bit. " _I don't know if there's anything we can do, Jesse,_ " she replied quietly, before hesitating for a moment. " _... do you know what Wither is?_ "

Jesse blinked, taken aback by this question. " _The- the Wither? Of course, we've been-_ "

" _No, Jess,_ " Petra cut her off softly, " _just Wither. Or... Wither Sickness, I_ _guess_."

Jesse's eyes widened. "Wither Sickness..." she breathed, so quietly that it was nearly inaudible. Certainly most of the audience couldn't hear it, although their eyes also went wide at this.

 _"And I feel like it's just going to keep getting worse._ "

" _But- but you're half-Blaze!_ " Jesse spluttered, waving all six of her arms in the air like pinwheels, " _how in the name of Notch did you get Wither Sickness!?_ "

Petra simply frowned down at her arm. " _I don't know..._ "

" _Well, we should go back and tell the others!_ " Jesse exclaimed, " _w-we can get help-!_ "

" _You can't tell anyone about this!_ " Petra replied, looking alarmed, but before any of them could say anything, a creeper trotted into the hallway, hissing loudly as it flashed white, preparing to explode. Olivia yelped, and Lukas jumped. Maya and Gill bumped heads, Nell yelped and fell off the couch, and several more people flinched in surprise.

" _Creeper!_ " Petra shouted, rushing away before it could explode right in her face. Jesse was not quite so fast or lucky.

The explosion blasted a hole in the floor, Jesse falling through it, before her hand smacked into the stone ledge and she clung on with one hand, dangling from the stone ledge.

" _Grab my hand!_ " Petra shouted, running back over, " _I'll pull you up._ "

Jesse reached up with one of her uppermost arms and grabbed ahold of Petra's hand, as her legs kicked in thin air, scrabbling for a hold. Immediately, frost started smoking on her hand, the black-haired girl shivering with the cold as she held onto Petra, who was struggling to pull her up. Petra's arms were shaky, her forehead was beaded with sweat, and even though she'd just started she looked exhausted.

"Oh my Notch," Jace said quietly.

The frost was creeping up Jesse's elbow when the girl's hand slipped, Jesse's eyes having glazed over, and her entire body toppled backwards into the hole.

Half of the audience gasped, while the other half's eyes widened.

Jesse slammed into the stone ground, the amulet bouncing out of her pocket, but the spider hybrid didn't move even as the amulet bounced away, starting to emit a dark blue glow, and landing several feet away from Jesse, lighting its way through the darkness.

"Blue...? Blue!" Stacy exclaimed, "that's Ivor!"

Ivor let out a sigh. Great. More screen time.

Lukas wasn't focused on that though, staring at the screen worriedly. The screen had gone blurry, Jesse blinking slowly through the blurriness, before the screen slowly started coming back into focus, a pair of hands having grabbed Jesse's shoulders and started shaking. " _Jesse!_ "

The screen slowly and finally came back into focus to show Petra from Jesse's point of view, the redhead shouting and shaking Jesse. Some Blaze Rods were fading away in the background, although they looked more silver and purple, like her arm, and appeared to be falling apart. Petra's breathing was also labored, and-

Jesse leaned forward, squinting at the screen. "Are- are you _crying?_ "

And indeed, Onscreen-Jesse's eyes widened as well, because Petra's gold- no, wait, those were dulling to a dull silver as well- eyes WERE filled with tears, Reuben next to Petra and shivering. " _Jesse, I- I just couldn't- I'm so sorry!_ " Petra said, voice beginning to reach a hysterical pitch in panic, " _Jesse, are you okay?!_ "

Reuben let out a worried little whine as Jesse sat back up, wincing slightly. " _Haha, yeah, sorry- I just kinda went out of it for a moment. You're the one that's sick, anyways. Take care of yourself first, I'll be perfectly fine,_ " and she smiled at Petra.

The redhead slowly relaxed a bit as Jesse struggled to her feet, fiddling with the buttons that clasped the cloak shut. " _Okay..._ " She then tensed again as Jesse placed the cloak around Petra's shoulders. " _Wh-what-?_ "

" _You're freezing,_ " Jesse replied, buttoning the cloak up and adjusting it with a quick tug, " _you probably need this more than I do._ "

"Thank you, Jesse," Petra said, smiling at the black-haired girl.

Jesse returned it quickly. "No problem, Petra. You'd do the same for me."

Onscreen, Petra was staring at Jesse with this bewildered look, before her eyes relaxed again and she also got to her feet. " _Thanks, Jesse._ "

Jesse nodded, before the two of them continued forward, Jesse retrieving the amulet and then walking forward through a doorway into a lit room. The two girls winced and blinked hard as their eyes adjusted to the light, before they actually got a good look of the room and they both gasped.

The room was HUGE, even bigger than the cavern with the doorways and the amulet where they'd gone their separate ways, glowstone resting on almost every surface. On the floor in the center of the room, was an amulet-themed decoration. It looked like a huge, beautiful library.

"That- that is a LOT of books," Em goggled. "Like, no offense to bookworms in here, but holey COW that is a lot."

" _This is a_ ton _of books,"_ Petra gaped around at the room, " _who needs this many books?_ "

Jesse simply hummed and shrugged. " _Soren, apparently._ "

They came to a wide gap between two bookcases, spotting a figure with their back to them as they walked into the room, which was filled with- you guessed it- more books. Petra's eyes widened, and her fists clenched. Jesse looked at Petra, then back at the figure, who was muttering aloud to himself. " _He must have something useful in here! He has to! Why would he have so many books, was he just... collecting them?_ "

Soren shook his head. "You'd be surprised how much of my free time is spent reading books. Some of the books in the library aren't really that long, either. And some of them are mine."

"Oh, you write books?" Jesse asked in surprise, turning to look at the builder.

He grinned. "Indeed I do. Quite a few of them, too."

"He's very good at writing love stories," Magnus said, unexpectedly. All of them turned to look at Magnus, making him shrug at them as if this were nothing.

"What? I do _read_ sometimes, y'know. I'm not allergic to it or anything."

" _He can't possibly have read all of these..._ "

Jesse's eyes widened, and she stepped forward. " _Ivor?_ " she asked, her voice having dropped to a whisper.

Ivor turned, eyes narrowing at Jesse, who happened to have stepped in front of Petra. " _Trying to interfere with my plans again, I see,"_ he sneered, " _your tenacity is commendable, but misguided. You found your way in here, so now you may find it back out again. Immediately._ "

Jesse simply sighed. " _You're cheerful as ever... I can't see why I wanted to see you so much as a kid-_ "

She gasped and grabbed at her head again, flinching slightly.

The screen zoomed into Jesse's head into a little spider-Jesse, the girl bouncing off the floor and dropping some knitting and a book onto the floor the moment the Order came in. " _Is Ivor here today?_ " she asked eagerly. " _Last time, he was teaching me how to make Potions of Strength... um..._ " and she tilted her head to one side, a confused look coming over her face. " _O-or was it a Draught of Strength...?_ "

"You were right the first time," Ivor stated quietly, watching the screen silently.

Gabriel made a little face that made little-Jesse's smile fade and her shoulders slump a bit. " _Sorry, Jesse- he said he was too busy making Potions of Healing._ "

" _That's probably our fault,_ " and Magnus gestured at his cheek, which had a small scar on it. " _I got that from racing Gabriel on my sheep._ "

Most of the audience blinked at this. "Um... what?" Stampy asked finally, sounding bemused.

Magnus hummed mildly in comprehension. "Oh yeah, I remember that... I crashed into a tree and nearly fell off a cliff. And Gabriel fell off and nearly broke his arm."

"I did dislocate it," Gabriel reminded him.

Ellegaard snorted. "Yeah, Ivor was livid when you two got back."

" _I still say I won._ "

" _No you didn't!_ "

" _I say you both are idiots,_ " Ellegaard replied, rolling her eyes. The warrior and the Rogue turned to face her in perfect unison, identical offended looks on their faces. " _Hey!_ " they chorused.

Jesse giggled at this. She wasn't the only one.

Soren was snickering in the background as Ellegaard rolled her eyes again and patted the Rogue on the shoulder, giving him a faint smile. " _But... you're less of an idiot,_ " she remarked, smirking faintly.

Gabriel rolled his eyes. " _Thank you so much, Ellegaard,_ " he joked sarcastically.

Little-Jesse had been steadily drooping the entire time, and Lukas poked his face in next to hers, making her look at the ocelot hybrid. " _Hey, don't worry,_ " and he smiled cheerfully at her, " _you can spend some time with me and Soren! He's teaching me how to craft weapons today._ "

" _No, no!"_ Axel burst out, making Lukas hiss in surprise as the creeper hybrid waved his arms and nearly smacked Magnus full in the face, " _You should stick with me and Magnus! He's gonna blow something up!_ "

" _Um, don't you do that every time...?_ "

Jesse's meek little comment made the audience snicker as Olivia shook her head, attracting Jesse's attention, " _We're learning how to use redstone torches today!_ " she offered.

" _Gabriel and I are going to practice. I think I'm getting closer to beating him!_ " Petra exclaimed, bouncing up and down in a hot excitement, actually floating into the air each time with each bounce.

"Aww, you're super cute as a kid," Jace teased. Petra smacked him, but she was still grinning at the mocha-haired boy next to her.

Jesse shook her head a bit. " _I think I'll stick with Petra today, but thanks, guys,_ " she said, making the other three pout at her in disappointment.

The screen switched to show Jesse doing a backwards roll and landing on her butt with a little ' _oof_ ', blinking in surprise with a wooden sword in hand. Gabriel lowered his own wooden sword, arching his eyebrow at Jesse. " _You're usually not knocked down so easily... you okay?_ " He paused, before crossing his arms a bit, mouth setting into a thin line. " _You're still upset about Ivor, huh?_ "

" _Yeah..."_ Jesse tilted her head to one side with a sad little sigh, Petra looking sympathetic off to the side.

Ivor blinked; it was obvious that he was startled by this sad little comment.

" _I really was looking forward to him showing me how to make an Elixir of Strength... no, Brew of..._ " Jesse stuttered for a moment, before huffing, green and red eyes narrowing in irritation. " _And for him to remind me what the potion's called._ "

The screen zoomed back out, Jesse's eyes flying open, and she looked up. Ivor had this odd, frozen look on his face for a moment, before he closed his eyes, expression hardening, and he stepped forward towards Jesse. " _Out of my way._ "

" _Wait-_ " Jesse began, but Ivor pushed her out of the way.

He came to a sudden halt a second later, a stone sword pointed at his heart. " _Oh, you're not going_ anywhere," Petra snarled.

"Hurrah for Petra!" Lukas cheered. Axel, Olivia, Jesse, Jace, and Maya threw their hands into the air. "HURRAH!" they all chorused.

Petra grinned at them, although it fell a moment later when she spotted Aiden delivering a kick to Maya's knee.

Ivor's face blanched a bit onscreen as Petra started backing him up into the room. " _Petra?_ "

She grinned, but she'd just backed him into a sword stand, and he grabbed a gold sword before she could do anything about it, slashing at her. Petra blocked it, sending sparks flying. " _Foolish girl, I-_ " Ivor snarled, eyes hard but shiny, for some reason.

Petra cut him off. " _Shut up. I don't care what you have to say._ " She blocked another swing from Ivor, sending more sparks flying.

" _I'm just going to take you down._ "

* * *

 **A/N: Awwe, the hybrids as kids :3**

 **RQTC: DUDE THIS WAS AT 4000 VIEWS A FEW CHAPTERS AGO WHEN DID I GET 5000?**

 **LunarStarsMoon: Ahh, I see.**

 **Kaos Ruin: They probably won't, but there will be Ivor x Jesse family fluff. AND LOTS OF IT xD**

 **DynamiteHunter6: (grins)**

 **EthanDaCabbage: Ooh! I want some.**

 **Catlover5667: Meow :3**

 **mEEplePeoPLe: RQTC stands for 'Random Question of The Chapter'**

 **AquaK13: And here it is! x3 And thanks! Glad you like 'em so much, haha xD**

 **x.X. A.L. X.x**


	32. Remembrance

Jesse's eyes narrowed at the screen as she laced her fingers together, leaning forward. This did not go unnoticed, especially since his arm was still resting on her shoulders- _wait his arm was still resting on her shoulders._

He snatched it away as fast as he could without drawing attention, feeling his cheeks burn bright red. "What's wrong?" he whispered to her.

"It's obvious that Ivor's not the greatest fighter. But can Petra still keep him off while she's sick?" the black-haired girl replied.

Lukas opened his mouth immediately to respond, breathing in. He paused a moment later, mouth still open, before it slowly shut again, letting out the breath that he'd taken in. "I don't know," he finally whispered back.

" _Petra, just let him go,_ " Jesse said, sounding worried, " _he's not worth it._ "

" _Sorry, Jesse,_ " Petra responded, glaring at Ivor, " _but I didn't escape one monster just to let another one get away._ "

Ivor's expression flickered slightly- from anger to uncertainty to, for not even a moment, sadness. His eyes were still suspiciously shiny. The audience all exchanged curious expressions.

Jesse sighed upon realizing that Petra refused to let it go, and drew her own sword. With a single, sharp flick, she knocked Ivor to the ground and away from Petra.

Ivor arched his eyebrow as he climbed to his feet. " _You really have improved since I last saw you... but still. I'm the only one who can stop the Witherstorm,_ " he said, voice sharpening again. " _Not you, not the Order!_ "

He raised the sword again, golden blade flashing in the low lighting, levelled straight at the two girls. " _Don't make yourselves the villains in my story._ "

He charged right at Jesse, who flicked her sword into the air quickly, blocking the swing Ivor had utilized with a clang and a spray of sparks. The two blades locked together for a moment, before Ivor shoved Jesse onto the floor. Jesse whipped back to her feet in less than a second.

Ivor raised his sword into the air in preparation for a strike, and Jesse took the opportunity to slam the flat of the blade right into his ribs, making the man stumble back in shock, before lifting her foot and slamming it right into Ivor's chest, knocking him to the floor again.

"I didn't know you were such a good swordfighter, Jesse," Lukas said, poking the girl in the cheek. She absentmindedly batted his hand away, glued to the screen.

"Neither did I."

" _You're not going anywhere,_ " Petra came up behind him, knocking the man to the side.

Ivor got back to his feet again, turning to face the two girls. " _This could've all been avoided,_ " he growled, " _if you want to stop me, you're going to have to catch me, first._ " And he whipped out a pale blue potion and downed the whole thing in a single gulp.

"Hey, that's cheating!" Axel complained. Ivor shrugged at the glares he was now receiving.

" _Look out!_ " Petra swung her sword down on Ivor, but he was gone, as if he hadn't ever been there in the first place. Petra quickly raced over to the bookshelves as Jesse looked around. " _You're not getting out of here that easy, Ivor!_ " she snapped.

Ivor started racing around the room, blurring so fast that you could only see the after-effects.

Jesse suddenly let out another cry, one hand grabbing at her head. The screen zoomed in again to show Ivor holding the pale blue potion bottle up, sitting on the floor with his legs crossed.

The little spider hybrid practically crawled into his lap, staring at the sparkling bottle. " _It's pretty!_ " she cooed, poking the bottle with her finger.

Ivor smiled slightly at the spider hybrid. Now that they thought about it, it was the first time that the man had ever smiled in this place, either onscreen or in real-life. " _Do you want to see what it does?_ "

Jesse sat back on her heels, climbing out of his lap, clapping all of her hands together. " _That'd be fun!_ "

Ivor uncorked the bottle and drank the whole thing in a few swallows, before climbing to his feet and then blurring around the room. He made Lukas's tail flap in the breeze, the string of a few sticks of dynamite blow out by accident, scattered a handful of redstone dust over the floor, blew Petra right into Gabriel by accident, and then skidded back to a halt in front of Jesse, finally slowing back to a normal speed.

The spider hybrid clapped again, practically beaming. " _That was so cool!_ "

The screen zoomed out of Jesse's head again, the girl's eyes flying open in shock.

" _Jesse!_ "

The black-haired girl's head snapped up, and the screen switched to show Ivor running right at her in slow motion, sword held out to his side in preparation to slice Jesse in half. The girl automatically threw herself backwards, all of her hands catching her in a crabwalk position as the sword brushed against her nose, barely missing her, before Ivor ran straight at Petra and knocked her to the floor.

" _Petra!_ " Jesse shouted, eyes widening.

"Oh no!" Sparklez shouted.

"Petra!" Jace echoed what onscreen-Jesse had shouted, half-a-second later.

Petra climbed back to her feet, deflecting every hit that Ivor was trying to hit her with. Her forehead was covered in a layer of sweat, her eyes were turning even more silvery than before, and her skin was beginning to turn a pale shade of _gray_ in exhaustion, movements getting more and more sluggish with each block, but still she refused to get out of the way.

Jesse flipped over in a rapid motion, bolted forward, and then whipped upright and slammed into Ivor using the flat of her sword, making Ivor let out a cry of shock and pain as he landed harshly on the floor.

Another gasp as the screen zoomed into Jesse's head again, the girl squeezing her eyes shut just as it did so, back into little Spider-Jesse, who was jumping around like a Mexican jumping bean, waving a wooden sword. " _I hit him!_ " she crowed victoriously. " _I got him!_ "

Ivor winced slightly as he grinned at the little girl from where he was on the floor. " _Nice job, Jesse,_ " he praised, before poking her in the ribs with his wooden sword gently. " _Got you._ "

The six-year-old turned to look at him with her eyes wide and mouth open in a perfect little 'o', her short black tousled and messy from dashing around trying to get a hit on the man. " _Aww, no fair!_ " she whined, before hopping back over and poking him with the stick again.

Lukas shook his head and started giggling a moment later, Soren smothering his own grin. Olivia had a very funny expression on her face from trying not to laugh, Petra was grinning widely, Axel was snickering, Ellegaard had her hands over her eyes and was shaking her head with a grin fixed on her face, Gabriel was outright laughing, and Magnus was cackling so hard he was doubled over.

The screen changed to show that the wooden swords had been abandoned on the floor and the practice fight (assuming that's what they'd been doing) had deteriorated into a poking session. This made the audience chuckle slightly.

" _Don't tempt your fate,_ " Ivor hissed as the screen zoomed back out, before running straight at the black-haired girl.

Jesse brought her sword up in a swift, fluid motion, blocking the hit, before flicking her blade back and forth in mostly blocking motions, knocking aside each attempt at an attack, before she finally lashed out and knocked Ivor right back onto the floor.

Ivor climbed back to his feet again, wincing visibly. " _It didn't have to go this way, Jesse. You could've just let me go,_ " Ivor said, his eyes softening very slightly.

Onscreen, Jesse frowned, looking puzzled.

And then Ivor smashed a bottle at his feet. " _Now you see me, now you-_ " and he vanished in a spray of gray swirls.

"Crap!" Jace exclaimed, eyes widening.

Jesse looked around for the invisible enemy, but he was nowhere in sight. Laughter that wasn't hers or the redhead's filled the air as they backed away slightly, blocking the doorway. " _Stay on guard!_ " Jesse told Petra, who nodded and lifted her sword up again.

Jesse looked around, before the screen lighted back on a potion bottle that was hovering in midair. It soared right at Jesse, whose lower arm flicked out and caught the potion bottle in her lower hand. She looked at it in surprise for a moment, before she looked back up, chucked it aside, and dove out of the way of another one.

"Coward!" shouted Milo, Ivor scowling when several members of the audience chorused agreement.

" _End of the road, Ivor!_ " Petra growled, " _we're not letting you get away with this!_ "

There was a very long, very pregnant silence.

" _This one's on you, you puffed up fool!_ " And a potion went hurtling right at Petra.

Jesse's eyes widened. " _NO!_ " she yelled, jumping in front of Petra, all of her arms moving in midair.

The potion rebounded off of a web that Jesse had woven in midair and went flying back at Ivor, just as the potion wore off.

Petra let out a little sigh of relief. "Thanks, Jesse."

"You saved my life a couple times back at Endercon. Let's just call it even at this point and leave it, mmkay?" Jesse replied, smiling back at Petra.

It shattered against him and made the man let out a startled cry and fall onto his back. He groaned a moment later and climbed back to his feet, wincing visibly. " _There's no time... no time... this could've been avoided,_ " he gasped, before limping towards the group.

" _Jesse! Petra!_ " and Lukas raced into the room. Axel was hot on his heels, and Olivia bleeped into sight, staggering and nearly faceplanting.

Ivor snarled, looking agitated. " _Even more of you?_ "

" _We found Ivor,_ " Jesse said.

"Thank you, Captain Obvious!" Cassie declared, making Jesse grin and smother a laugh.

" _We stopped him._ "

Petra shot Jesse a grateful look. " _Well, Jesse did, anyway._ "

" _False,_ " and everyone turned to look at Ivor, who had straightened up and was walking towards the group casually. " _You've stopped_ nothing. _"_ He took another few steps, before asking conversationally, " _A query... ever seen the effects of a Splash Potion of Slowness?_ "

Jesse's eyes widened. " _Ivor-_ "

He smashed a dull blue potion at the group's feet, and Jesse continued in a much, much, MUCH slower voice. " _\- dooooonnnnn'ttttt._ "

The man simply walked past them, rage filling everyone's eyes as they realized what he'd just done, Jesse turning far too slowly to do anything as the screen zoomed in on her again, eyes still wide.

"Wait, another one?!" Isa exclaimed.

" _Ivor!_ "

The man looked much more serious as he looked up, Jesse running up to him with a big smile on her face. " _I thought you said you wouldn't have much time to visit after beating the dragon! Where's everyone else?_ "

Ivor's eyes filled with pain, and he glanced away from the spider hybrid awkwardly. " _Oh... e-elsewhere. Listen, Jesse..._ "

" _Mmhm?_ " Jesse innocently put her hands behind her back, looking up at the Order of the Stone member patiently and waiting.

" _I don't... think I can... visit anymore._ "

Jesse's smile faded to a more confused look. " _What...?_ "

" _I can't- it's hard to- ... I'm sorry,_ " Ivor apologized finally, stumbling over his words before simply shaking his head at the little girl, whose arms were dropping back to her sides as she stared at him in confusion.

" _But... you never come,_ " and Jesse's eyes began to tear up, " _you never come with the others- are you angry at me? Did I do something?"_ She pointed at herself.

Ivor shook his head, still looking incredibly uncomfortable. It was the first emotion that wasn't anger or sarcasm or, occasionally, happiness that the audience had seen of him so far. " _No, no I'm not angry at you. I'm sorry. I just- I just needed to come and say-_ " He hesitated for a moment, looking as though he were almost choking on the next word that he needed to get out, " _goodbye._ "

Lukas glanced at Jesse to see her eyes were beginning to fill with tears as she stared at the screen with a perfectly blank expression, lips pressed together in a thin line.

" _But- you- Ivor!_ " The six-year-old looked confused and as though she might burst into tears any second now.

Ivor stepped back away from the spider hybrid, looking away. " _I'm sorry,_ " he repeated again.

" _Wait- don't leave-!_ " and she started towards him with a childishly desperate look.

Ivor's arm moved so suddenly that it blurred as he smashed a bottle at Jesse's feet, and suddenly the spider hybrid froze in place, eyes wide. Well, not quite- her foot was still moving, and she was still moving forward, but it was so slowly that she couldn't do anything.

Ivor looked at the little girl with an apologetic look, opening his mouth as though he were going to say something. He paused for a moment before slowly shutting his mouth with a shake of his head and turning around, leaving the room and shutting the door behind with a decisive thud, the screen going black as the door shut quietly.

There was a short silence, before Jesse spoke again, her voice narrating over the blackness. " _History repeats itself sometimes. Everyone leaves. And sometimes... I guess they just never come back._ "

Every member of the audience had something in their eyes right now.

Namely, tears.

After a few moments of silence, the screen came back in to show the title screen. "Wait, that's it! That's the end of the episode?!" Magnus complained loudly, wiping his eyes quickly before anyone could see him properly. "Damn cliffhangers!"

"Are you becoming one of those people who reads something or watches a movie and HAS to know what happens next?" Ellegaard asked, brow raised.

"Shut up, Ellie, you can't tell me that you don't want to know what happens next."

Jesse was still staring at the screen, eyes gleaming with tears. Lukas looked at her, but he decided not to comment on it and instead just gave her shoulder a comforting squeeze.

Petra swiveled to look at Ivor. "Ivor," she said conversationally, "do you want to play Hide and Go Kill?"

"Wha-?" Ivor asked, before his eyes widened and his face went a shade paler. His hand went up to his black eye. "Oh-"

"I'll give you three minutes," Petra said, still lightly, checking her wrist.

Ivor sat there for a moment, frozen in place, before jumping up out of the armchair, nearly tripping over himself and six other people, and running out of the room. Something crashed in the hallway outside.

Petra sat there for another two seconds, before hopping to her feet. "Three minutes, three seconds, oh look! I'm bad at math," she said almost cheerfully, before bolting after the Witherstorm's creator. "READY OR NOT, HERE I COME!"

Ivor shrieked.

* * *

 **A/N: (cracks up) Poor Ivor. It's a shame Petra's so bad at math.**

 **Welp, next two chapters are fillers! Hope you guys are looking forward to those!**

 **RQTC: Who knows what Maplestory is? x3**

 **rebekahtpe: Umm, MCSM. What I'm literally going to do: (half a second into the fight, I drop my sword) You win. xD xD xD**

 **Kaos Ruin: (looks at ceiling)**

 **AquaK13: I try xD**

 **LunarStarsMoon: x3**

 **S4SH4L4SH4theGaMeR101: (grins) Yes indeedy.**

 **Emily The Avenger: (laughs) And cool! Did she work on the chapter, by the way? (Katie)**

 **Darkbeast Dend: :3**

 **RapidSammi: (squeals with you)**

 **sailor. mikuchan: :3 And yes, I did say it was okay.**

 **LittleAngelbun: Hehe xD (reads the next comment) PFFFFF xD xD**

 **Darkbeast Dend: Lots of family fluff will start showing up, lol xD (thumbs up)**

 **ChoyofBonk: Awwee x3 (pats you on the back) It's okayyy**

 **CrystalTearsofFaith: Oh... (surprised) Um, thank you! I'm glad you like my writing so much. Yours is great, too!**

 **DynamiteHunter6: Agreed xD**

 **mEEplePeoPLe: (grins)**

 **x.X. A.L. X.x**


	33. Parental Potions

**WARNING: Child abuse is in this chapter. If this topic bothers you, do not read the following part between the horizontal lines that is in italics.**

* * *

 _Jesse sobbed and curled up in a ball, shaking violently as a foot slammed violently into her back, her stomach, everywhere except for her face. "I'm sorry!" she sobbed out. "I'm sorry, daddy!"_

" _WHAT THE F**K HAVE I TOLD YOU ABOUT CALLING ME THAT?!_ " _A blinding pain exploded in Jesse's cheek, and the thirteen-year-old scrambled away with another bawl. "I AM NOT YOUR DADDY, YOU LITTLE B**CH!"_

 _"I'm sorry! I'm sorry, s-sir!" A gasp was forced out of Jesse's lungs as he kicked her in the stomach again, the girl curling up in the tightest ball on the floor that she could, trying so hard not to cry and make him even angrier._

 _"IT'S YOUR FAULT YOUR MOTHER'S GONE, YOU LITTLE SH*T!" he screamed again, voice cracking in rage as he tried to stomp on the little girl. "DON'T YOU DARE TRY TO PLAY THE VICTIM!"_

 _Jesse shook her head furiously, scrambling backwards in an attempt to get away from him. "I won't! I won't! I'm sorry! I'm sorry!" she wailed as she felt her back run into the corner of the kitchen. And she was all out of places to run._

 _She looked back up at the man who was silhouetted against the light, a beer bottle clutched in his hand, the putrid stink of cigarette smoke and alcohol mixed together mingling in the air. "I-I'm s-s-sorry..."_

 _He knelt down so that he was on her level, making her flinch as she saw his hand tightening on the beer bottle. His voice was no longer an enraged scream, but more of a gravelly snarl filled with pure hatred. "Sorry isn't going to bring your mother back, now is it you pathetic little sh*t?" he growled at her softly._

 _His voice rose back to a nearly hysterical scream. "IS IT?!"_

 _He swung the beer bottle right at her face, the thirteen-year-old letting out a cry of fear and flinging her arms up over her face in fear._

* * *

Jesse bolted upright, her fist shoved in her mouth as she tried to keep herself from screaming. She couldn't scream, she wouldn't scream, she was sobbing silently in fear, tears were pouring down her face and mixing with the sweat, her stomach was screaming in pain, she couldn't scream, because if she screamed, her father would-

Slowly, her panicked storm of thoughts calmed back down as she remembered where she was, her body no longer insisting that she was in pain, her fist coming out of her mouth slowly to show teeth marks all over the knuckles from where she'd been biting hard enough to draw blood, as evidenced by the metallic taste in her mouth and the blood covering her fist. She was covered in blood, sweat, and tears right now- literally.

Shakily, she pushed herself out of the bed and headed to the bathroom to wash her hand off. The cuts on her knuckles stung as she almost mechanically rinsed the blood off her hands using hot water before wrapping a bandage around it to hide the teeth marks.

She glanced up at the mirror, tear streaks all down her face. She disguised the damage by washing her face as quietly as she could, before padding down towards the kitchen. Maybe she'd make something for herself to drink so she wasn't in such a bad state.

But when she got down to the kitchen, she found that she wasn't the only one still up. Ivor was sitting at the table with his arms crossed, watching the brewing station with careful eyes to make sure whatever he was brewing wasn't going to boil over. He must've dragged it up from the library in the basement.

Jesse thought about simply heading back to her room, but she was still in a hot panic from the nightmare-memory she'd just had, so she simply cleared her throat a bit to let him know she was there.

Ivor turned around to see her at the last moment, eyebrow going up. "Oh. You?"

"Um... hi," she said meekly, lifting her hand in a little wave.

Ivor squinted at her for a moment, before asking, "What are you doing up at 3 in the morning?"

Oh, so that's what time it was.

"I- couldn't sleep," Jesse said, edging into the room tentatively.

He nodded absentmindedly and glanced at the brewing station he'd set up quickly. "You had a nightmare too?" he asked, keeping an eye on the brewing stand.

"Y- yes," Jesse said at last, after she'd racked her brain for a reason to tell him a fib about what had happened but instead finding nothing.

He didn't ask for details, just hummed and glanced at the brewing stand. "Do you want me to brew you a calming potion as well? This one's only a quarter of the way done, and I think I can toss another one onto the stand. I can flavor it for you, too, if you'd like."

"O-oh?" Jesse edged into the room fully now, her curiosity peaked. "How do you flavor a potion?"

Ivor shrugged, although if you looked closely it was obvious that he was pleased that she was showing interest in this. "If you add an extra reagent to what you intend to use, it adds a bit of flavor to the potion. Magma cream and glistering melon makes something that tastes remarkably like strawberries, and sugar and a golden apple makes a taste like a candy apple."

"Oh... um... then can I have sugar and a golden apple added to mine?" Jesse asked tentatively.

Ivor shrugged and shoved himself back to his feet. "Alright." Moving quickly, he'd finished adding the extra reagents to the water-like mixture with a faint swirl of blue to it and popped it onto the brewing stand a minute later, before hopping into his seat again. Jesse had slowly made her way into one of the chairs and was watching him warily.

"You're good with potions, aren't you?" she asked, tilting her head to one side.

Ivor simply shrugged again in answer. "Well, I do know more tricks and shortcuts than the average person, I suppose. I suppose I'm alright at it," he replied briefly.

The black-haired girl hummed in answer, before pausing. "Um, thank you... but why are you...?" Jesse began to ask, before realizing she was probably being rude and shutting her mouth.

The man arched his eyebrow at her, before realizing what she was probably about to ask. "Oh, why am I being so nice?"

"..." Jesse's silence confirmed that this was, indeed, the question she'd been about to ask. Ivor simply sighed and shook his head with a shrug. "I'm not entirely sure myself. Perhaps I'm tired of seeing myself act like a villain onscreen. Maybe it's the fact that in this alternative path to the future, you and I were close at one point. Or it's possible that I'm just bored. I'm really unsure about it."

"... oh."

The two of them sat in a rather uncomfortable silence until the potions were finally finished, Ivor taking both of them off the brewing stand and then passing Jesse hers. It looked much the same as the calming potion he'd been using, except with gold flakes floating in the liquid along with flecks of sugar.

Jesse looked at it for a moment suspiciously, wondering how the liquid could look so... bizarre and still taste as he'd said, before watching Ivor sip at his and taking her own little sip cautiously.

"... ohhhh."

The sigh of relief that came out of her mouth was quite unprompted by the girl. He hadn't been joking; the mixture tasted like a liquidized candy apple with spices added to it, and the calming potion itself was extremely effective, making her shoulders drop back down from where they'd been tensed for the past several minutes.

Ivor's lips twitched a bit in amusement against his will. "I take it from that you like it?"

"It's wonderful," Jesse sighed, taking another sip from the still-hot potion, and then another. He smiled a bit, the first time she'd actually seen him do it in real life, and then took a sip from his own potion.

This time, the silence that settled over the two of them was much more comfortable, until Ivor finished his potion and put the bottle away in the sink. "Alright, that should do it for tonight..." he sighed, before heading towards the door. "Good night, Jesse."

"G'night, dad."

He stopped in the doorway, and Jesse felt her eyes widen in shock as she realized what she'd just called the man. Slowly, Ivor turned back around to look at Jesse, barely lit by the lantern hovering over their heads. For a few long moments, they just stared at each other in surprise, both sets of eyes wide.

"Would... that make you happy, then?"

The question that came out of Ivor's mouth was awkwardly stilted, yet, in a way, almost shy. It was also confusing, and Jesse tilted her head at him. He quickly clarified, "Would it make you happy... to think of me as your father?" He still sounded awkward about it.

Jesse didn't say anything, but she was almost certain that her face was stating the answer to that as a very blatantly obvious 'yes'.

Ivor's gaze slowly softened, and the man turned around slowly so that he was facing Jesse directly. "... alright, then." He came back over and set his hand on Jesse's head, in a slow sort of pat, making the air in Jesse's lungs freeze. "I guess I'm your dad for now."

Jesse just sat there for a moment in this surprised stupor as Ivor removed his hand again and headed for the door again. He paused in the doorway again, making Jesse actively look up at him, one hand still tight on the potion bottle in her hand. "Oh, to answer your earlier question..."

"Ah- which question would that be?" Jesse asked, unsurely.

"About why I'm being so nice?" Ivor hesitated, before sending her one last strange smile. "I think I know the answer to that now."

"Oh." Jesse paused, looking down, before back up at him again. "I... think I know the answer too."

"Good, it saves me from having to explain it to you." This made Jesse chuckle a bit as Ivor walked out of the kitchen without another backwards glance.

Jesse paused, before realizing she was still clutching the potion bottle in her hand. Even thought only a few minutes before she'd been sure that it was rather cool now, it suddenly felt extremely warm again as she sipped the remaining ounce or so of the potion.

She had a dad again.

She had friends now.

She was okay now.

Jesse didn't have any more nightmares that night.

* * *

 **A/N: Naawwwwww, Ivor and Jesse family fluff x3**

 **Okay, but seriously, the second part flooded me with fluffiness. Be forewarned that the family fluff is gonna start getting real later on in the story, especially around Episode 4 and onwards.**

 **RQTC: Would you rather be chained to Hadrian for a day, or be chained to Cassie Rose for a day?**

 **Probably the second one, especially if she's Hybrid Cassie. Hybrid Cassie is nice. Admittedly she swears a lot, and she's violent, but I like her xD**

 **Kaos Ruin: Yay you got the reference! xD**

 **S4SH4L4SH4theGaMeR101: She really isn't, lol xD**

 **AquaK13: Okey xD**

 **MissyMattingly: Aww that sucks xD**

 **Darkbeast Dend: Um, luck!**

 **Emily The Avenger: Coolio :3**

 **x.X. A.L. X.x**


	34. Shattered Glass and a Catfight

Jace trotted downstairs to see Maya, Olivia, Jesse, and Lukas working in the kitchen on making breakfast, all four of them chatting about something random. Reuben squealed happily upon seeing Jesse, and galloped over to meet her. She grinned and knelt down to pat Reuben on the head, which is when Jace spotted the bandage wrapped around her hand. "Oh- did you hurt your hand?" he asked, trying not to stare and failing miserably at this.

Jesse lifted her hand and gave it a look. "Hm? Oh, yeah. Burned it on the furnace a bit this morning," she said lightly.

"She was up the earliest," Maya agreed with a grin, pointing at the black-haired girl. Jesse grinned and adjusted her hair pin at this, before turning back to the food chests. "Mmm, how do you feel about toast for breakfast?" she asked, leaning down to rummage through a chest. "Even I can't screw that up."

"Mmm, sure. Anything else?" Jace leaned over her shoulder to peek into the chest. "Ooh, we could have some baked potatoes."

"Didn't we have that for dinner?" Olivia asked, tilting her head slightly.

"Potatoes can be eaten with any meal," Jace said seriously, reaching down to high-five Jesse with a grin when she held her palm up. Reuben snuffled in agreement.

Maya chuckled and reached into the chest Jesse had been poking through. "Then sure, that should be okay, since they're a multi-meal food," she joked. "Maybe we could have a rabbit stew or something, too?"

"Well, I wouldn't say no to that, I'm starved," Jesse laughed, lifting Reuben into her lap as she sank into the nearest kitchen chair, having popped two loaves of bread into the furnace and was now keeping a close eye on it.

Petra walked into the room a moment later, nearly tripping over a brewing stand that had been set near the door. "How did this thing get up here?" she wondered, "I thought the library was... downstairs...? Anyway, whatever. Good morning."

Slowly, more and more people trickled in, Nell yawning so loudly and widely that her jaw cracked, Axel still looking half-asleep, Cassie's glasses were slightly askew and Winslow was perched on her shoulder, Isa trotted in with Benedict at her side, the chicken running over to go greet Reuben, and Harper coming in with slightly-wet hair. Ivor showed up as well, although he avoided everyone's gaze and went to sit at the end of the table by himself. Aiden had dragged Maya and Gill off before they could really finish eating.

"Okay, so... should we go through a quick recap of what's happened so far, Mevia?" Hadrian asked, almost like some sorts of sports announcer. Jace mused about it for a minute before deciding it wasn't really important.

"We probably should, Hadrian," Mevia replied.

Otto tapped his lip and leaned forward. "So, in this 'alternative path to the future', Jesse is a girl," and he nodded at said Jesse, "and she, Axel, Olivia, Petra, and Lukas are all hybrids. Jesse is a spider hybrid, Axel is a creeper hybrid, Olivia is an Enderman hybrid, Petra is a Blaze hybrid, and Lukas is an ocelot hybrid."

"The Order of the Stone is directly connected to the hybrids," Gabriel picked up, thoughtfully. "But for some reason, we stop coming around. The hybrids then escape from the lab..."

"And then that Witherstorm is created," Dan picked up. "So at this point, the hybrids rediscover their... um... being a hybrid, and then Jesse and Axel go to find Magnus."

"Jesse beats him in the Death Bowl and becomes Queen of Boom Town," Axel agreed. "And then we head back to the temple and meet back up with Ellegaard."

"So then we go to find Soren to get the mystical F-Bomb," this made Soren glare at Magnus, "Jesse and Blondie fall into a hole and find a crap ton of Endermen, and then they get separated because Redhead here-"

"I'm fairly certain we addressed this and said NOT to call Petra 'Redhead'-" Cassie interjected forcefully, but Magnus ignored her.

"Gets Wither Sickness and refuses to tell anyone except for Jesse. A creeper blows up, and they drop into a hole because Reddie-"

A glare from both Cassie and Petra.

"Couldn't pull Jesse up in time," Magnus finished, ignoring both sets of glares.

Em nodded, biting her lip thoughtfully. "So then they go into Soren's library, and then they get locked in there by Ivor. Is that it?"

Soren nodded thoughtfully after a minute. "It should be. Shall we watch the next episode now?"

Harper shook her head after a moment of thought. "Let's give it some more time. How about we take another hour before joining back up in the living room?" she suggested.

"Sounds good to me," Clutch said, getting up immediately, before the three gladiators trotted out of the room.

After the dishes were all washed, everyone wandered off to go do their own thing. Olivia and Ellegaard put on the kettle to make some tea, talking about using pistons and repeaters. Harper, Cassie, and Stampy remained in the room as well, putting in their own input every few minutes. Both Jesses, having lost track of the conversation within the first half a minute, wandered off into the hallways to keep chatting. Reuben followed of course, snorting as the two of them discussed things.

Jace was in the middle of telling Jesse more about his world, their treehouse, and other things like that, when the two of them stopped, having heard faint sounds of arguing.

The two of them looked at each other hesitantly, before the group started moving their way in the direction of the shouting. Finally, they turned a corner to see Aiden and Lukas right in each other's faces, having a blazing row. Maya and Gill were standing a good distance away, glancing between the two of them with facial expressions that basically said they had no idea what to do here.

"You're following them around like some sort of lovestruck _puppy!_ " Aiden was nearly spitting at Lukas.

"Who are you to tell me who I can and can't make friends with, Aiden?!" Lukas snapped back. "Am I not allowed to have friends outside of you guys?"

"They're LOSERS, Lukas!"

"You don't even really _know_ Jesse, and you've never even actually made an effort to try to get to know Jace and his friends, now that I think about it. They might be losers, but that doesn't mean they're not good people!"

"Is... something wrong?" Jesse asked, hesitantly, stepping forward.

Aiden whipped around to face him, sneering at him. "What's it to you, _loser?_ " Before he could say anything more, Lukas shoved him backwards.

"Don't talk to her like that!"

Aiden let out a shout and lunged at Lukas, drawing his arm back and slamming it to Lukas's jaw in a violent punch. The force of the hit knocked Lukas to the floor, Maya and Gill gasping in shock. Reuben ran over to the blonde to make sure he was okay, but Jace was seeing red. He ran at Aiden, the brunette boy drawing his fist back again in preparation to hit Jace.

Jace had just raised his arm as well when suddenly someone stepped in front of him, her long black hair swishing. "Stop! _Stop!_ " Jesse yelled at them, her arms spread out wide in an effort to get both of them to stop.

Jace redirected his fist so that it sailed harmlessly over her shoulders, but Aiden didn't have such good control. His fist slammed right into Jesse's cheek.

It was as though he'd flipped some sort of switch in the girl. Jesse's eyes widened as she fell backwards, landing on her behind. She hadn't even landed fully when she was curling up on the floor, knees drawn up to her chest, eyes squeezed shut, a bruise forming on her cheek, hands clamped firmly over her ears, and an awful, nearly inaudible keening sound emitting from her mouth.

Aiden's eyes widened in surprise at the sight of Jesse curled up on the floor in fear as Jace saw red again. He grabbed ahold of the nearest thing in the room- some sort of ceramic ornament- before hurling it directly at Aiden's face.

The brunette ducked, forcing Maya and Gill to dodge as it smashed at their feet. But Jace didn't stop there; he grabbed more ornaments from the nearest areas and threw them at Aiden, the boy dodging and backing away from the now-utterly-furious Jace.

"Jesse?" Lukas went over to Jesse, trying to put a hand on her shoulders, but she immediately recoiled in fear, still making that awful keening sound, eyes squeezed shut.

A pair of arms went around Jace's chest as he tried to grab another ornament, pinning his arms back to his sides, wrestling him back away from Aiden.

"-ce! Jace! Calm down! Okay? Calm down there."

Slowly, the angry buzzing in Jace's ears stopped, and he blinked to see several shards of pottery and glass and other delicate things littering the floor, Ivor kneeling next to Jesse as he tried to get her to remove her hands from her ears, the girl trembling like a leaf as she kept scooting away from his touch. Lukas was kneeling not too far away, looking as though he were at a loss for what to do next. Reuben was at her side and nudging her gently with his nose, but Jesse was trapped in that dark place again.

Petra's arms had encircled the shorter male, keeping him from continuing his onslaught as she whispered calm thoughts into his ear.

Immediately, Aiden pointed at Jace. "He attacked me!" he shouted defensively.

"You punched Lukas and hit Jesse in the face!" Jace snapped back, struggling in Petra's grip, but the redhead was much stronger than she looked, and he wasn't really making much progress. "Let _go_ of me, Petra!" he snapped at her.

"Not until you calm down!" Petra said back, but she wasn't really snapping at him.

Soren, Gabriel, and Em dashed around the corner, all of them stopping upon seeing the scene in front of them.

Ivor had finally grabbed Jesse gently by the wrists, making her blink blankly at him for a moment as she tried to process what was going on, before gently letting her hands down at her sides. She stood up now, stepping forward and putting herself between Aiden and the still-struggling Jace. "Okay, maybe- maybe we should all calm down?" Jesse asked, hands raised part of the way placatingly. The bruise that was forming on her cheek was becoming painfully evident, though.

Aiden glared over her shoulder at Jace, who returned the glare all too happily, before Petra slowly released him and stepped in front of the mocha-haired boy, cupping his face in her hands. "Okay, calm down, Jace. I know you're all fired up about Jesse getting hit in the face, but nearly killing Aiden isn't going to help. Okay? Okay," she said, calmly but firmly.

Jace slowly calmed down, green eyes staring straight into Petra's. A smile came over her face as she realized he'd stopped being quite so upset, and clapped him gently on the shoulder. "There we go, you're doing better. Let's head back to the living room now, okay?"

"Okay," Jace replied, although it was in more of a whisper.

Slowly, the group split up a bit, Em grabbing a broom and going to sweep up all the shards of pottery, while Petra led Jace into the living room, one hand tight on his to keep him from trying to lash out and hit Aiden again. Upon reaching the coffee table, Petra sat down, having to tug Jace down with her- he was still full of adrenaline.

Jesse came in five minutes later, an obvious bruise on her left cheek and Reuben in her arms. She slowly sat down in her usual spot next to Jace, Lukas sitting next to her and wrapping an arm around her rather protectively.

Axel winced upon coming in and seeing Jesse's face. "Ouch, y'all right there, Jesse?"

"Yeah, it just stings a bit," Jesse said softly, fingering her cheek tenderly and wincing.

"What happened, anyway?"

"We had a bit of a- spat, with Aiden," Lukas said quickly, when it became obvious that Jace was turning redder than a tomato again and about to spew a very long string of curses. "He punched me in the jaw, hit Jesse in the face... then Jace started throwing ornaments at him."

Jesse simply nodded and huddled into Lukas a bit more, a faintly distracted look still on her face. Jace looked at her for a minute, concern in his eyes. "You okay, Jesse?"

"Yeah. Just..." Jesse paused, as if unsure what sort of word to use, before waving her hand dismissively.

Slowly, the rest of the room trickled in, everyone glancing at Jesse's face but nobody asking when Petra caught their eyes and shook her head at them slightly. Aiden glaring at Lukas and Jace with an expression that would've made milk curdle. They returned it, Lukas tightening his grip on Jesse almost protectively. Jesse just reached out absentmindedly and patted him on the lower back.

When everyone was back in their seats, Maya, who'd gotten ahold of the remote this time, pressed the play button, and the title screen faded to back.

Jesse's voice spoke again. " _Previously, on Minecraft: Hybrid Mode._ "

* * *

 **A/N: I know that last time it said 'Minecraft: Story Mode' but I'm too lazy to fix it right now xD**

 **Oh... another one of Jesse's little 'panic attacks'. And look, Jace has shown his rare violent side again.**

 **Also, some slight Lukesse and Jetra fluff (grins)**

 **RQTC: Who here has played Legend of Zelda? (any of the games)**

 **Kaos Ruin: (laughs)**

 **AquaK13: They did indeed :3 And haha, sorry... xD**

 **Darkbeast Dend: (thumbs up)**

 **Meow Shadow: (catches cookies) Uh, okay! (starts passing them out) And I'm glad you're enjoying it so far!**

 **LittleAngelbun: (grins)**

 **DynamiteHunter6: Lol I know right xD**

 **S4SH4L4SH4theGaMeR101: (grins)**

 **Idon'tlikecheese: I know how you feel, fam x3**

 **RapidSammi: (laughs) I'm glad you like this so much! And yeah, no more screaming, Sammi-kun. Squealing is allowed, though xD**

 **Slayer88: (laughs)**

 **sailor. mikuchan: (keeps laughing) And yeah, Hadrian's kind of a jerk xD**

 **LunarStarsMoon: :3 And yeah, Cassie seems less sadistic than Hadrian can be, honestly.**

 **Emily The Avenger: I'm glad you like it so much!**

 **x.X. A.L. X.x**


	35. Make a Vow, Break a Vow

The Witherstorm, with its three heads, unleashed a roar as its indigo eyes came to life, glowing and shooting out its purple tractor beams. The narrator took over. " _It is said that within every loss, every challenge..._ " The Witherstorm slowly turned to face the forest. The screen blacked out before coming back on to show Petra, Jesse, and Lukas at the temple. They all looked back to see Gabriel caught in a tractor beam.

" _And every failure..._ " The group ran towards Gabriel, only for Petra to get caught in a tractor beam as well. " _... there is a gift._ " Jesse leaped up and yanked Petra back down to the floor, the two of them tumbling harshly. " _When revered heroes are lost..._ " Jesse was running towards Gabriel, who was still caught in the tractor beam.

It changed to show Petra drawing her sword in Ivor's library. " _We find new ones in our friends._ " The screen changed to show Magnus at the levers of the skull-cannon-thing, eyes practically aflame. " _When we're given grief..._ " Jesse drew back the string of her bow, the arrow's feathers resting at her cheek as her eyes narrowed in determination. She leapt into the air just as a floating block of pink wool beneath her was destroyed, firing the arrow. " _We find a way to give it back._ "

The arrow went spinning into the mouth of the cannon, right past a lava fall. " _And when our band of adventurers are tasked with saving the world from the oncoming storm,"_ and the screen changed to show the group approaching the huge map in the temple, " _they will bring together the bravest and the brightest to stop it._ "

" _But finding the final and most elusive member of the Order of the Stone,_ " the screen changed to show Jesse, Petra, and Reuben walking down a darkened hallway, the amulet glowing blue in Jesse's grip, before it changed again to Soren's library, as Petra slashed at Ivor. " _Will prove their most perilous mission yet."_

Ivor chucked a potion at Petra, Jesse moving in front of Petra with her eyes wide as her arms fiddled together and wove a web in midair. " _For some would rather our heroes's story to end here,"_ and it changed to show Ivor pulling out the Splash Potion of Slowness. Jesse's eyes widened right as Ivor smashed it at their feet. He walked right by, Jesse slowly turning to watch him go. " _Shutting the door on their adventure forever._ "

The screen went black. " _But, like all doors, when one closes, another one is bound to open._ "

It faded back in to show the group slowly turning around as Ivor casually strolled past them. He stepped outside the bookcase and turned back, meeting the rest of the group's glares with a small smirk. Then the bookcase slammed shut, closing off the gap which led back out of the library.

"Okay... well, it said another door is bound to open," Jesse spoke tentatively. "So... that's not too bad, right?"

Jesse slowly came to a stop right in front of the now-shut entrance, before turning slowly as Axel tripped, even falling unnaturally slowly. " _Waaaaattttccccchhhh iiiit_ ," Lukas said slowly, before suddenly everything returned to normal speed. " _GET OUT OF THE WAY!_ "

Axel's screaming became audible before he faceplanted only an inch from Jesse's feet, the girl pressing her back into the bookshelves with this shocked look. Axel had come rather dangerously close to flattening the much smaller girl.

There was a short silence, everyone panting quietly, Axel still lying flat on the floor.

" _Everyone okay?_ " Jesse asked at last, her voice slightly shaky.

At her feet, Axel groaned, still not getting up off the floor. " _I felt all of that,_ " he moaned.

Olivia chuckled and winced a bit, rubbing the back of her head. " _That was one_ heck _of a landing, Axel._ "

" _He mostly used his face,_ " Lukas agreed, wincing sympathetically.

Olivia patted Real-Axel on the shoulder sympathetically as he winced.

Jesse reached out one of her lower hands to Axel, the burly boy taking it and using it to unsteadily lurch back to his feet. " _We need to find Soren_ ," Jesse said immediately, releasing his hand and looking around quickly. The group quickly split up, looking around the room, before Jesse's eyes lighted on Petra, who was a bit hunched over by a white table.

Jesse approached the redhead, who lifted her head a bit upon hearing Jesse's approach. Immediately, the girl let out an involuntary gasp onscreen, hands going up to her mouth.

The screen switched to show Petra. Many members of the audience gasped as well.

Petra had gotten _worse._ Her skin was tinged gray, and her eyes were turning dark gray as well, almost BLACK, a huge deviation from the gold tint it had been previously. Her arm was also held more stiffly. The bags forming under Petra's eyes were a darker shade of gray than her skin.

"Oh my Notch," Lizzie said quietly, looking at the redhead, whose arm had tightened around Jace and was nearly choking him by accident. He tapped her on the shoulder, which made her loosen her grip by an infinitesimal amount.

When Jesse spoke again onscreen, it was in a worried whisper. " _Petra?_ "

Petra lifted her head even more at the sound of Jesse's concerned voice. " _I'm fine,_ " she insisted, before Jesse could even ask.

" _You don't look fine,_ " Jesse responded, crossing all six of her arms.

" _Everything's fine, all of it,_ " Petra responded argumentatively.

" _Doesn't look it,_ " and Jesse reached out and set her hand on Petra's shoulder.

It had barely made contact when Jesse flinched back with a soft gasp, frost having started to form on her fingers. It wasn't smoking yet, not like when she'd grabbed Petra's hand directly... but there was frost on her hands.

"And she could feel that _through_ the cloak?" Sparklez asked, looking concerned.

" _Are you o-_ " Petra was cut off by a harsh cough. " _-wait, are you-_ " Another cough. " _\- are you-_ " The Blaze hybrid went into a full-blown coughing fit, shaking violently with each cough. Jesse reached out automatically and set her hands on Petra's hands, seemingly ignoring the frost that was beginning to form on her hands, steadying the Blaze hybrid.

The audience's eyes widened.

"That's not good," Jace said, putting his own arm around Petra, "that- that is _so_ not good."

Petra was silent for a moment, not even bothering to finish the question, before rolling up her left sleeve a bit again. " _Look at this,_ " she said, quietly. The purple was _spreading,_ and fast. The veins that weren't dull gray were turning purplish-black. " _I'm not trying to freak you out... but I'm a little freaked out right now._ " She pulled the sleeve back down and hugged her arm to her chest, the right arm cradling the left and her head lowering again, nestling deeper into the cloak with a harsh shiver. " _And my vision's all jittery._ "

" _We need to tell the others,_ " Jesse said immediately, seriously.

" _This isn't a 'we' thing,_ " Petra argued back, shooting Jesse a glare that wasn't at all frightening because of how much energy it lacked. But this seemed to frighten Jesse in a different way, because she reached out and set her hand back on Petra's shoulder, making the redhead look up at her.

" _Hey. We're all a team, okay? We're friends. And our friends deserve to know,_ " and she smiled at Petra slightly.

Petra didn't seem too encouraged, as Jesse finally pulled her hand away and rubbed them together furiously to try to get rid of the frost, " _Maybe. Look, I- I'll tell them. Eventually._ " Her head lowered again. It was almost as though _lifting her head_ took too much energy right now.

"At least you're trying to convince her," Lukas said, looking relieved.

"I can't sit here and do nothing while my friend is dying of Wither Sickness," Jesse said quietly, absentmindedly fingering her cheek and then wincing sharply when her fingers made contact with her bruise.

Jace's arm tightened around Petra worriedly.

" _You have to,_ " Jesse insisted.

" _It's just gonna cause panic. And we can't afford that right now. I'll tell everyone, I swear. But... let me do it. Please..._ please _don't tell anyone, not even if they ask,_ " Petra was practically _begging_ now. This made onscreen Jesse stare at her friend with a worried look. " _Swear it?"_ When Petra got no reply, she reached out and clutched Jesse by the shoulder, dulling gray eyes pleading. " _Please?_ "

Jesse leaned forward, dragging Lukas with her, her eyes filled with concern. Petra could feel the worried looks of everyone in the audience on her, even maybe Ivor. She chose to ignore it, staring worriedly at the screen.

Jesse stared at Petra for a moment longer, before letting out a soft sigh. "... _okay._ " She did her signature 'oath' thing, where she crossed her heart and then covered her eye, but didn't actually say the oath.

Petra smiled and let go of Jesse, seemingly satisfied by this, before heading over to the others again.

Jesse watched her for a moment, before speaking quietly enough that Lukas, Axel, Olivia, and Petra couldn't hear, " _Cross my heart, hope to die, stick a needle in my eye, we were friends then, we're friends now, I'll stay your friend, even as I break my vow._ "

Lukas leaned forward now, almost making Jesse's head thunk against the coffee table. "Does... that mean she's going to tell us?"

"I hope so," Petra sighed, her lips pressing together. Jace squeezed her shoulders comfortingly, making the redhead smile at the mocha-haired boy.

* * *

 **A/N: Short, I know, but the actual chapter in Hybrid is also shorter x3**

 **Okay, this is the last time I'm going to say this, and because I don't think people really read the A/N I'm going to put it in all caps, italics, bold, and underline so you can't possibly miss it.**

 _ **ALL OTHER STORIES BESIDES THIS ONE ARE ON HIATUS UNTIL FURTHER NOTICE.**_

 **Do not ask me to update Recode Reality or other stories; while I'm very glad you like it, I've already mentioned three or four times now that every other story except for this one are on hiatus until I either get bored of this one or until this one is finished and I don't like repeating myself if unnecessary. If anyone asks me again, I'm not even going to explain, I'm just going to tell you to go back to Chapter 35 and read the A/N. This is the fourth or fifth time I've had to address this and I don't wish to do so again.**

 **RQTC: LITERALLY THREE CHAPTERS AGO I HAD 5000 VIEWS, WHEN THE HECK DID I GET 6000?!**

 **MissyMattingly: Cool :3**

 **RapidSammi: Yes, I think Aiden would LOVE to play Hide and Go Kill with you :3**

 **Kaos Ruin: Lol xD**

 **LunarStarsMoon: Lol neither have I xD I've only played part of the way through the train one, and I have no idea what that one was called xD**

 **Darkbeast Dend: One or two reviews a chapter, please; you're going on four right now. But haha xD I'm pretty sure you just broke his nose three times.**

 **AquaK13: I know enough about the game to know that Link is not Zelda. xD And lol xD**

 **LittleAngelbun: Hehe xD**

 **SofiaTheWriter88: Yep xD. Yeah, the F-Bomb moment is always funny x3 And lol, that's true! (cracks up) Um, maybe? x3 And read the above A/N please, if you haven't done so already x3**

 **Emily The Avenger: Never mess with Jace. xD**

 **pensuka: I'm not taking that bet... xD**

 **DynamiteHunter6: (laughs)**

 **EthanDaCabbage: It was one of the first things I noticed, actually xD**

 **sailor. mikuchan: Nice :3**

 **rebekahtpe: x3 Um, I would fight the aggressive tree as well... I'd just set it on fire, lol xD**

 **Rabbits rule: Above A/N, please! But, glad to hear you like it :3**

 **x.X. A.L. X.x**


	36. The Grinder

Jesse pulled out the amulet, everyone looking at her as she did so. The red and green gems were glowing, but suddenly the glow faded away. Lukas's eyes widened. " _Oh... huh._ " Jesse frowned at the amulet and gave it a little shake, which did a grand total of... absolutely nothing.

Ellegaard's eyes narrowed in concern, Magnus sitting forward and watching the screen intently.

" _Here, let me have a look,_ " Lukas said, stepping forward and taking ahold of the amulet. He tried to tug it away, but Jesse's fingers tightened on it. The screen went back up to show that her eyes were hard.

Lukas tried to tug harder, but Jesse simply tugged right back, and soon the two hybrids were engaged in a full-blown game of tug-of-war.

" _Maybe you're just holding it wrong,_ " Lukas grunted, trying to yank it away. " _Or maybe-_ " More sounds of exertion. " _You just have to jiggle it a bit._ "

"It doesn't work like that, I'm afraid," Soren replied.

" _Do you mind?_ "

" _I just wanna see it._ "

" _You can see it without touching._ "

" _Not if you can't get it to work._ "

Jesse opened her mouth to respond, before pausing. A funny look came over her face, and she started to giggle at this. Lukas blinked at her in confusion before his own lips twitched up at the ends, and he started to titter. Their laughter was contagious, and most of the audience was either now in stitches or smothering a grin.

" _T-this is so_ ridiculous," Jesse managed through her giggles, and the laughter between the two hybrids grew more infectious until they both let go of the amulet in favor of trying to stop laughing, laughing so hard they could barely breathe.

Axel looked at Olivia onscreen. The Enderman hybrid shrugged.

After a minute or so, Jesse and Lukas finally stopped laughing, letting out little sighs, before Jesse's eyes widened and her mouth dropped open into an 'o'. The screen switched to show that the white gem on the amulet had suddenly started to glow brightly.

" _Soren!_ " all five hybrids chorused onscreen, unknowingly echoing the Order's exclamation.

" _Find him, Jesse,_ " Petra said, looking up at the spider hybrid, looking even paler in the white light the amulet was emitting, " _maybe he can help us._ "

Jesse stooped to retrieve it with a quick nod, before holding it out and watching the glow as she paced around the floor. It brightened when she leaned down, holding the amulet closer to the floor. " _He must be below us,_ " Jesse hummed thoughtfully, as the amulet clinked on the floor gently.

"Hmm," Soren hummed, "it would seem so. Although I don't-" His eyes widened in comprehension, and his face went pale. "Oh."

"'Oh'? 'Oh'... what?" Jesse asked, twisting to see him, looking considerably less sad than she had before the giggling fit. "What's wrong?"

" _Who knows how far down this goes?_ " Lukas wondered with a frown, crossing his arms. " _We might end up digging until we hit bedrock or something. Guys, we're not really equipped for this._ "

Jesse twisted her lips together before shrugging. " _Well, we might not be equipped for it, but it's the only idea we've got. Unless anyone has any other bright ideas?_ " She smiled at him as if to show she didn't mean any harm.

" _Jesse's talking to you, Lukas,_ " Olivia teased the blonde.

Lukas frowned, seeming not to have gotten the joke, his ocelot ears twitching. " _I know, I- I just need a-_ "

" _PAI-GOW!_ " and Axel interrupted loudly by punching the floor, leaving a small hole.

Jesse shrugged as she pocketed the amulet again. " _Well, let's get to it, then!_ "

The screen sped up as they all started digging, until it was just Jesse digging deeper and deeper into the floor, leaving a small mock-staircase behind her, before reaching a dark tunnel. Pulling the amulet back out and holding the now-brightly-glowing gem above her, she hopped into the tunnel, looking around.

" _Are we cool?_ " Axel called down.

As Jesse waved the amulet around quickly, millions of little red eyes flickered to life.

"Oh Notch, what's that behind her?" Stampy gasped. "Googlies?"

Jesse blinked before looking over at Stampy. "Come again?"

"Monsters," Stacy clarified before Stampy could explain. "It's Stampy's special term for 'monsters'."

"Ah." A short pause. "I'm gonna start saying that."

Lukas snorted, covering his mouth to try not to giggle.

" _Looks... pretty good, I think. Dark, but other than that, nothing too bad..._ " Jesse called up to her friends, looking around, the red eyes barely visible behind her.

" _Heading down, then,_ " Lukas called down to Jesse, starting to use the mock-staircase Jesse had left, " _don't look up! I need to work up the nerve..._ "

A squeak from behind her, and Jesse froze before slowly beginning to turn around. " _Wait..._ "

" _You tell me that now?!_ " Lukas exclaimed, having already made it a few steps down the staircase.

Jesse raised the amulet as she turned around fully, the light revealing a bat nest. Startled by the light of the amulet, the bats started screeching and flying around in a swarm, making Jesse shriek in shock. " _Bats!_ "

The watchers all started screaming as well, Reuben squealing from where he was now perched in Jesse's lap. "WHY ARE WE SCREAMING?" Axel asked in a scream himself.

"Because it's _bats!_ " Ellegaard shuddered. Magnus gave her a teasing grin.

"Aww, is Ellie afraid of the towtsy-wowtsy bats?"

"You're the one who nearly blew up the kitchen because there was a _rat_ in the corner!" she retorted.

Magnus opened his mouth to make a rebuttal, paused, and then crossed his arms, cheeks turning pink. "Oh... shut up," he grumbled, choosing to ignore the giggles that were now going through the audience.

Jesse kept swatting at the bats, before the swarm finally reoriented themselves and flew away down the tunnel. Jesse let out a bit of a nervous shiver and started waving the amulet around again. After a moment, she finally called out, " _Um... okay, safe now!_ "

Lukas landed on all fours on the ground a moment later, Olivia bleeping into sight. Axel free-fell with a scream before landing right on top of Lukas.

Real-Lukas winced. Axel reached over Olivia, Petra, Jace, and Jesse to pat him on the shoulder sympathetically.

Reuben nudged Jesse's leg as the Blaze hybrid hovered down unsteadily before tripping and nearly falling flat on her face upon landing on the ground.

Jesse's eyes immediately filled with concern, walking over to the Blaze hybrid. " _Everyone okay?_ " she asked, Petra panting slightly with exertion from just hovering down.

" _I slipped._ " Jesse frowned at Petra and arched her eyebrow, but the redhead didn't say anything else.

Concerned glances were shot Petra's way, the redhead ignoring them and staring resolutely at the screen.

Reluctantly, Jesse turned away, before spotting Lukas staring at Jesse, then at Petra worriedly, then back at Jesse, as if asking her to call it out.

Jesse glanced at Petra, who wasn't looking in their direction, before turning back and shaking her head as imperceptibly as she could. " _Later,"_ she mouthed. Lukas nodded in understanding.

"Oh good, so she IS going to tell us," Lukas sighed in relief.

"I'll keep your secret unless it's going to hurt you. Then screw keeping secrets," Jesse responded simply, patting him on the shoulder.

"What if it hurts you?" Jace wondered.

"Oh, I'm not that important," Jesse said dismissively. She didn't realize it, but everyone in the audience exchanged odd glances with one another at this dismissive comment.

" _What's that smell?_ " Olivia wondered, making a face.

"I didn't know Enderman eyes can wrinkle up the way yours just did," Soren said, leaning forward to stare at the screen. His eyes were sparkling with interest.

Olivia simply shook her head, still watching intently. "Neither did I."

" _Just... breathe through your mouth,_ " Petra said, making her own little face at the smell.

Lukas jerked his head at Axel, his face completely blank. " _Axel already does that._ "

" _Hey..._ " and Axel glared at the ocelot hybrid.

"Well, you did fall on him," Lizzie mumbled.

Axel sent a pouty glare in her direction. "By _accident._ "

" _Let's just get out of here,_ " Jesse said, although she had a smirk on her face as she watched the two boys glowering at each other. Turning around, she started walking down the tunnel, Reuben trotting right next to her as she held out the amulet. " _Stay close, boy,_ " she instructed him, the pig snorting and rubbing her leg with his head, making Real-Jesse grin and fondle the pig's ears.

They reached the end of the tunnel, and Jesse stepped over to the edge carefully, looking around. There were THOUSANDS of other tunnels, below and above them, dyed wool decorating the and about ninety-nine percent of them connected by dyed-wool staircases. Jesse squinted to see the bottom of the huge area, where a machine was smashing together every few seconds, far, far below.

Soren had gone extremely pale. "Uh-oh."

"What?" Axel asked, turning to look at Soren, "what's wrong? What's that?"

Olivia, Ellegaard, Harper, and Stampy had all gone pale right about now, too. Harper swallowed and shook her head slowly. "Something you all don't want to get caught in."

Jesse put the amulet back into her pocket again, the glow no longer needed due to the walls being lined with torches and being reasonably well lit. Lukas let out a gasp as the others reached the edge as well.

Olivia's eyes widened onscreen, and she stepped back a step, shouting something that the smashing machine drowned out.

" _WHAT?_ " Lukas yelled in return, ears pricking up as he looked up at the now significantly-taller Olivia.

Olivia started backing away from the edge now. " _WE HAVE TO GET OUT OF HERE!_ " she shouted back over the smashing machine.

Axel frowned at Olivia in confusion. " _We just_ got _here!_ " he protested.

Olivia shook her head. " _You don't understand!_ " she cried out loudly. The screen switched to one of the tunnels, which spat out a wave of water and took several skeletons with it. The skeletons fell into the machine far below, which slammed together and smashed them into pieces, leaving bones and arrows behind and falling into... whatever was beyond the smashing machine.

" _This is a grinder!_ "

* * *

 **A/N: Stopping point! xD**

 **Another short-ish chapter, but whatever xD**

 **RQTC: Who's excited for the next chapter? xD**

 **Guest: Hehe xD**

 **S4SH4L4SH4theGaMeR101: It really is :3 And haha, yeah, same here. And yep x3**

 **DynamiteHunter6: (laughs) Yeah, probably not.**

 **Emily The Avenger: I know, right? xD**

 **AquaK13: (glomps you) And haha xD**

 **Darkbeast Dend: ... I... literally just updated an hour ago... besides, I do need to take a break from updating every once in a while...**

 **x.X. A.L. X.x**


	37. Water and Creepers and Spiders, Oh My!

The audience all went pale.

"Oh," Axel said, his mouth forming a perfect little 'o', "that's very not good."

" _They're meant to kill monsters,_ " Olivia called out, looking back down into the grinder anxiously, " _but the thing is... they can't tell the difference between monsters and people._ "

" _What's a grinder doing down here?_ " Jesse asked, looking back down at the grinder as it slammed together again.

"For supplies, of course!" Soren exclaimed, looking surprised that this wasn't obvious.

" _Not just any grinder,_ " Olivia shook her head, " _this is the craziest one I've ever seen. It's gotta be Soren's._ "

Hissing rang out in the air. The whole group turned to see the creepers approaching them, but with more of a curious look than anything. Petra whipped out her sword and ran towards them, Jesse following suit a moment later. Petra killed her creeper before it could react, and Jesse killed her creeper with a few, well-placed hits. Petra's eyes widened as a creeper came charging at Jesse, flashing white, too fast for her to cancel it out or kill it. " _DUCK!_ "

Jesse shot a strand of string and rappelled herself out of the way, back slamming into the ceiling painfully, as the creeper exploded and demolished part of the tunnel with a rather loud boom.

Dropping back onto the floor, lower arms rubbing her back, Jesse pulled out the amulet and held it out over the hole, the white gem glowing even more brightly. " _There he is, he's right down-_ "

The sound of rushing water interrupted her, making the whole group turn. The screen switched to show said water gushing towards them, pulling along more creepers towards the grinder.

Lukas lunged sideways, grabbing the edge of Petra's cloak to keep her from getting washed away, Olivia bleeped so that she was flat against the wall, and Axel flattened himself against the wall, scooping Reuben up in the process. However, Jesse was caught off guard, the amulet flying from Jesse's hands. She lunged for it, only to realize that it had fallen through the hole that the creeper had made earlier as she fell forwards-

Axel's arms lashed around her torso and yanked her back to safety.

Lukas's arm, which had been tightening around Jesse's shoulder, relaxed. She patted him absentmindedly on the back, still watching the screen intently.

Jesse twisted in Axel's arms to see Axel, shooting him a grateful smile, before turning back around, eyes searching for the amulet.

The amulet hit the walkway beneath them, rolling along until a creeper that had fallen out of the hole rather than the tunnel specifically made to fall into the grinder kicked it, sending it falling downwards. It bounced off the edge of a tunnel, before landing on top of another one a little below it.

Ellegaard let out a relieved sigh. "That was a close one. They would've gotten lost without the amulet."

" _Was that...?_ " Olivia asked with a faintly dismayed voice, bleeping into sight next to Jesse as Axel removed his arms.

" _The amulet? Unfortunately,_ " Jesse sighed, before backing up, making Axel, Lukas, and Petra back away, having come up behind her, and then dropping to all eights.

"Wait, you're gonna jump? You're gonna jump, aren't you?" Olivia asked, her eyes widening as she looked around at Jesse.

Jace gave the dark-skinned girl an odd look. "What, you want to head back to the library?"

Scrambling forward a bit, Jesse leaped over the edge, landing on the walkway on all eights, before pushing herself back up to her feet and looking behind her at her friends.

Olivia bleeped into sight a little ways behind her, Lukas hopping down and landing on all fours before standing back up, Axel jumping down and doing a belly-flop (Lukas dodged out of the way this time), and Petra glided down before tripping a bit and catching herself.

The redhead then whipped out her sword without another word, charging past Jesse and slamming the creeper that had kicked the amulet off the walkway. It flashed white at the contact before blowing up the edge of a tunnel, revealing some zombies that were inside.

Jesse ran after Petra, the two of them skidding to a stop as they reached a short staircase, where another creeper was waiting. Jesse's eyes narrowed, and she charged at it, flicking out her sword and hitting it, the creeeper flying into a wall and exploding on contact. Spiders crawled out of the hole that the creeper had created.

Jesse tumbled backwards from the force of the blast, doing a little flip before landing on all eights again, straightening up quickly. Petra slammed a spider away and jumped off of the edge of a tunnel, towards another wool-and-stone walkway. Everyone followed suit, landing on the walkway safely.

The spider hybrid looked around to see that it was almost literally raining monsters. Zombies let out moans as the water shoved them out of another tunnel or off the edge of a walkway, sending them to their second deaths below them. Creepers also fell from the tunnel they'd emerged from earlier, hissing loudly.

An arrow nearly hit Jesse in that moment of distraction, Jesse flipping backwards and doing the crab-walk move she'd done back in the fight with Ivor, before doing another little flip and landing back on her feet. Jesse spotted Axel on top of a tunnel, his eyes narrowing as a zombie approached. He flashed white, and Jesse flung up her arms, bracing herself. The explosion still knocked her back a step or two, though, making her pinwheel her arms as she nearly fell over the edge of the walkway before regaining her balance.

The audience let out a loud, relieved sigh at that, excluding Aiden. He was still salty about getting several rather fragile ornaments thrown at him.

" _Jesse, get down!_ " Jesse obeyed Axel's shout and flattened herself to the floor, whereupon Axel charged forward and brought his fist right into a zombie's face, making it fly at Jesse. It landed on her back, but Jesse quickly stood up ramrod straight, sending it toppling over the edge along with the other zombies.

" _Who wants more?_ " Axel yelled, looking around at the monsters.

"You want more?!" Dan exclaimed.

Jesse gave the burly boy an incredulous look. " _Why in the world are you asking for more? Don't ask for more! We don't_ want _more!_ " she exclaimed, momentarily flailing her arms in disbelief.

Axel ran down a flight of steps, but jumped to the side as an arrow flew past him and nearly impaled Olivia as it hit the wall, Olivia bleeping out of the way in the nick of time. " _Jesse!_ " she yelled to the spider hybrid.

Axel winced. "Sorry, Olivia, must not have seen you."

The dark-skinned girl simply shook her head. "It's fine, but I'm blaming you for asking for more."

Jesse flailed her arms at the skeleton, which was quite a sight. " _Hey, ugly!_ " she yelled at it.

The skeleton turned the loaded bow on her instead. The Enderman hybrid's eyes widened. " _Watch out!_ " Olivia warned the spider hybrid.

Jesse threw herself backwards to avoid an arrow as it soared over her and vanished over the edge. Whipping back upright, the girl charged forwards before being forced to stop as the skeleton raised his bow and pointed it at her once again.

" _Hey, bonehead! I'm talking to you!"_ Olivia taunted, waving one arm at the skeleton.

The arrow flew at Olivia instead, who bleeped out of sight and appeared several feet away. " _Any time now, Jesse!_ "

Jesse raced down at the rest of the stairs and charged at the skeleton, which fired another arrow at her. Jesse proceeded to do a slider, sliding under the arrow before whipping back upright and slamming into the skeleton full-force with her sword, sending it flying into the abyss.

"Wow, Jesse," and Petra chuckled a bit. "You're getting good at this."

Olivia and Jesse jumped down to another walkway before racing along to where Lukas was being surrounded by some spiders. Jesse grimaced a bit as Lukas swung with his arms and sliced right through a spider, making it puff into smoke and getting greenish blood on his hands from the spider. Axel was racing down some more steps nearby.

Jesse adjusted her path so that she was running straight for Lukas, waving her arms and opening her mouth to yell at the spiders. What came out instead was a thrumming hiss that made her pull up short in surprise as all of the spiders turned to look at Jesse, tilting their heads curiously.

Until she smacked a spider with her sword and sent it flying backwards to its death. Then the spiders quickly retreated.

Jesse looked back at Lukas. His mouth fell open as he stared at something past her, and Jesse turned, her own eyes widening as thousands of spiders came creeping down the wall towards them, although even as they approached the tunnel top, they looked more confused than anything. Jesse stepped in front of Lukas protectively, holding the sword out.

" _You've got a saving-people-thing,_ " Lukas stated matter-of-factly, the two of them practically backed to the edge of the tunnel-top.

Jesse looked back at him, sword still held out defensively. " _Um, thanks?_ " she asked back, sounding slightly confused.

" _If you die because of said saving-people-thing, I'm gonna kill you._ "

Real-Jesse decided not to respond when Petra, Axel, Olivia, Real-Lukas, and Jace all nodded in agreement.

Onscreen-Jesse didn't have a chance to respond to that, because right then the sound of rushing water rang out in the air. She looked up to show that the holes that they'd created in the tunnels had inadvertently redirected several waterfalls of water right at them.

"Oh no!" Maya exclaimed. Aiden glared at her and kicked her in the shin hard enough to draw tears to her eyes, making her look at him with a look of hurt and confusion. Jesse and Lukas exchanged a concerned look at this.

" _Oh, crap,_ " and Jesse sheathed her sword, " _HANG ON!_ "

She grabbed Lukas and yanked him to her in a hug as the water washed them and the spiders over the edge, Jesse's upper arms slingshotting up and latching onto the tunnel edge with her fingers before it could send them to a watery death, hugging Lukas to her in what looked rather like a death hug. They remained like that for a moment as the water kept pouring over them, before it finally faded away.

" _Thanks, Jesse,_ " and Lukas spit out a mouthful of water as they climbed back up onto the tunnel-top, dripping wet.

Jesse wrung out her hair quickly. " _No problem,_ " she panted out, before grinning slightly. " _I just wanna know why we keep getting wet._ " Her little chuckle was cut off as a terrified squeal pierced the air, and her head snapped around to see her little pink pig galloping away and being pursued by a herd of zombies.

" _Reuben!_ " Jesse yelled, whipping around and racing after her pig.

* * *

 **A/N: Still not as super-long as the chapters previously have been getting, but a bit longer.**

 **RQTC: Would you rather slap Hadrian in the face or slap Mevia?**

 **Slap Hadrian. I like female villains for some reason, so I want to slap Hadrian more than Mevia. (although if I could slap both, I'd do it in a heartbeat.)**

 **AquaK13: Lol, yep xD**

 **SofiaTheWriter88: Nah, it's fine :3**

 **x.X. A.L. X.x**


	38. DEATH TO THE GRINDER!

Jesse sprinted after Reuben, spotting Petra on a tunnel-top a little ways below them, fighting off three creepers at once. She managed to kill one before it could explode, sending Jesse a slightly panicked glance before whipping back to the two other creepers as they closed in on her, turning from one to the other, a more panicked expression coming over her face.

Jesse lunged down to Petra, doing a parkour roll and slamming into one of them, knocking it into its friend and sending them both over the edge.

"Nice, Jesse!" and Real-Petra reached out to give Jesse a high-five, which she returned with a grin.

One creeper fell to its death in the grinder, while the other one blew up a part of the ceiling of the next tunnel. There was more hissing, making the two girls look up as a creeper fell towards them. Both of them leaped back with shouts of shock. Surprisingly, it didn't explode. Yet more creepers also toppled from above and made a landing next to Reuben and Lukas, keeping away from Lukas.

"Oh yeah," Cassie hummed, Winslow purring contentedly in her lap, "Ocelot hybrid."

Another long pause, before Lukas rubbed his head as if he had a headache. "I... keep forgetting."

This made Jesse laugh kindheartedly at him.

Reuben let out a loud squeal and galloped down a flight of steps, past Jesse and off the edge of a tunnel top, Lukas following closely after the pig as he raced away from the mobs, which were starting to pursue him.

" _Jesse, incoming!_ "

Jesse's head snapped back to the creeper at Petra's shout as Petra slammed the creeper away in Jesse's direction, the mottled green monster flashing. She yelped and leaped after Lukas and Reuben, moments before it detonated where she'd been only seconds previously.

Jesse shrieked in fear as she landed on top of Lukas as he was getting back to his feet, knocking him back to the floor. Jesse bounced off of him, did a little flip in midair and slammed onto her back a few feet from where he was.

The watchers all winced. Even Aiden looked a bit sympathetic at this.

" _Agh, that hurt,_ " Jesse groaned, still lying flat on her back. Lukas let out his own little incoherent groan from where he was lying on his stomach, a momentary and rather blissful silence settling over them. Before Lukas opened his eyes, and they widened.

" _Jesse, the amulet!_ " Lukas pointed as he got to his feet. " _It's over there!_ "

The glowing amulet was sitting on a tunnel-top not too far below them, making Jesse let out a soft laugh of relief at seeing nothing had happened to it. Well, yet, anyway.

Suddenly, Axel's scream cut through the air, and both of their heads snapped around to see Axel and Reuben skidding to a halt on the tunnel-top next to the amulet's, water rushing from above and sending deadly monsters their way. Most of the monsters were staring at Axel in a sort of muddled confusion, tentatively approaching the burly boy. But they were approaching.

"Oh, crap," Axel muttered. Olivia was hiding her face in Axel's shoulder again.

Reuben squealed in terror as water rushed towards the amulet, sweeping it away to where it dangled on a corner, balancing dangerously above the grinder, although the water couldn't reach it.

The little pink pig let out another terrified squeal and started to run around in circles around a skeleton which was trying to shoot him, Axel punching a zombie off the tunnel-top.

" _I've gotta help them!_ " Jesse cried out, as a creeper nearby was knocked off of the tunnel-top by a falling zombie and a second creeper.

" _What about the amulet?_ " Lukas asked, worriedly.

Jesse didn't even hesitate at that, charging right for the edge in Axel and Reuben's direction. " _You get it!_ " she shouted resolutely, left eye glowing blood-red as she charged forwards.

Petra let out a relieved sigh at this. Good to know none of this was going to get to Jesse's head.

Jesse shot a web out as she jumped off of the tunnel-top, the string slamming into the other one, and swung over to it. The momentum of the swing carried her high enough that she was almost level with the tunnel-top Reuben and Axel were gone, before releasing the string and slamming all six of her palms onto the stone. She quickly scrambled onto the tunnel top, drawing her sword with a metallic shriek, eyes practically glowing with rage at the monster.

" _Get away from my_ PIG!" she yelled, slamming a zombie away from Reuben, which died the moment it hit the ground, having been injured in the fall onto the walkway earlier. Jesse whirled back around to the other one with another enraged yell, sending it flying into the abyss with a well-placed hit.

Jesse tightened her grip on the pig in her lap, the pig snuffling contentedly in her lap. "Glad you're safe, buddy," she said cheerfully, rubbing Reuben's head. Reuben oinked happily.

" _Got it!_ " Lukas yelled, waving the amulet at Jesse.

She gave him a thumbs' up, before Axel shouted, " _Jesse, behind you!_ "

Jesse whirled around at Axel's warning and lashed out with her sword, knocking a creeper that had been sneaking up behind her back, moments before another river of water slammed into her and knocked her off her feet. It washed Axel and Reuben over to where Lukas was with yells (and squeals, in Reuben's case) of shock, while Jesse got sent right over the edge with a scream of her own.

Most of the audience gasped loudly, Hadrian, Mevia, and Aiden excluded from that category, although their eyes did widen. Olivia, who'd timidly started emerging from where her face had been hidden in Axel's shoulder, let out a shriek of fear and buried her face back in Axel's shoulder.

Jesse was falling past the other tunnels and walkways, so fast that her hair whipped her face in the wind, and fast enough that aiming with her string was completely out of the question.

The same creeper that had been sneaking up on Jesse was falling at Jesse as well, having been washed over the edge along with her.

Jesse glanced over her shoulder at the grinder, which slammed together violently. Her mouth moved silently, the rushing wind stealing any of the air in her lungs and the sounds right out of her mouth, before she shot a string at the creeper, catching it and retracting it so that she came dangerously close to it, the creeper flashing white rapidly. Just as rapidly, she spun around in midair and used the string to slingshot it at the rapidly approaching grinder below her.

The creeper let out an angry hiss and violently detonated, blowing a hole in the grinder and rendering it pretty much useless.

Soren looked rather dismayed about the destruction of his grinder, although most of the rest of the audience let out a sigh of relief, cheered, or at least smiled a bit at this. Well, minus Aiden, of course.

Jesse plummeted through the now-useless grinder, crashing down into another body of water.

Real-Jesse threw her hands in the air. "Aw, _c'mon!_ Why do I keep getting all wet!?" she complained loudly. Lukas stifled a laugh and patted her on the back.

She resurfaced after a moment, letting out a loud gasp as her friends and a spider also splashed down into the water as well, floundering as they tried to stay afloat. The spider tilted its head at Jesse before a trail of bubbles formed behind it, and it was suddenly sucked into a hole in the wall.

Jesse turned to see Reuben paddling towards Jesse, before another hole sucked him down with a squeal that was lost to the water. Petra was sucked down a second later, Olivia following moments after, Lukas and Axel shooting into the ones in the walls.

Jesse raised her hand to fire a string at the wall, but moments too late- her entire body was yanked beneath the water by another one of the holes, a shriek momentarily escaping her lips before being lost to the water, bubbles trailing out of her mouth as she disappeared a long hole to who-knows-where. The screen went black.

"What was that? Are we going to be okay?" Olivia asked immediately.

Soren waved his hand dismissively. "It should take you right to my storage room. As long as you don't drown first, you'll be fine."

Petra glared at him. "That's... not very comforting."

"Well," and he shot the group sitting on the floor an annoyed look, "you do destroy my grinder."

* * *

 **A/N: Another short chapter but whatever!**

 **RQTC: When I was four, my sister was half my age. I am a hundred now. How old is my sister now?**

 **Don't be fooled by the wording of the riddle :3**

 **Idon'tlikecheese: (laughs)**

 **Kaos Ruin: OH MY GOD, I KNOW RIGHT?! xD Too bad that she wouldn't die permanently...**

 **LunarStarsMoon: Haha, yeah xD**

 **Emily The Avenger: Can't deny that, my friend! And yeah xD I put that in there to see if anyone would notice. xD xD**

 **Darkbeast Dend: It wouldn't matter... they threw the world's most powerful bomb at the Witherstorm and it did nothing except temporarily blow it apart. The Command Block is the thing you need to target.**

 **LittleAngelbun: (high five)**

 **AquaK13: They'll find a way xD**

 **DynamiteHunter6: Yeah, my main reaction at one point in the episode was: "OH MY GOD YOU WHITE-HAIRED SPORTS ANNOUNCER SHUT UP FOR FIVE SECONDS, I CAN'T HEAR MYSELF FREAKING THINK"**

 **EthanDaCabbage: So am I xD I use the school computers.**

 **S4SH4L4SH4theGaMeR101: Lol so can I xD**

 **Slayer88: Hahaha! I don't mind him calling me sport, but I do mind him being a sadistic arsehole with no sense of humor. xD**

 **rebekahtpe: Hadrian and Mevia. I'd at least get to punch them both in the face xD**

 **RapidSammi: (laughs)**

 **sailor. mikuchan: Yeah, I know right?**

 **DarkPrincess2001: (looks at the ceiling) No spoilers.**

 **SofiaTheWriter88: (high five)**

 **x.X. A.L. X.x**


	39. Backed Up

The screen came back on to a loud yell as Jesse slammed onto a stone floor roughly, although the water did carry her a few more feet away before vanishing. She lay there on her back for a moment, gasping for breath, as Reuben fell out of another chute and bounced off her stomach.

"What's with you all landing on each other?" Magnus mused. "I mean, first it was Goggles on top of Alex-"

" _Axel-_ "

"Probably a few more times that I can't recall," Magnus continued, completely ignoring Axel's complaint, "then the big guy on top of Blondie in the tunnel, then the pig on Tiny."

Jesse sighed and pinched the bridge of her nose. "Do you even _know_ any of our names?" she asked, after a minute.

Magnus shrugged noncommittally at her. "I could recall them if I took a second. I'm just not really bothered."

"Right. Thanks. That's very nice of you."

Reuben nudged Jesse, who slowly sat up with wide eyes and looked around at her surroundings for a moment. The screen changed to show her sitting right in front of a blue stained-glass tube with a spider eye and other objects inside the tube floating upwards. The screen zoomed out to show that there were more tubes in the room with a variety of items, and a huge delivery system comprised of minecart-chests rushing past on different tracks.

"That's composed of so much redstone, stone, tracks, stained glass... everything..." Jesse flailed her arms momentarily at the screen with wide eyes, before dropping them to twist and look at Soren. "It's actually kind of dizzying, y'know that?" She paused after a moment before flailing her hands again, grinning sheepishly. "Um, in a good way, though."

" _Wow_ ," onscreen-Jesse finally spoke slowly, looking upwards with her eyes wide.

More water came gushing down from the holes in the ceiling, making Jesse's head snap back around. Several waterfalls splashed down and washed Lukas to Jesse's feet, Petra to the foot of one of the tubes, and Olivia onto a random, previously dry patch on the floor.

Groaning, the three of them slowly managed to get to their feet. Jesse's eyes moved slightly to see that the pool of water Petra had been touching had frost icing them, before back at her friends.

" _I thought water was supposed to break a fall,_ " Lukas groaned, standing up and having his blonde hair flop into his eyes. Jesse covered her mouth as she giggled a bit at his new hairstyle.

Real-Lukas blushed and rubbed the back of his neck awkwardly as the rest of the audience smirked at this.

Lukas raked his hand through his hair back into its usual messy, spiky-ish hairstyle, wincing slightly as his fingers snagged the corners of his ears slightly, and Jesse looked around at the group. " _Is everyone okay?_ " she asked, her demeanor becoming more serious, " _w-we're all good?_ "

Lukas gave Jesse a sheepish grin, his ocelot ears twitching. " _Well... definitely not thirsty anymore._ "

Both Real-Jesse and Onscreen-Jesse stifled a laugh at that. Onscreen Jesse reached out and patted him on the shoulder, still smothering a grin. " _Yep, you're perfectly fine._ "

Olivia smirked at the exchange, shaking out her soaking-wet hair. " _We're good,_ " she agreed tiredly.

Petra was looking around, brushing her wet hair out of her eyes. " _Hey,_ " she asked, slowly, " _where's-?_ "

She was cut off by more screaming, and more water splashed across the already-wet floor as Axel plummeted out of one of the holes and landing _right_ on top of Lukas, who was knocked back to the floor with a yelp.

" _Never mind._ "

Lukas stared at the screen, mouth gaping open in dismay. "Again? A-friggin'-gain?"

Axel winced and rubbed the back of his neck. "Sorry, dude."

" _No, no,_ " Axel said onscreen, somehow not realizing he was sitting on top of Lukas, " _don't worry, I'm totally fine._ " He grinned at Jesse reassuringly.

Beneath him, Lukas let out a low moan. " _Whhyyyy..._ "

" _Oh, crap!_ " and Axel practically jumped off of the ocelot hybrid, eyes wide. " _I'm sorry._ "

Reuben let out an excited series of oinks, rushing over to Axel. Lukas tried to get up, but his hand landed in a slippery patch of water and he went back down.

Real-Jesse patted a wincing Lukas on the back sympathetically.

Onscreen, Jesse went over and helped Lukas to his feet, as Axel put Reuben under his arm and walked over to the black-haired girl, grinning widely at her. " _I knew you'd come for us. I just knew it. Reuben had his doubts,_ " and he jerked his head at the little pig. " _I owe you. If there ever comes a time I can pay you back for that, I will, with interest._ "

"You would've done the same for me," Jesse said, gesturing at him faintly before touching her collarbone to indicate herself. "You don't have to do that."

"Yes I do," and Axel glomped Jesse, knocking her into Lukas and knocking the three of them onto the floor with an 'oof!' upon impact. Olivia, Petra and Jace all grinned at each other as the three of them scrambled to disentangle themselves from the pile they'd just fallen into.

Jesse gave him a grin and gave the burly male a big hug. " _I'm just glad you're okay._ " And she looked around the room upon releasing him, a warm smile coming over her face. " _All of you._ "

Hadrian hummed, making all of them look at him. "You really care about your friends, don't you?"

Jesse hesitated for a moment, before saying quietly, "Yeah." She turned back to the screen, and a strange, soft smile came over her face. "I do."

Axel squinted at Jesse for a moment. " _There's something different about you, Jesse._ "

Jesse blinked at him onscreen curiously.

" _You're..._ " Axel spotted the tubes that were going through the glass floor and trailed off. " _Hang on, hang on, hang on,_ " he chanted, peeking down at the floor and the loot going through it, " _this is where all the loot gets sorted, right?"_

Olivia looked down at the floor herself before looking back up and nodding. " _Yep. That's precisely what it is."_

" _See that? Things are starting to turn around,_ " Axel replied, grinning at them.

There was a long pause before Isa rubbed her temples, looking as though she'd just developed a headache. "Well... that certainly ruined the moment..."

"Yeah. Can't believe you did that, Axel. It looked like you were going to say something important," Petra agreed, shaking her head slightly, although there was a faintly amused smile on her face anyway.

Onscreen, Jesse blinked again, before smiling with a small shake of the head. " _Axel?"_

" _Yeah?_ "

Jesse stood up on her tiptoes and ruffled his hair, making him grin at her. " _Don't ever change._ "

Axel reached out and squished her cheeks between his hands. "Awww, you love us!" he teased.

"Leggo my face!"

" _It's cool what you did up there,_ " Petra spoke, making Jesse look at her, " _we stick together, and we'll be fine. It's good to know you're not letting all this get to your head. I was worried it might._ "

Jesse smiled at Petra, neatly folding all of her hands behind her back. " _Thanks, Petra. Means a ton._ "

" _Everyone's looking at you to lead..._ " Petra paused, and then glanced over Jesse's shoulder. " _Well, actually, maybe not EVERYONE..._ "

Jesse turned to see Lukas, who was examining the amulet. " _Looks like it's still working..._ " he mused.

"Of course it's still working!" Soren exclaimed, sounding incredibly miffed at the idea that it might be broken. "Do you know how hard I worked on that? I made sure it was practically indestructible."

" _Ah, yeah,_ " and Jesse turned around to face Lukas with a sincere smile. " _Thanks so much for grabbing that back up there. Could I please have it back?_ "

Lukas turned to her with a small smile, ears twitching slightly. " _No problem._ "

The white glow suddenly brightened a moment before it landed in Jesse's palm, and he gasped and jerked back again. " _Hang on a moment... he's close... Soren's close by._ " He pointed it at a stone archway leading into an adjacent room. " _He's gotta be... this way. Look how bright it is!_ " His ears and tail had started twitching excitedly right about then.

Then the amulet went dark.

Lukas twisted to look at Soren. "I thought you said it couldn't be broken!" he exclaimed, an accusatory tone sneaking its way into his voice.

Jace paused, a hand to his chin, before snapping his fingers and making them all look at him. "Ah, yeah- didn't Ellegaard say it didn't work in the Nether or the End?"

"... ah! Did he duck into one of those places, then?" Jesse asked, after a momentary hum of agreement.

"Most likely," Lizzie agreed, rubbing her head thoughtfully.

Lukas's brow creased onscreen, and he tried shaking it. Nothing happened, though.

Onscreen, Jesse's eyes narrowed at the amulet curiously, before a loud rumble suddenly echoed throughout the room, and they all looked up at the holes in the ceiling again, a bit startled.

" _Sounds like the grinder's backed up,_ " Olivia said, sounding puzzled as she stared at the ceiling.

" _With loot?"_ Axel asked hopefully.

Jesse stared at the ceiling for a moment, before her eyes widened as something seemed to register in her mind. " _Oh_ no."

Another waterfall poured from the ceiling, washing not loot, but instead several vicious monsters down there.

"Oh, _crap!_ " Dan almost yelled in Stampy's ear, making the slightly shorter boy flinch away violently, "now that there's nothing killing the monsters-!"

" _Go go go go go!_ " Jesse screamed onscreen, everyone rushing towards the archway- except for Lukas. The ocelot hybrid was paralyzed in fear again, frozen in place, eyes wide. Onscreen, Jesse grabbed his arm, but suddenly there was a yelp as another waterfall of water exploded into being right above them and slammed them to the floor, more waterfalls knocking the hybrids back onto the floor.

"Oh no, oh no, oh no," Olivia chanted, having now buried her face back in Axel's shoulder. Ellegaard was bouncing on her seat in agitation.

Jesse slowly swallowed and automatically leaned into Lukas. The blonde glanced at her before patting her on the back again, eyes fixed on the screen.

Onscreen, Jesse slowly gulped, a look of horror on her face, none of them even _close_ to the archway yet.

"Well... crap," Cassie stated the obvious slowly.

* * *

 **A/N: Wow, a lot of you got Hybrid withdrawal xD And most authors get 'I hope you're okay' or 'are you alive' after a whole month of inactivity. I get it after one day xD**

 **RQTC: Who is going to watch the Lego Batman movie? (raises hand)**

 **By the way, if there's a / in the review, it means that I'm switching subjects.**

 **AquaK13: Lol! / And yes :3**

 **LittleAngelbun: Correct!**

 **Raven: Correct, and thank you!**

 **Emily The Avenger: I read it, I read it xD / and ahhh, that sucks. / 0-0 really?**

 **Darkbeast Dend: I'm not sure she's doing it on purpose xD / And, uh, the second one is correct. / And okay, this is the last time I'm going to warn you about this; ONE or TWO reviews per chapter. You've posted more than that amount on a single chapter again. If you do this again, I'm going to have to start deleting the excess reviews. I really don't want to have to go that far; but I've asked you three times at this point. If I have to ask again... well... (shrugs uncomfortably)**

 **MissyMattingly: Correct!**

 **Slayer88: Correct!**

 **EthanDaCabbage: Why do you think I have those RQTCs where I ask 'very subtly' if you hate it if people look over your shoulders? xD but, I might start bringing my laptop to school, so that's something... / L** **ive with them. (grins) Imagine the shenanigans we could all get up to! / 0-0 yes, I'm.. perfectly fine, lol xD**

 **DynamiteHunter6: (blinks) / OMG really!? xD**

 **Kaos Ruin: Oh, I know right? xD / and yes, correct.**

 **LunarStarsMoon: Thank you!**

 **rebekahtpe: Correct! / And you just realized that? xD / And as for the RQLC, small. I can cuddle more of them! x3**

 **RapidSammi: Oh, god, you just had to ask that xD Uhm, Episode 8... I don't exactly know how to explain why I like it though... xD**

 **S4SH4L4SH4theGaMeR101: Uhh, nope... / and no, of course I'm not a hundred, it's just a riddle xD**

 **sailor. mikuchan: (buzzer sound) Nope.**

 **mEEplePeoPLe: One really long fanfic... (points at Hybrid and this story) / 0-0 really?**

 **Guest: Wrong.**

 **SofiaTheWriter88: (high-fives you)**

 **LivTheWarrior: I WILL include something from Recode Reality; but they're not watching past the end of Hybrid.**

 **Rabbits rule: "a pause or gap in a sequence, series, or process." Basically, all other stories are on hold.**

 **x.X. A.L. X.x**


	40. To The End!

Olivia let out a loud shriek of shock as a zombie's rotting hand grabbed her wrist. In a violent spray of purple-pink sparks, she reappeared to several feet away, just as a skeleton fired an arrow at them. The arrow pierced the zombie and fell over, and another one that had started lumbering over tripped over the body of the first zombie before it burst into smoke.

"That," Ellegaard said, breathing a long sigh of relief, "was extremely lucky."

Olivia nodded mutely in response.

Axel flashed white, eyes narrowing, before an explosion blasted through the monsters, incinerating a few on the spot and blasting most of the other ones back away from the hybrids, smoke curling off of the creeper hybrid.

"That was awesome!" Nell cheered. Axel grinned at her.

There was a pregnant pause where the hybrids were just panting heavily, trying to catch their breaths, before the whole group ran for the archway as fast as possible, Petra and Jesse automatically drawing their swords and warding off some of the monsters that were approaching.

" _Axel, look out!_ " Olivia shouted. Jesse whirled around to see a spider land on Axel's back, where the creeper hybrid couldn't reach it. He squeezed his eyes shut, but only a few sparks shot off of him.

Harper hummed, rubbing her chin. "Hmm, it appears that his explosion ability has a bit of a cool-down time..." she murmured thoughtfully.

"That," Sparklez said, "is _incredibly_ inconvenient."

Soren nodded in agreement at this.

Jesse opened her mouth to yell at the spider. What instead came out of her mouth was a loud hissing sound. The spider turned its head to look at Jesse, tilting it curiously.

"I guess you can talk to other spiders? Y'know, since you're half?" Lizzie asked, looking at Jesse.

Jesse simply shrugged in response, looking just as bewildered as the pink-haired girl. "I- I guess?" she replied. "I'm- I'm just as in the dark with all of this as you are."

Subtitles popped onto the screen as Jesse hissed again, eyes narrowing at the spider angrily. " _Leave him alone!_ " is what all the hissing meant, apparently.

To the audience's relief, and the onscreen hybrid's surprise, the spider hopped of Axel's back and crawled away. There was a long pause where they were all blinking at what had just happened, before Jesse suddenly spun around, lashing out with her sword and knocking the head off of a zombie before it could get to her. " _Run!_ " she barked at them.

They sprinted through the archway, pulling a tight turn to get inside without running into the wall. " _There's two things I hate,_ " Axel grumbled, " _it's running and monsters."_

They ran up a small flight of steps, before they all skidded to a stop, staring at the thing in front of them.

" _Holy_ crap," Olivia gasped, " _an End portal._ "

The screen zoomed out to reveal that it was indeed an End portal, with the delicately elaborate surrounding structure and the night sky studded with stars inside of the portal. Olivia leaned towards the portal a bit, dark eye and glowing violet eye reflecting the stars.

" _Wait!_ " Lukas gasped, the whole group turning to see Lukas staring over his shoulder at something with wide blue-green eyes. " _Wha- look!_ "

The screen changed to show Petra in her red cloak, still fighting off monsters furiously. A zombie knocked into her, making the Blaze hybrid flash red as she fell backwards, the blow knocking her to the floor.

"Oh my Notch," Olivia practically whispered, every person who knew Petra staring at the screen with wide eyes. _Never_ had the redhead been taken down like this before.

All four of them suddenly hissed. Olivia's eyes widened and she gritted her teeth to reveal that they'd all sharpened, Axel's eyes dilated to huge proportions, Lukas's hair and tail stood on end as his pupils shrank to slits, and Jesse's red eye flashing angrily.

" _GET AWAY FROM THEM!_ " Jesse yelled to Petra, before lunging to all eights and springing straight back into the battle, slamming into the zombie and doing a flip to land back on her feet before driving her blade deep into the zombie's chest, making it explode into smoke. Petra scooted backwards rapidly, eyes wide as Lukas skidded into the room. His claws unsheathed again and he uppercut a skeleton, actually snapping a few of the bones from the force of the hit.

Olivia bleeped into sight and seized the cloak, dragging Petra to her feet and away from the mobs flooding into the room. Axel charged right into the middle of the monsters and clenched his fists. He started flashing white again, and Jesse seized ahold of Lukas's arm and started to run away, before the explosion hit them both and sent them flying forward before Jesse rolled and slammed into the base of the staircase, Lukas lying on top of her. Both of them let out a groan of pain, before Jesse managed to gently push him off of her and get to her feet.

Jesse looked back at the monsters started following them towards the End Portal, and her eyes hardened. " _JUMP!_ " And, dropping back to all eights, she catapulted herself forward into the portal. The screen momentarily went black.

It came back on to a seemingly deserted landscape, with an vibrantly purple sky, tall towering black structures made of obsidian, and a white-yellow ground. A strange, little high-pitched noise sounded, and Jesse suddenly appeared, back slamming violently into a block. She let out an gasp, green and red eyes wide as she tried to breathe, her hands shaking as she desperately tried to inhale.

"You get to meet the Order of the Stone, go to the Nether, AND go to the End," Jace hummed, before patting Jesse on the back. "You're super lucky."

"I think you guys get to do this stuff, too," Jesse pointed up, poking Jace. He grinned at her in response.

Onscreen, Jesse slowly got to her feet, breathing heavily as she looked around, taking in her surroundings. She didn't actually have time to say anything, though, because a moment later Lukas appeared, landing from a two-foot fall. His hand was squeezing the amulet so tightly that Onscreen-Jesse looked a bit worried that it might break. " _Oh- oh boy. This is- this is terrifying. This just gets better and better, doesn't it?_ " He let out a high-pitched, nervous laugh, ears and tail twitching anxiously.

"What's with him? He looks like he might puke or something any second," Stacy wondered, frowning.

"He's probably just a bit high-strung right now," Mevia spoke, making everyone look at her. "After all, they did just fight off a whole horde of monsters and jump into an End portal."

Olivia bleeped into sight a second later, her hands holding Reuben as though he were a block. Her arms were ramrod-straight, and her body was perfectly stiff. Onscreen, Jesse actually had to crane her neck back to get a good look at Olivia's face. Olivia's arms quivered, before slowly setting Reuben down, her muscles relaxing. Petra appeared a moment after that, staggering sideways a step.

The redhead looked around onscreen, looking a bit alarmed. " _Hey, where's Axel? He was right behind me!_ " she exclaimed.

The weird noise sounded again, and Lukas barely had time to start and look up before Axel flattened him to the ground again. This made several members of the audience wince visibly.

Lukas threw his hands into the air at this. "ARE YOU SERIOUS?!" he almost shouted at Axel, voice rising into a higher pitch.

Axel put his hands up in surrender and winced a bit. "Okay, okay, maybe alternative-universe me is doing this on purpose!"

"C'mon, _man! Come on!_ " Lukas eked out in pain onscreen, as the amulet rolled away out of his grip back to Jesse's feet. The spider hybrid shot a strand of silk, getting a direct hit on it, before flicking her hand back up like one would do with a yoyo. The amulet slapped neatly into her open palm.

Axel hastily rolled off of Lukas, jumping to his feet with an apologetic look on his face. Lukas sat back up, an annoyed look on his face. Suddenly, his eyes widened, and he put his hands over his face. " _Oh, jeez..._ "

"Are you _crying?_ " Aiden sneered at Lukas.

Jace slowly swiveled to look at Aiden with a blank face. "Would you like me to start throwing things at you again?" he asked patiently. This was enough for the bully's head to snap back around to face the screen, lips pressing together nervously.

Jace turned back to the screen, satisfied, only to spot Petra giving him a raised eyebrow. "What?"

A short silence as she gave him that raised-eyebrow stare and he blinked back at her innocently.

"Oh, _c'mon_ , he deserves it!"

Onscreen-Axel and Real-Axel frowned. " _Did I break something...?_ " Onscreen-Axel mused, although this was the exact though that Real-Axel was thinking right now.

" _Oh, man- wh- I- I-_ " Lukas was stuttering through his hands, which were covering his face.

Jesse put a hand on his shoulder, brow furrowing. " _You okay?_ " she asked, sounding concerned.

Lukas removed his hands, showing his wide blue-green eyes to reveal that he was not, in fact, crying. " _What- no, I'm not- I'm not crying or anything, just-_ " His breath hitched in panic, "look!"

Jesse slowly started to turn around, but only getting halfway there before snapping back to face Lukas, her own eyes widening. " _Well, rather..._ don't _look..._ " she joked, feebly.

Because behind the group, were thousands and thousands of Endermen.

"Oh," Lukas let out a little sigh of mingled frustration and something akin to relief. "Well, um... I wasn't crying."

Axel let out a loud sigh of relief and gave Lukas a sheepish grin. "Oh, good. I thought I broke something when I landed on you."

"Don't sound so relieved, Axel," Jesse said quietly, making a lot of the audience glance at her, "this part isn't quite over with yet."

With that rather ominous note, they slowly turned back to face the screen again.

* * *

 **A/N: The chapters are all getting to about the same length now. I don't know why; I honestly thought that they'd be longer. Welp; maybe they will. Who knows, right?**

 **RQTC: Which is your favorite Order of the Stone member?**

 **I'm not sure if I've said this before, but... Ivor. By a landslide.**

 **Kaos Ruin: xD / (looks at ceiling)**

 **LittleAngelbun: Awesome!**

 **MissyMattingly: Cool :3**

 **Emily The Avenger: (laughs)**

 **AquaK13: x3**

 **Darkbeast Dend: It's fine; but please don't do it again. x3**

 **x.X. A.L. X.x**


	41. Hauntings of Endermen

An Enderman teleported in a small spray of purple and pink sparks so that it was literally right behind Jesse, although it wasn't facing the group. Jesse was frozen in place for a single, chilling moment, having apparently sensed it appearing behind her, before slowly revolving on the spot to face the black back facing her, slowly raising her head, black hair drifting away from her wide green-and-red eyes as she tilted her head back.

It turned around to face the group, and most of them slapped their hands over their eyes automatically and rushed away. Olivia, however, remained standing there, staring at the Enderman and frozen in place. The Enderman stared back at Olivia, tilting its head at her as if in confusion.

"Oh my Notch oh my Notch oh my Notch," Stampy was practically squeaking, his back pressed into the seat cushions as he tried to get away from the screen, head turned away so that he was looking at the screen out of the literal corners of his eyes. Not that he was the only one; most of the other members of the audience had started doing it out of habit. Even Nell, who was usually pretty calm and cool, had her face half-hidden behind Em, and Slab had his hands over his eyes.

Onscreen, Jesse doubled back slowly, doing just what many members of the audience were doing, and slowly took Olivia's hand. The Enderman hybrid blinked as if shaking herself out of it, and slowly followed Jesse as the two of them retreated to a safe distance, the Enderman watching Olivia for another moment before losing interest and bleeping out of sight.

Jesse and Olivia moved to crouch behind one of the black structures, Olivia still looking a bit dazed, purple eye practically glowing as she stared at the hordes of Endermen.

"What's up with Goggles- ow!" and Magnus glared at Ellegaard, who'd just stomped on his foot.

"Hush!" she told him sharply. "We'll find out if we keep watching!"

"Would you _save your lover's spats for when we're not watching the episodes?!_ " Mevia hissed, voice rising into a near-hysterical whisper-shriek.

Magnus and Ellegaard glared at her, both of their faces pomegranate red. "W-we're not-!" Magnus began, spluttering.

"It's not-!" Ellegaard began herself.

Gabriel and Soren simultaneously elbowed the one they happened to be sitting next to, making them both wince, rub their sides, and glare at Gabriel or Soren respectively.

" _What do we call that?_ " Lukas whispered onscreen, voice quivering slightly as he stared with wide eyes at the Endermen roaming the landscape. " _A- a herd of Endermen? A 'flock'? A 'swarm'?_ "

" _A haunting,_ " Olivia said, still sounding dazed as her gaze was fixated on the Endermen in front of them. All of them glanced at the now-extremely-tall girl, who was still staring at the scene with a slightly open mouth in a dazed shock.

Soren pointed at the screen, eyes widening a bit. "Hey, that's what I usually call it!"

Jesse shivered a bit onscreen as she looked back at the 'haunting' of Endermen. " _Call it whatever you want. As long as we don't look at them, we'll be fine,_ " she whispered back.

" _Yeah,_ " Lukas gasped breathlessly, still staring at the Endermen in a state of shock, " _yeah._ "

They all looked at Olivia, who usually tried to get them back on the generally right track, but the girl was still staring at the tall black monsters in some sort of daze, so Axel looked at Jesse instead. " _Which way are we headed, Jesse?_ " he asked.

The black-haired girl pulled the amulet out again, the white-glow illuminating her face. However, moments later, the glow started flickering out. Jesse winced as she looked at the amulet. " _I guess since the amulet can't locate people in the Nether or the End, it makes sense that it wouldn't_ work _in the Nether or the End,_ " she sighed as she gave it an experimental shake, the amulet flickering out entirely a second or two later.

Lukas started laughing, making everyone look at him. " _Great. Whoo, man,_ " he stated, faint sarcasm tinging his voice, and growing heavier by the second as his tail and ears started twitching rapidly, " _so, we were trapped, and now, we're lost. So, we go from, uh, a death machine, that nearly drowns-and-or-crushes us, and we land-_ here." He flailed his arms wildly at the surrounding landscape. " _In the End. Which, is the right name for it, since,_ incredibly, _we don't even know where we're going!_ "

"Way to keep the spirit up, Lukas," Jesse said sardonically from where she was leaning against him, although she did seem a bit troubled herself.

Onscreen, Jesse cupped her elbows, shoulders hunching. " _Well... at least we're alive. We just have to keep on going until we get to Soren,_ " she said finally, staring at the floor uncomfortably.

"I'm not a leader, and I'm not good at leading or taking charge. Yet, somehow, I manage to become the makeshift leader of this whole thing, and I have no idea what to even do," Jesse mused. "... yeah, no wonder I look like someone just slapped me in the-" She abruptly cut herself off and went silent. Several members of the audience exchanged raised eyebrows at this.

Lukas deflated a bit onscreen upon seeing Jesse's defeated position, ears flopping a bit. " _Let's face it, Jesse, we might never find this guy,_ " he said, in a softer voice than before.

Behind him, Axel raised his hand to point at something. " _There he is._ "

The screen switched to show, sure enough, a figure with ginger hair climbing an _extremely_ long staircase in the distance.

Gabriel blinked at this. "Oh. Well."

Lukas blinked onscreen at this as well. " _Did that just happen?_ "

Jesse nodded in agreement, topmost set of hands going to her chin and crossing over her chest, the lowest set setting themselves on her hips, and the middle set put away the amulet again, since it was rendered effectively useless in the End. " _That was cliché,_ " she murmured, although she sounded faintly amused by this.

Petra nodded, crossing her own arms. " _Yes, but... convenient._ "

" _I can't believe that just happened,_ " Lukas mumbled, surprised. A more hopeful look was coming over his expression. " _That was... like we just... I dunno, conjured him._ "

Jesse looked at Lukas for a few moments, before looking away, reaching up with one set of hands and touching her collarbone with a faintly uncomfortable expression.

Lukas leaned forward and set his chin on his palm. "Judging by one of Jesse's earlier... uhh, 'flashbacks', Jesse must've been the only one who saw their respective Order member after they went to defeat the Ender Dragon. This must've caused some... um... rather uncomfortable situations between us," he mused.

Isa watched the screen for a minute or so, Benedict sitting in her lap and clucking away cheerfully, before saying, in a conversational but faintly impressed tone, "You know, I wouldn't be at all surprised if that were true."

" _Wonder where he's going,_ " Olivia hummed thoughtfully onscreen, finally having gotten her attention diverted from the Endermen surrounding the area.

" _Only one way to find out... we gotta follow him,"_ Jesse said authoritatively, looking from Soren back to her friends.

" _Everyone follow me,_ " Petra said, beginning to walk to the front of the group, " _I'll get us to the other side of all these Endermen, just stay behind me and we'll-_ " she burst into a coughing fit, doubling over for a moment, before recovering, " _we'll be fine._ "

Nell winced. "That, uhh... that doesn't exactly seem like the most radical idea, brah." Petra winced in her own turn.

Lukas winced a bit. " _That... doesn't sound like a good idea..._ " he said tentatively, before moving forward to the front himself, " _actually, you know what? I'll just go._ "

Both Jesse and Petra looked at the ocelot hybrid in surprise, before Jesse tentatively moved to stand behind the ocelot hybrid. He glanced back at her, brow creasing in concern. " _Give me a chance,"_ he said, quietly enough that no one else heard it. " _Just say the word, and I'll do it._ "

The spider hybrid looked at him for another moment, before turning back to everyone else, putting her hands on her hips authoritatively. " _Everyone, follow Lukas. And if all else fails, Olivia, I'm relying on you to get us out of here._ "

The Enderman hybrid nodded stoutly at Jesse, who turned back just in time to catch Onscreen-Lukas's grateful smile and nod, before he turned around to face the hordes of Endermen. " _C'mon!_ " he called, before dropping to all fours and padding through the crowd of Endermen.

Jesse fell forward onto all eights and crept after him, keeping her gaze on Lukas's feet as she started moving through the crowd of Endermen. Glancing back, she spotted Petra pull up the hood of the red cloak and cover her head, Axel drop to all fours and start moving along, keeping his eyes down, Reuben galloping after her, and Olivia bleeping out of sight. In this manner, stopping once in a while whenever getting far too close to an Enderman for comfort, they managed to reach some sort of platform, with an _extremely_ long staircase right behind them.

" _Nice moves back there, Lukas,_ " Petra said as she flipped back her hood, smiling faintly at Lukas. The ocelot hybrid smiled back, although the smile faded a moment later as he actually got a good look at Petra.

" _Thanks..._ " and he turned back to Jesse, smiling as his ears pricked up, " _You too, Jesse. Thanks for giving me a shot._ "

The whole group turned in unison to look at the staircase. It was pretty obvious that it was going to be a terribly long climb.

"Couldn't you have built an _underground_ fortress?" Jace complained, turning to look at the builder.

Soren shrugged. "It's less dramatic."

" _Great,_ " grumbled Axel, " _we're gonna die and it won't even be exciting._ "

Olivia gave him a weird look, arching her eyebrow, her weird daze forgotten. " _What, from the stairs? If Jesse can survive Magnus going wacko on her-_ "

This made several members of the audience snort in amusement.

" _\- then I'm pretty sure we can survive a long staircase._ "

The spider hybrid gave the two of them a rather sheepish look, rubbing the back of her neck. " _Honestly? I think I'd rather face wacko-Magnus._ "

Jesse snickered at that.

* * *

 **A/N: Pffff xD**

 **RQTC: Winslow, Benedict, or Reuben?**

 **Reuben. He's the best pet ever. He's loyal, smart, and always happy to see Jesse at the end of a long day- _friend._ It should be 'friend', not 'pet'.**

 **(goes to publish next chapter)**

 **(sees views)**

 **OVER 8,000 VIEWS.**

 **IN THE TWO OR THREE WEEKS THIS FIC HAS BEEN UP, I HAVE RECEIVED OVER 8,000 VIEWS.**

 **Oh my Notch, guys, seriously... thank you.**

 **Emily The Avenger: Hehehe xD**

 **MissyMattingly: High five!**

 **Darkbeast Dend: Hey, that's cool, I like Soren too :3 But Ivor is best xD / And it's fine; as long as you don't do it again it's fine. :3**

 **Kaos Ruin: But, seeing as I'm planning the story, I know how he's thinking during certain moments... and it... really wasn't that nice. / I still like Soren, honestly. I have no idea why. I think I feel bad for him.**

 **AquaK13: (laughs) Aw, well, you should get your sleep. / Yay! (high-five)**

 **S4SH4L4SH4theGaMeR101: (stares for a moment. Points at my favorite Order member (Ivor)) / Heehee (evil grin)**

 **LittleAngelbun: I meant the old. And cool!**

 **RapidSammi: (rubs head) Aww, thanks, Sammi-kun! / YAS! (high-fives you)**

 **LunarStarsMoon: (shrugs) / (high-five)**

 **Idon'tlikecheese: Cool :3**

 **SofiaTheWriter88: I'm glad you like it! / Nice!**

 **sailor. mikuchan: (stares at you. Points at my favorite Order member.)**

 **DynamiteHunter6: (nods) Cool, cool. Cool beans. Cool-o-rama. xD**

 **EthanDaCabbage: Uhh, Stampy, Lizzie and Aphmau.**

 **x.X. A.L. X.x**


	42. Wool World

The group started walking up the stairs, Jesse silently leading the gang up the first flight of stairs. Axel already looked tired by the time they reached the first landing. " _I hope that someday, I love something as much as Soren seems to love stairs._ "

Jesse snorted, but the grin faded as she looked back. Petra was the last to arrive at the landing, pausing for a moment to clutch her head in pain. Jesse stopped and waited for Petra to catch up silently, before the two of them kept heading up the stairs.

They made it up a few more flights before Petra asked, " _Jesse? Could you give me a second?_ "

Jesse turned back this time. Petra's hands were on her knees, and her skin had this definite, sickeningly _gray_ tinge to it. A sheen of sweat was on her face, her eyes were nearly _black_ , and the bruise-thing seemed to have spread even more, angry purple and gray-black veins standing out violently. Petra turned her head to cough into her shoulder.

"You're just making this so much worse by not telling us," Jesse said quietly.

"I know," Petra sighed, "I just... I don't want to worry anyone."

Jace suddenly turned and wrapped his arms around Petra in a tight hug. "Petra, we ARE worried. It's obvious that something's up with you. It'd actually probably be _less_ worrying if you told us, at this point," he said, face buried in her shoulder.

Petra blinked, glancing down at Jace, before a soft smile came over her face and she reached up to pat the boy on the back gently.

The spider hybrid turned to face Petra onscreen, staring at her with concern. " _Petra? Need a hand?_ " She held out one of her lower arms, but Petra shook her head and straightened up, even though it looked like it took a bit too much effort.

Jesse crossed her arms and sent Petra a deadpan look, before arching her eyebrow at her.

" _Really, I'm fine. I'm good. We can keep moving._ "

"Pushing yourself's just going to make it even worse," Gill spoke quietly, making everyone glance at him. Upon spotting Aiden's glare, he simply turned to look back at the screen again, shutting his mouth.

Onscreen, Jesse silently, and very reluctantly, turned around again, showing that Lukas and Reuben had paused only a few steps away from them, watching the two girls with worried looks. Lukas sent the spider hybrid a curious frown.

Jesse shook her head slightly. " _Later,_ " she mouthed.

Lukas's pressed his lips together, looking concerned about this, before finally giving a slow nod. Jesse and Petra quietly began to walk up the stairs, and after another moment's hesitation, he followed them.

They all finally reached the last landing, all of them looking exhausted. " _So many stairs,_ " Olivia groaned in complaint.

Jesse looked up the last flight of stairs to see a ladder. " _Ahh... there's a ladder,_ " she mumbled, crossing her arms slightly.

Axel pouted a bit, crossing his own arms. " _It better not be a long one..._ "

Jesse went up the stairs, all of her arms moving so that they were grabbing onto the sides of the ladder, and quickly climbed up the ladder. It appeared to be a rather short one, though, so in no time at all, she was at the top of the ladder. There was a double trapdoor at the top, surrounded by something... green. Wool?

Jesse pushed open the trapdoor and climbed out, before blinking slowly.

The screen switched to show a replica of the world, complete with trees, rivers, bridges, sky, and- somehow- a sun. " _What do you see?_ " Lukas called up.

There was a very long pause, before Cassie slowly turned to stare at Soren. "Um... what is that?" she asked, slowly.

Soren rubbed the back of his neck awkwardly. "That- ah- that's my End fortress."

"I think you need a therapist," Hadrian told him calmly, before wincing as Otto dug his elbow into his side with a slight glare. "What? I think he does!"

Jesse winced sheepishly and glanced at Soren. "Um... yeah, I don't mean to be rude, but... this is kind of creepy."

" _I... think I'm seeing things,_ " Jesse replied, blinking hard as if she was seeing her surroundings wrong, " _It's like... some other_ world _up here._ "

Lukas popped his head out of the trapdoor behind her, coming out as well. He winced and squinted against the 'sun', shielding his eyes. " _Woah, so bright..._ " he complained a bit, looking around.

The others came up as well, staring around them as if they were seeing things. Axel was the last one to come out, shielding his eyes from the light, before he suddenly tripped with a yell. Jesse turned just in time to see the burly male trip, fall, and slam into Lukas, knocking both males to the bottom of the hill, Axel landing on top of Lukas.

Lukas put his head in his hands. Jesse patted him sympathetically.

Onscreen, Lukas just let out this tired sigh. " _That's my body, Axel,_ " he said simply, " _my broken, battered body._ "

" _The ground's squishy,_ " Olivia commented, as Jesse walked closer to one of the trees, narrowing her eyes at it suspiciously. " _Almost like carpet."_

" _Looks funny, too,_ " Axel commented, squinting at the ground intently.

Jesse squinted at the tree even more carefully now that she was up close to it. " _This... doesn't look like a normal tree,_ " she called back to them, still inspecting the tree carefully.

" _Glad to hear it,"_ Lukas replied sarcastically, " _now could you_ please _get off me?_ "

" _Sorry, dude._ "

Jesse reached out to touch the tree, her eyes widening as she did so. " _What in the w-?! It's made of wool!_ "

"O-kay, it just got creepier," Petra said.

All eyes went to Soren. The builder blushed and glared at a stray strand of the carpet. "Wh-what?! _I_ like it, okay?!"

Jesse hummed slightly, tapping her cheek thoughtfully, watching the screen intently. "Well, it's, uhh..." A pause. "... give me a minute to think of the word I'm thinking of."

Onscreen, Jesse turned back to face the others onscreen, looking quite weirded out by this little development. " _The- the trees, the grass, it's all... wool!_ " she exclaimed, sounding more than a little disturbed.

Lukas got up, crossing his arms, a frown on his face. " _Um... so... we've been resting our hopes on this guy, and he's made some sort of... artificial Happyland?_ " he asked, sarcastically. The hope that had been on his face a bit earlier had completely disappeared.

There was a long pause, before Axel broke it tentatively. " _Well, it's real wool._ "

Lukas frowned at the floor, not saying anything. Onscreen, Jesse reached out and pulled the ocelot hybrid into a hug, and after a moment, he patted her on the back reluctantly. " _Well, you know Soren best out of all of us... wasn't he kind of... um..."_ She paused, as if mentally searching for a word. " _... eccentric?_ "

Real-Jesse snapped her fingers briskly. "Yes, that's the word I've been looking for. 'Eccentric'."

Lukas snorted a bit, rather huffily at that. "' _Eccentric' is putting it nicely. I don't know. Maybe he's gotten kinda whacked since I last saw him,_ " and his voice was rather bitter as he said that.

"Lukas..." Petra trailed off, seeming unsure what to say as she glanced to the blonde.

Onscreen, Jesse hesitated, before gently letting him go and holding him at arm's length. " _Well, you heard what Ellegaard and Magnus said... he's been alone for... quite a while. So maybe he just missed home._ "

"Still creepy," Magnus stage-whispered.

Soren glared at him.

Apparently, that was the wrong thing for onscreen-Jesse to say.

Lukas shoved her hands off, ears and tail standing on end angrily, pupils turning to slits. " _If you miss home, you go and visit. You don't build an exact replica. Look around, Jesse!_ " he nearly shouted at her, claws shooting out, " _if the best builder of all time has spent years on this, what are the chances he'll even have that bomb?!_ "

"Actually, I do have the bomb," Soren interjected here.

Almost everyone in the room let out this tremendously relieved sigh.

The blonde boy whipped around, tail nearly whipping Jesse, and stormed off. " _I've had enough crazy for one day._ "

Jesse watched him for a moment, worry showing in her eyes.

Slowly, after a few long moments of silence, the rest of the group started splitting up to look for clues to find Soren, and Jesse finally turned to look at Petra. " _Petra, on a scale of 'ugh' to 'arrrghh', how bad do you feel?_ "

Petra had been looking a little worried about Lukas, but she snorted at this. " _Some... someplace in between. But, I'm holding on. For now._ "

"Keep hoooolding on," Olivia sang jokingly in an attempt to lighten the mood. Maya grinned a bit at this.

"We'll make it through, we'll make it through."

"So far away, I wish you were here."

"Something, something, before all this disappears."

"Maya!" Aiden hissed at her.

Olivia shot a glare at him. "Hey, she can sing if she wants to," she snapped. "Leave her alone."

Aiden rolled his eyes over-dramatically. "It's not her _singing_ that I'm against," he sneered. "It's who she's singing WITH-"

"Oh- For the love of Notch, Aiden, let it _go_ already!" Jace groaned, putting his head into his hands in exasperation.

A playful grin came over Jesse's lips. "Let it go~ let it go~" she sang lightly.

Maya grinned and covered her mouth, trying not to outright laugh at the shorter female's singing. Lukas chuckled and gently patted Jesse on the back as well.

Jesse looked around the room, before back at Petra. " _How d'you think Soren got out of here without leaving clues behind?_ " she wondered mildly.

Petra looked around the wool world. Actually, now that Jesse thought about it, that sounded pretty catchy. Wool world, wool world, wool world. Okay, she'd better stop now. " _He IS the greatest builder of all time._ "

"Aww, you flatter me," Soren joked.

Hadrian, Mevia, Otto, Cassie, and Harper didn't say anything, although Mevia got as far as opening her mouth before pausing and then shutting her mouth again with a sigh.

" _If anyone knows how to put in the secret-est of secret doors, it's him._ "

Jesse ran a hand through her long black hair. " _Hmm... I guess I gotta go find a secret mechanism, then,_ " she sighed a bit, before looking back up at Petra again, " _I'm gonna keep looking around, then._ "

" _Look away,_ " Petra said lightly, although her smile seemed a bit tight.

Jesse gave Petra one last concerned look, before turning away and continuing around the area, head turning a bit as she searched around.

* * *

 **A/N: Wool World~**

 **RQTC: Anyone seen the new MCSM song by TryHardNinja?**

 **Kaos Ruin: You can (shrugs) / True.**

 **RapidSammi: Aww xD**

 **Emily The Avenger: (laughs)**

 **S4SH4L4SH4theGaMeR101: (grins)**

 **AquaK13: (laughs)**

 **x.X. A.L. X.x**


	43. Poke Around

Jesse spotted a lever on one of the nearby wool trees. She flipped it, a musical sound floating through the air when she did, and the far left of the lamp-cloud lit up brightly. " _Neat,_ " she hummed mildly.

"Alright, that's a good start," Soren said, optimistically. "You're getting there."

Jesse trotted over to Reuben, who was standing near some blocks of pink wool and looking at it. She leaned over to pat the little pink pig on the head, making him oink happily. " _You like that, don'tcha, boy?_ " she asked happily.

Real-Reuben nudged Jesse's hand, and she rolled her eyes with a grin before starting to fondle his ears, the small pink pig grumbling happily when she did.

Onscreen-Reuben oinked cheerfully, before Jesse crouched down and held out her fist to the little pig. " _Gimme a fist bump!_ " she coaxed cheerfully. He happily obliged, putting his hoof against her fist.

Jace grinned and did the same to Real-Reuben.

Onscreen, Jesse chuckled and left him to admiring his pink wool, looking around the wool world some more. Finally, she came to a wooden fountain. " _Well, at least that's not wool._ " She dipped her fingers into the fountain musingly. " _Must be all sorts of water systems in this place,_ " she finally finished the thought after a couple of seconds.

"Of course," Soren nodded, "having a wool world is... _kind of_ a fire hazard."

This made several members of the audience snort.

After a few more seconds, Jesse looked up with a slight start. The screen switched to show Lukas standing by himself, arms crossed, glaring at nothing in particular. Jesse shook her hand off and walked towards the ocelot hybrid, who didn't even acknowledge her for a moment.

" _What do you want?_ " he asked brusquely, after a moment.

Jesse frowned at that, putting her hands on her hips. " _Lukas, I know you're upset, but you've gotta keep it together._ "

Lukas still didn't look at her, his glare softening as he let out a long sigh. " _I know I do, but... I just..._ "

Jesse waited for him to finish, a faintly expectant expression on her face. He finally let out another sigh and lifted his head to look at her, blue-green eyes meeting green and red. " _Listen, I- I know I've been kind of prickly, but... I think something's wrong. With Petra._ "

Jesse automatically glanced over at Petra, who looked even _worse_ than she had only a few minutes previously, before timidly biting her nails and glancing away as Lukas continued, " _You- you_ have _to have noticed, the lack of energy, the labored breathing... there's something wrong, okay?!_ " He seemed to be getting rather frustrated. " _Something big. It's not fooling anyone._ "

He looked at the floor after a moment. " _At least, not me._ "

Jesse looked back at Petra warily for a moment, before stepping closer to Lukas. " _Petra has Wither Sickness,_ " she said quietly, having dropped her voice to a lower volume.

Lukas's head snapped up to look at her.

The spider hybrid paused, seeming unsure what to say, before Lukas broke the silence, whisper-shouting and flailing his arms wildly. " _Petra has Wither Sickness?! But- but- she's half-Blaze- how did she-?!"_ he spluttered nearly incoherently.

Jesse crossed her arms and looked at the floor. " _She... made me promise not to tell anyone, but..._ " The girl looked back at Petra, before back at Lukas. " _I'm starting to get scared... that if I don't tell anyone... she's going to push herself too hard and then-_ " she cut herself off, as if she didn't even want to think about it. She blinked hard, a troubled expression coming over her face. " _I don't..."_ Her fists clenched at her sides, nails digging into her palms. " _... I don't want that._ "

Real-Jesse sighed, making everyone look at her. "Sorry, Petra. I know I- I 'promised', but-"

Petra reached out and clapped Jesse on the back, nearly knocking her into the coffee table per usual. "Nah, it's fine. Would've happened sooner or later."

Jesse winced a bit, rubbing her shoulder. "I-I'm glad you see it like that..."

Lukas tightened his arm around Jesse's shoulders comfortingly.

Onscreen, Lukas was silent, before he initiated a hug himself, pulling the shorter female into it. Jesse stood there for a moment, staring at a spot slightly over his shoulder, before sighing and letting her head drop into his shoulder, putting her own arms around him and returning it.

They remained like that for a good minute before Lukas let go of her, inhaling slightly and letting it out in a sigh. " _Thanks for telling me. I won't tell Petra that you told me. I'll... just watch out for her._ "

Jesse nodded, dashing her hand quickly over her eyes. " _Okay,_ " she agreed in a whisper, before she automatically crossed her heart and then placed one hand over her eye. Lukas smiled at that, repeating the motion himself and making the two of them grin a bit at that.

A moment later, Jesse spotted a lever, and went over to the side a bit, reaching out and flipping it. The far-right side of the lamp-cloud glowed, leaving only the center portion dark.

Jesse took a long, deep breath, before letting it all out. " _Whew. Thanks, Lukas,_ " and she smiled back at the blonde, rubbing her head slightly, " _I think I needed that._ "

The blonde nodded at her again. " _Anytime,_ " he replied, smiling faintly.

"Flirting," Gill 'coughed' into his fist.

Jesse and Lukas swiveled on the spot to shoot the Ocelot a withering glare. He remained serenely unwithered, in fact grinning at them, so they both dropped with a roll of the eyes and a grin at each other before returning to the screen.

Onscreen-Jesse gave him a smile again before trotting off again, looking around the Wool World. " _Okay... wonder how this puzzle works._ "

"Honestly, the puzzle's not that hard!" Soren complained. "You just have to flip all the levers and then you're pretty much done!"

Petra gestured at the screen, giving him an odd look. "You say that to us like we can hear you."

Onscreen, Jesse had apparently spotted the last lever, because she was now flipping it, the entire lamp-cloud glowing brightly. Another look-around revealed a stone button on the wall near the lamp-cloud, and she went over to the button and gave it a cursory glance, before hitting it gently.

The sound of shifting pistons suddenly came to life, and she scrambled back a step as part of the wall slid into the floor with a rumble, leaving a large archway in the wall that led into a... much darker place.

" _That's... amazing,_ " Jesse stared into the room beyond, which had a fountain in the center. Reuben came up to stand next to Jesse with a soft oink. " _Hey, guys! I think I found Soren's way out._ "

Everyone came up to the doorway slowly, peering into the room beyond. " _Okay... wow."_ The whole group slowly started to move into the hallway.

Petra stopped next to Jesse, a tremor going through her entire body. " _Nice sleuthing, Jesse,_ " Petra told the spider hybrid, sounding faintly impressed, " _sorry I wasn't more help back there. When I think about how I ran all over Endercon looking for Ivor, or when I got that skull..."_ she trailed off for a moment, before picking up again. " _It's hard to imagine that I did any of that, now that I'm like..._ " She paused again, before gesturing uncertainly at herself.

Jesse gave the redhead a hug, having to actively stand on her tiptoes and ignore the frost that was now creeping over her front. " _I'm just glad you're... okay, for the most part,_ " she said, sounding sincere.

Releasing the redhead after a moment, swatting off some of the frost, the two of them followed the rest of the group inside. The screen cut to the inside, which was a long, dimly-but-warmly lit hallway with tables with torches on them. There were bushes and glowstone hanging from the ceiling. It was beautiful and _huge,_ although it looked like it hadn't been used in a while.

" _We'll check out the rest of the house,_ " Petra said, as they all started splitting up into little groups, " _see if we can find Soren, before he finds us._ "

Axel gave Petra an odd grin. " _You make it sound like he's a serial killer or something._ "

" _We don't know that he isn't,_ " Petra joked slightly. There was a minute-long pause where the group tried to process this, before Jesse slapped her hand over her eyes and slid down the wall, having given up and was now _cracking up._ Olivia was covering her mouth while she laughed, Axel snickering and Petra looking a bit more cheerful than she had before. Lukas was smirking and shaking his head, although by the way his tail was twitching, it was pretty obvious that he was smothering a laugh.

Soren crossed his arms with an offended huff at Petra, although the audience had pretty much given up and was now laughing along with the group of hybrids, so his huff went unheard. It also really wasn't that effective, seeing as he had a broad smirk fixed on his face as well.

" _That is_ so _encouraging,_ " Lukas finally managed, before rolling his eyes with a grin and moving on.

Finally, Jesse got back up off the floor, although she was still giggling a bit, and looked around. Continuing through the hallways, she looked at the fountains that were placed through each section of the hallway. " _Guess the water system's not just for the outside._ " She scratched her head after a moment's hesitation. " _Not- that the outside was actually... the outside,_ " she finished, and moving on into the last section of the hallway, where Olivia and Reuben had paused next to a door.

Olivia and Jesse shared a look, before Jesse pressed her ear to the door, a thoughtful look coming over her face as her eyes narrowed. " _Hm... well, there's some music. But I don't hear anyone talking in there or anything-_ "

She was cut off by a familiar voice suddenly starting to talk. " _I call that one 'Symphony in E'._ " A little laugh that made both hybrids' eyes widen, and several of the audience members' as well. " _A new composition to celebrate my newest discovery!_ "

" _Soren?!_ "

* * *

 **A/N: Uhh, so... I think my chapters are around 1,700-1,800 words on average now, but, y'know, I might be wrong.**

 **RQTC: Do you think Soren and Isa were in the Old Builders at one point or not? Why or why not?**

 **I do. I mean, c'mon, Soren's books are EVERYWHERE. And Isa had one of the Eversource chickens! There're more reasons, but I'm trying to update ASAP.**

 **Kaos Ruin: I think it's called 'You Can Find It' or something.**

 **S4SH4L4SH4theGaMeR101: (laughs) Yep.**

 **Darkbeast: It's fine :3**

 **LittleAngelbun: (thumbs up)**

 **AquaK13: It was posted on the 11th (i.e. yesterday), so that's probably why xD / Yep, I do. xD**

 **MissyMattingly: (grins)**

 **Emily The Avenger: (grins cheerfully)**

 **LunarStarsMoon: (returns the high five) / (laughs) Yeah, surprisingly. I honestly didn't think it'd get more than like 10 views. / (laughs)**

 **rebekahtpe: Glasses!**

 **RapidSammi: Cuteness, indeed xD**

 **SofiaTheWriter88: (laughs)**

 **sailor. mikuchan: (laughs) / Awww, well, you should watch it!**

 **x.X. A.L. X.x**


	44. Walking Among the Endermen

The two of them opened the door and rushed in, before skidding a few feet and then stopping in front of a jukebox, from where the voice was emitting. Reuben nearly ran face-first into the jukebox before Jesse stooped down and scooped up the pink pig replacing him a few feet away so he didn't just charge right into it.

" _What the-?_ _"_ Olivia stared at the jukebox in dismay.

Jesse blinked in surprise at this, Reuben squealing slightly. " _It's a recording!_ " she exclaimed, reaching up to touch her lip.

Olivia let out a frustrated groan and crossed her arms. " _After all that, he's not even here?!_ " she complained.

The recording of Soren laughed slightly. " _I, uh, should probably eat something. I'm positively lightheaded with excitement!"_

Olivia continued, still frowning and sounding _extremely_ frustrated, " _We came all this way and for what?! We're no closer to Soren than before._ "

Jesse hummed thoughtfully, tapping her lip, before something occurred to her, and she looked at Olivia significantly. " _Welll, this record couldn't have turned on by itself,_ " she pointed out.

Olivia's expression lightened a bit as realization dawned on her face. " _Huh. Good point. I guess he really likes the sound of his own voice, then._ "

Soren shrugged a little. "It gets a bit quiet sometimes."

Jesse looked back at the record, crossing her arms and shuddering slightly as all of them did so in perfect unison. " _Well, maybe there's something useful on the record, if we can figure out what he's talking about..._ "

" _I've worked up a simple set of building instructions to... inspire_ _them_."

Several eyebrows were raised at this.

" _I will disguise myself and hide among them in order to observe them more closely,_ " Soren finished.

Jesse's eyes narrowed thoughtfully. " _Observe_ who _more closely?_ " she contemplated, one thumb going to the corner of her lip.

Olivia had moved away a certain distance and was looking at a nearby wall of purple glass, squinting at it with a rather confused look. " _I wonder why Soren built a purple wall. It's not completely opaque, though. Just really, really blurry,_ " she commented.

Jesse came to stand next to Olivia, looking just as bewildered about what she'd just said. " _What? What are you talking about? Liv, that's purple stained glass, not a purple-_ " Jesse had turned to look through the glass, but now she froze, face draining of color (this was obvious EVEN THROUGH THE PURPLE TINT) and eyes widening. "... _oh._ Oh. _Do you think Soren was talking about Endermen?_ "

Olivia blinked at this question, before turning back to the glass and covering her right eye. Her own eyes widened. "Oh."

The screen zoomed out to show, on the other side of the purple glass, thousands, and thousands, and _thousands_ of Endermen, teleporting about and picking blocks up at random.

" _Endermen?_ " Cassie and Isa chorused loudly, staring at the ginger builder in complete disbelief, "you've- you've been experimenting with _Endermen?_ "

"Soren, I know you've _written_ a few books on the subject, but I never imagined-!" Isa exclaimed, sputtering slightly.

"I didn't realize you meant _actually_ in your book-?!" Cassie blurted.

"How do you know he's written books about Endermen?" Ivor asked, turning to look at them curiously and making many members of the audience look at him- it was the first he'd spoken almost the entire episode. "He never published them, as far as I know."

Isa opened her mouth, perhaps to explain exactly how the two of them knew, but right then Soren interrupted defensively. "T-they're fascinating creatures! They're the closest living being that can do something akin to building, like we humans do! Admittedly, much of it is simply placing blocks down at random, but-"

"Soren, that's _incredibly_ dangerous!" Gabriel exclaimed.

Soren opened his mouth to exclaim back, but Jesse's voice came onscreen as she stared through the window, eyes wide. " _Endermen?_ " Jesse was gaping out the purple stained-glass window in almost comical shock. " _Soren has been experimenting with_ Endermen?"

Olivia shrugged a bit, crossing her arms as she stared out the window with a disbelieving shake of the head. " _Everything ELSE about this guy has been kind of pointing to crazy,_ " Olivia mumbled thoughtfully.

Jesse hummed at last, putting her hands on her hips, still staring out the window. " _I suppose everyone needs hobbies,_ " she said finally. " _Even if they're... very, very, VERY dangerous."_ A short pause. " _You think he's really training Endermen to build stuff?_ "

"Of course!" Soren grinned.

Olivia shrugged again. " _I think HE thinks he's training Endermen to build stuff,_ " she replied.

Soren's face fell. Gabriel gave him a sympathetic pat on the shoulder.

Jesse hummed thoughtfully at this, before spotting a blueprint resting on a chest nearby. Jesse blinked at it before heading over to the blueprint, lifting it up to show that it had to be one of the simplest designs of all time. It was made up of six blocks, five forming a capital letter 'L' and the remaining one sitting in the top right corner. The text said something about it being in all clay blocks.

" _Whatcha got there?_ " Olivia asked from right next to Jesse, making the spider hybrid jump a bit. Turning around and tilting her head back to meet Olivia's eyes, she held out the blueprint. " _It's some kind of crafting recipe. I'm just wondering why someone like Soren would need a recipe for a shape this simple._ "

Olivia leaned over to get a good look at the recipe, before her eyes lit up with excitement. " _Because they're not for_ Soren _, they're for the Endermen!"_

Soren snapped his fingers with a grin. "Bingo!"

" _This must be what he's trying to teach them to build!_ "

Jesse stared at Olivia with wide eyes, before nodding and pocketing the recipe. " _Well, let's go find some clay blocks, then._ " The screen sped up to show them poking around the room, tossing clay blocks down to the center of the floor, before it slowed back down to reveal five clay blocks at their feet.

" _That's weird... there's only six. How are we supposed to finish the design then?_ " Olivia wondered. Jesse's attention, however, was fixated back on the armor stand in front of the stained glass window. Slowly, Jesse moved towards it so that she was standing in front of it, giving it a weird look. " _Um... Olivia?_ " she called back, slowly.

Olivia came back over as well, blinking at the suit on the armor stand. It was a full black bodysuit, with a hood that had purple eyeholes. " _An Enderman suit... either Soren has a rather unique fashion sense or-!_ " Olivia's eyes widened. " _Hold on a second!_ "

Jesse nodded and looked at the much taller stand next to it. " _Looks like a taller one was hanging here, but it's missing... Soren must be wearing it! This is the disguise he was talking about!_ "

"It is indeed," Soren agreed, before running a hand through his already-unruly ginger hair. "I must say, though, it took quite a while to make. The smaller one was the first one, but the taller one is more... realistic."

" _In order to walk AMONG the Endermen, you have to BECOME an Enderman!_ " Olivia exclaimed with a nod, eyes widening.

Jesse's face fell slightly as she seemed to realize something, and looked outside the purple stained-glass window. " _Soren must be conducting his experiment right now... what with the missing suit and all._ "

Olivia's excited expression also fell, her eyes widening as she came to the same conclusion that Jesse had. " _Which means, that if we want to find Soren..._ " The two of them turned to stare at the glass. " _We're going to have to head out there to do it._ "

"You could wait for him to head back," Axel suggested.

Jesse thought about that for a moment, before shaking her head. "I don't think we have time to wait for him to come back. Besides, I doubt onscreen-me is all that keen on the idea. Present-me certainly isn't."

Onscreen, Jesse glanced at the Enderman suit, before back at Olivia. " _Maybe if you tried to go, uh, more 'Enderman', and I put on the suit... we could find him?_ " she suggested.

Olivia looked at the suit, before shrugging and putting a hand on her hip. " _Two sets of eyes are better than one. And we'd have a Plan B- if you got found out, I could just teleport you out of there._ "

"Endermen," Olivia muttered. "Why did it have to be Endermen? Why couldn't it have been- I don't know- giant chickens or something?"

Without another word, Jesse walked over to the Enderman suit. She looked at it for a moment, then down at her extra arms, before wrapping her lower sets of arms around her midriff and sucking in a huge breath. Quickly, she stepped into the suit, relaxing a bit once the suit was above her arms. Even though the suit bulged a bit awkwardly, it at least hid the fact that she had extra ones. She pulled on the gloves and then flipped on the hood, wrinkling her nose a bit before checking to make sure her arms weren't ripping through the suit. They weren't, of course.

Jesse turned around after finishing to see that Olivia had grown several inches taller than she'd already been. Her arms got longer and thinner, hands darkening to jet-black, both eyes turning faintly purple, and her outfit darkening a bit.

The two of them looked at each other for a moment, a tall Enderman with curly hair and a much, much, MUCH shorter one.

" _Someday, far into the future, we'll look back on this and laugh,_ " Olivia spoke, her voice oddly echoing and sounding a little warped.

" _Not any day soon, I can tell you that,_ " Jesse grumbled, making the two girls laugh a bit at that.

" _I've already decided that only Endermen at peace build structures,_ " the recording was still going, " _when agitated, such as yesterday, they don't seem to have any interest in building things. Only... hitting me. With their fists. Repeatedly._ "

This earned a wince from both the two girls onscreen and most members of the audience.

Jesse trotted back quickly to the center of the floor and scooped up the five clay blocks they'd managed to scavenge from around the room as the recording kept talking. " _Meanwhile, peaceful Endermen will move blocks to any spot on and on, until they somehow achieve... satisfaction, and walk away. Clearly, this will required further detailed observation._ " A pause. " _I am so, so lonely._ "

Ellegaard gave Soren a bemused look. "Then why did you never come by and visit? I would've loved to work with you again. And I'm sure Magnus and Gabriel would've liked to see you as well."

Soren blinked at Ellegaard rapidly, as if he might be dreaming. "R-really?"

Magnus shrugged and slapped Soren on the back, ignoring the builder's quiet "Ow". "Of course, man! You're a little weird, but you're still a part of our group, aren'tcha?"

"Yes... it would've been nice to see you again," Gabriel said quietly, patting the builder on the back.

Soren's eyes lit up, a big grin spreading over his face. "That's- that's wonderful!"

Olivia frowned onscreen, thumbing the corner of her mouth. " _How are we going to find Soren? I mean, the suits do look fairly realistic... and we can hardly just go up to every Enderman and ask 'hey, are you Soren?'"_

This made several members of the audience snort loudly.

Jesse smirked at this onscreen as well. " _You're part Enderman. I think you might be able to sense any... discrepancies._ "

"Fancy word," Gill joked. A few seconds paused. "Um, what's a discrepancy?"

Real-Jesse laughed. "Discrepancy means a lack of similarity between two things."

"Oh."

Olivia thought about this for a moment onscreen. " _Okay. That seems pretty legit._ "

The two of them stepped outside, Reuben letting out a soft squeal of fear as Jesse turned around and slowly shut the door behind her.

* * *

 **A/N: DUN DUN DUNNNNN**

 **Lol sorry xD**

 **RQTC: Who's the best writer? Aiden or Lukas? xD**

 **Personally I think it's Aiden. Boredom gives you extremely interesting ideas. Admittedly, Lukas has HAD many more exciting adventures, but Aiden has more time to work on his writing, 'cause, you know... jail...**

 **DynamiteHunter6: I mean, he HAS been referred to as such, so...**

 **EthanDaCabbage: (laughs)**

 **Darkbeast Dend: :3 / It's okay :3 / Glad you like the song!**

 **Kaos Ruin: (laughs) It's surprisingly pretty nice, once you get over the creepy factor.**

 **LunarStarsMoon: (laughs) / (high-five) / (blinks) I... believe you...**

 **S4SH4L4SH4theGaMeR101: Agreed!**

 **AquaK13: De Nile isn't just a river xD / I know, right?!**

 **rebekahtpe: Pillows. They're soft and cushy!**

 **RapidSammi: I'm not going to discontinue it...**

 **Emily The Avenger: (laughs) / Haha, yep xD / Oh, don't worry about it. That happened to me as well xD**

 **pensuka: (laughs) No extra butter, please.**

 **Rabbits rule: No problem!**

 **x.X. A.L. X.x**


	45. Soren

An Enderman came up to the two Endermen, and Jesse tilted her head back to look at it. It slowly leaned forward, getting right into Jesse's face, the spider hybrid stiffening and standing perfectly still for a few moments. The Enderman slowly straightened back up to stare right into Olivia's eyes, the Enderman hybrid somehow staring straight into its eyes evenly.

The Enderman finally wandered away.

Petra- and many other members of the audience, for that matter- let out a long breath that they hadn't even realized they'd been holding.

" _You look for Soren_ ," Jesse instructed Olivia, having to look up quite a significant distance to meet Olivia's eyes, " _I'll see if I can finish the shape. Maybe that'll get Soren's attention_ "

Olivia nodded slowly. " _Good luck_ ," she said, in a much more 'Enderman-like' voice that sent chills up several members of the audience's back.

Real-Olivia scooted so that she was sitting behind Axel.

Jesse wandered into the crowd of Endermen, but the suit apparently worked, because none of them actually looked at her. Still, she maintained a safe distance from them, before coming to a stop, having spotted a clay block. There was only one problem. Tiny, really. An Enderman was holding it.

Jesse slowly took in a deep breath and let it out slowly. " _Well... I need six clay blocks. And this guy's got the only block around._ "

"Uhh," Lukas said slowly, face going perfectly pale, "please tell me you're not about to do what I think you're about."

The girl reached up after a moment and rubbed her temples. " _The things I do to save the world..._ "

"Oh." Soren had turned extremely pale himself. "You don't want to do that- you _really_ don't want to do that."

Onscreen, Jesse went up to the Enderman, which didn't even look down at her. She carefully reached out, still looking up at the Enderman, before taking the block in her hands. The Enderman's head moved so that it was staring at her, and Jesse immediately stiffened. When it didn't react, she slowly began to move backwards at a snail's pace, pulling the block out of the Enderman's unresisting hands.

However, the moment she put it in her pocket, the Enderman started shaking and making angry hissing sounds. Jesse hissed back, but apparently spider hisses and Enderman hisses were different, because it started to screech angrily. " _Oh... damn. Damn, damn, damn, damn, damn,_ " Jesse repeated, her face going perfectly pale beneath the Enderman mask.

"Annnnd she did it anyway," Soren sighed.

"It's not like I can hear you!"

"What made you think it was a good idea to take a block from an _Enderman?!_ " Lukas almost yelled at her, voice rising into a hysterical squeak.

Jesse quickly whirled around and began to walk away rapidly, walking to what looked like a square in the ground, made up of dyed wool and glass panes. It looked like some sort of building grid. Jesse put down a block in the far top right corner, biting her lip as more and more Endermen teleported closer to her, hissing and spitting angrily. " _Ooooh, I hope Soren's watching,_ " she groaned.

"I'm sure you got my attention the moment you took that Enderman's block," Soren replied, faintly grouchily.

Jesse did her best to _quickly_ finish the design, hands shaking in fear, before stepping back, looking at the building grid on the ground. " _Okay, false evidence of Endermen intelligence, accomplished,_ " she said, but it was obvious that she was _terrified_ right now. Real-Jesse didn't look like she was doing much better.

Onscreen, Jesse looked around frantically and spotted Olivia, who seemed to be trying to get closer to Jesse, but she was literally surrounded by Endermen right now, all of them hissing and spitting angrily. It didn't leave Olivia any room to teleport- not unless Olivia teleported right onto Jesse's head. Jesse looked around, spinning in a little circle, eyes widening desperately.

"Tell me when it's over," Olivia squeaked, burying her head in Axel's shoulder. Axel looked at her before patting her on the head and turning back to the screen, twisting the sleeve of his hoodie so tightly that it nearly tore.

" _I am sorry about this,_ " a voice spoke, making Jesse's head snap around in the direction of the voice as another Enderman approached her. " _But it has to look real._ "

Jesse barely had time for her eyes to widen before the 'Enderman' raised its long arm and whacked her right across the head.

There was a short pause before Jesse said, quietly, "Well, _ouch._ "

"I said I was sorry!"

"That looked like it hurt," Lukas spoke up defensively, tightening his arm around Jesse's shoulders.

"I _did_ say it had to look real!"

" _Look_ real. Ever heard of acting?" Jace asked sardonically.

Soren opened his mouth to defend himself, but then the screen switched to Olivia, who let out a screech of horror as Jesse fell to the floor like a puppet with all of the strings cut. " _JESSE!_ " she screamed, strange voice lost amidst the other voices that were screaming rage, and not fear like she was. She looked around desperately, hands shaking, before squeezing her eyes shut together violently, shoulders trembling violently.

And then she bleeped out of sight.

Her feet slammed full-force into the floor, and she tumbled onto the carpet, shrinking slightly, clothes going back to their normal color. Lukas, Petra, and Axel jumped, turning around from their various positions around the room to see Olivia scrambling back to her feet, eyes wide with fear and panic. " _Olivia?_ " Axel asked, sounding bemused. " _Where'd you-?_ "

Olivia caught her breath and practically _screamed_ in fear, " _JESSE GOT ATTACKED BY AN ENDERMAN!_ "

The sound of a door banging open sounded, and Olivia turned to see the door swinging crazily on its hinges and Lukas long gone.

"I ship it!" Stampy shouted randomly.

Jesse threw a pillow at him.

The screen went black. Then, a faint ringing came into effect, and it was as if a pair of doors were sliding open, one going up, the other down. The angle of the camera was sideways, and the two armor stands could be shown, the taller Enderman suit back on the taller armor stand. Obviously, they were seeing through Jesse's eyes.

A pair of legs walked through her vision, and Jesse closed her eyes again, probably in quite a bit of pain.

Jesse winced a bit, rubbing her head absentmindedly. She was NOT looking forward to that.

" _I- I don't think it'll bruise._ "

Jesse's eyes opened again, to reveal Reuben's face only inches from her own. _"Your face, I mean._ "

The screen switched to show Jesse blinking hard and shifting painfully, Reuben letting out a happy oink upon realizing that she was alright, the ringing in her ears fading as she slowly eased herself onto her elbow, looking a bit pale.

" _These suits were built with durability in mind._ "

Looking in the direction of the voice, Jesse saw none other than SOREN, who was kneeling on the ground and looking at the girl with a raised eyebrow.

" _Soren- ow_ ," and Jesse clutched at her head as she sat up too quickly. Soren reached out and set a steadying hand on her shoulder, and Jesse remained clutching her head for a moment before slowly removing her hands from her head. " _Help me. Please,_ " Jesse said plaintively.

" _I just did._ "

Jesse arched her eyebrow at the builder a bit as she slowly managed to push herself into a sort of kneeling position. " _You... hit me. Hard. In the face."_

" _You upset the Endermen, and I got you to safety. By the way, as far as introductions are concerned..._ " Soren's gaze hardened. " _This is not going very well._ "

" _We're in danger,_ " Jesse said, shakily getting to her feet but staggering sideways.

"I hope I didn't give you a concussion," Soren winced upon seeing how hard it was for the girl to actually stand up.

"You didn't." A short pause. "Probably."

" _What else is new? Whatever your issue is, whatever the problem, it has occurred before and been solved before,_ " Soren replied, sounding far from happy.

Jesse steadied herself by pressing her hand to the wall, stumbling a bit and wincing as she held her head with one hand. " _I... doubt the world has been eaten by a Witherstorm before..._ " she grumbled, but quietly.

" _Even so, what do you need me for? I've gone out of my way to avoid these types of problems. I don't even remember what it looks like up there,_ " Soren continued, quietly.

" _Please help me save the world,_ " Jesse pleaded, looking very much as though she was trying _supremely_ hard to resist the urge to sit back down.

Soren still didn't look at Jesse, back facing the spider hybrid. " _How?_ "

" _The Formidi-Bomb._ "

Silence.

" _There's a Witherstorm on the loose, and it's eating the world._ "

" _Ah, I see, you misspoke,_ " and Soren finally turned to face Jesse, his face perfectly deadpan. " _You don't need me. You need my stuff._ "

Jesse blinked onscreen. " _Technically, I need you to_ build _said stuff,_ " she pointed out.

Soren perked up from where he'd started scowling. "Oh. True."

Onscreen Soren was already starting to talk again. " _I found that when you give people what they want, they turn on you. They become resentful. They show their true colors._ "

Ivor and the Order all exchanged a quick glance, before looking back at the screen. Lukas was one of the only people to notice; the other one being Harper.

Jesse blinked at him again. " _Who turned on you?_ "

" _All of them!_ " Soren was glaring at the wall as if it had personally offended him. " _It's why I prefer Endermen. They always do what you expect. Almost to a fault. You're a stranger. And what you're asking for is far too dangerous._ "

Jesse was silent for a moment. She took in a single, slow breath, before beginning to speak again, in an almost delicate manner; as if she were choosing her words _extremely_ carefully.

* * *

 **A/N: I lost some creative freedom writing it in 'Cinematic Mode'... ah well, considering I'm going to publish this version (the slightly edited one) on Archive of Our Own (after the story's over), I can just change it to how I want it then xD**

 **RQTC: How old do you all think I am? I'm actually curious, lol xD**

 **AquaK13: (grins)**

 **Emily The Avenger: (pumps fists)**

 **x.X. A.L. X.x**


	46. (Partial) Family Reunion!

" _I have the amulet,_ " Jesse said carefully, reaching into her pocket and then holding it out to Soren, the builder's back still turned to her.

Soren's eyes widened, but he still didn't turn to face Jesse. There was a moment's pause before he asked, " _What?_ "

" _Gabriel gave it to me._ "

Soren finally turned around to see Jesse with a plaintive look on her face, the amulet held out in his direction. " _Gabriel?_ " he asked, quietly.

Jesse took another deep breath, the amulet dropping back to her side. " _Gabriel asked me to reassemble the Order of the STone._ "

He blinked slowly at that. " _They asked for me?_ " Soren asked slowly and wonderingly. " _I've always known they needed me, but... I never was sure if they wanted me._ "

"Wait, what? Of course we want you," Ellegaard said, poking the builder in the shoulder with an odd look.

He blinked at her again, as if he might be dreaming again. "Really?"

"Yeah!" Magnus leaned over and slung an arm around Soren, having to practically sit on top of Gabriel to do so, the warrior letting out a grunt of complaint at this. "I mean, yeah, you might be kinda wacko, and a little weird, and a bit crazy- well, a lot crazy- well, my- my point is that you're definitely one of us."

Gabriel nodded from where he was now bent over, patting Soren on the knee. "You have always been welcome among us," he told the builder.

Soren just stared at them, gratitude shining in his eyes, before shifting so that he was staring at the screen quietly.

" _It's lonely down here, without your friends,_ " Soren mused.

" _Ellegaard's your friend,_ " Jesse offered, tentatively.

"That was a good idea to go with that," Magnus said, nodding wisely. "Brainy club."

"Yes. Now, can you _please_ get off me, Magnus?" Gabriel asked, grunting again a moment later as he nearly fell off the couch.

"Sure. Scoot." Gabriel quickly obliged, and Magnus slid off so that now he was sitting between Gabriel and Soren. The warrior let out a soft, relieved sound, and rubbed the back of his neck before cracking it.

Soren crossed his arms thoughtfully. " _Hmm, I dunno. Does she ever talk about me?_ "

"I'm not sure I would know. It's not like I know her very well," Jesse pointed out.

Onscreen, Jesse rubbed the back of her neck sheepishly. " _Sure._ "

" _What kinds of things do they say?"_ A short pause. " _Specifically. Give me an example._ "

" _That you were missed,_ " Jesse finally went for, rubbing one elbow awkwardly.

Soren blinked at her in surprise at this. " _Really?_ "

" _Maybe it was more... miss-ing,_ " Jesse continued, slowly. " _You have to read between the lines._ "

" _Yes... yes you do._ " Soren gave the short girl a look. " _But what about you? Are you my friend?_ "

Many glances were sent Jesse's way. Soren, however, was staring at the screen expectantly.

Onscreen, Jesse blinked. This image of Soren grinning and rubbing Jesse on the head with Lukas pouting playfully in the background superimposed itself over the screen. She blinked again, and it was gone, and a small smile came over her face as she nodded. " _Yes,_ " she replied.

Real-Soren's face broke into a grin. Gabriel smirked at him in amusement.

Onscreen, Soren's face also broke into a grin, and he threw his hands up into the air. " _That's the best thing I've heard in years! ... Admittedly, that's not a very high bar."_

Real-Jesse 'coughed'.

 _"Don't worry, I'll help you. That's what friends do._ "

Jesse opened her mouth, breathing in as though she were about to respond, when the door banged open and she jumped and whipped around. Lukas skidded into the room, blue-green eyes filled with panic. " _Jesse?!_ " he practically shouted.

" _Lukas-?_ " Jesse suddenly blinked, surprise filling her eyes, and she turned on her heel to see the ginger Architect.

Soren was _staring._ Like, he was _literally_ staring at Lukas, mouth hanging slightly open, and his eyes were wider than dinner plates. Finally, he swallowed hard, coughed softly, and then said something so quietly that most members of the audience had to lean forward to hear it.

" _Lukas?_ "

Jesse turned to look at Lukas, who was also staring. His blue-green eyes were flicking over the builder, practically drinking in the sight of him as if he'd been a cup of water in a desert. " _Soren?_ " he asked after a few moments' silence, tentatively.

The word had barely come out of his mouth when the builder had Lukas in a tight hug, Lukas's arms pinned at his sides. Lukas blinked, eyes widening, before he slowly reached up to pat Soren on the back. He'd barely done it once when Soren let go of him and held him at arms' length, a big grin spreading over his face. " _It's_ terrific _to see you! And you're so much taller. Wait-_ " and he whirled on his heel, staring intently at Jesse. " _That... Lukas just called you Jesse. Are you...?_ "

Jesse blinked at him, before holding out her palm. A strand of silk shot out of it and slammed into the floor. Soren's grin widened. " _Fantastic!_ " he exclaimed, throwing his arms into the air again.

"Hey, that's like what Blonde Guy did back at the temple!" Magnus exclaimed, pointing at the screen. Milo cleared his throat and gave him a glare before gesturing pointedly at his own hair.

The same thought seemed to have crossed Jesse's mind as well, but it had barely done so when suddenly Soren grabbed Jesse by the arm, and then Lukas, and then yanked them both into a tight hug. Lukas blinked, sharing a bewildered look with Jesse, before his expression softened into a happy smile.

"Awww," Jesse practically cooed at the screen. Lukas rolled his eyes at that, but he had a smile on his face too.

Onscreen, Jesse smiled back at Lukas, just as Olivia bleeped into the room, followed closely by Axel charging into the room himself. Soren released them to look at the new 'guests'.

" _Soren?_ " Olivia gave Jesse a totally confused look.

Jesse shrugged and mouthed, " _Tell you later._ "

Lukas let out a relieved purring sound and tugged Jesse closer to him. She raised her eyebrow at him, but then they widened as Petra came in.

She was _worse._ Her skin was definitely a sickening shade of gray, the bags under her eyes were so dark that they were almost _black._ Her shoulders were hunched over, as though she were trying to curl into a ball while standing. Breathing so labored, you could hear it from ten feet away. Her formerly gold eyes were turning dead black. It looked as though she hadn't slept for _centuries._ Jesse shivered a bit inadvertently.

She looked as though she were going to die.

"Oh my god," Olivia gawked at the screen, "she's _worse._ "

Jace's arms tightened so much around Petra that she actually winced. He let his arm relax a bit, but his hand was still resting protectively on her shoulder, lips pressing into a thin line.

" _Nice to see you, Soren,_ " Petra said in a faint, scratchy voice. She even _sounded_ sick.

Soren's eyes widened. " _Petra?_ " He walked over to her. " _You look... terrible._ "

" _Gee, thanks,_ " Petra rasped, but then her eyes shifted to the side, and they widened.

Jesse looked over her shoulder and then automatically slapped her hand over her eyes with a soft gasp. The screen changed to show there was a single Enderman standing in the dead center of the lab.

" _I thought we were safe in here!_ " Jesse squeaked in fear.

Soren responded, his voice having actually gone a bit higher. " _The Endermen don't_ know _they're being held captive. You can't escape when you don't know you're trapped. But... yeah. This is quite- quite bad._ "

" _Not helping, Soren._ "

Another one teleported in, making the whole group automatically cover their eyes, Olivia raising her hand to shield her non-Enderman eye, in hopes that it might fool them.

It didn't. One of them started screeching in rage, the one next to it started, and then the two began screeching at each other.

"Oh _crap,_ " Jesse said, having turned her head away automatically. She was now peeking at the screen out of the corners of her eyes, as was most of the audience.

" _You've upset them!_ " Soren accused her, although he seemed torn between glaring at Jesse and hiding behind her, " _you've- you've altered their behavior!"_

" _Run. RUN!_ " Jesse exclaimed, the whole group whirling on their heels and rushing for the door without another word. Not that it really _helped_ \- because the moment they stepped into the hallway, she slapped a hand to her forehead and muttered something under her breath that was _surely_ very uncomplimentary. The screen changed to show that the hallway was _crawling_ with Endermen. There were so many of them that dodging around them without getting attacked seemed as likely as finding a needle in a haystack. Which is to say, NOT LIKELY.

"Oh Notch oh Notch oh _Notch_ ," Lukas chanted quietly, arm tightening around Jesse so much that it forced a squeak out of her.

" _I wasn't expecting so many houseguests,_ " Soren said onscreen feebly, although it was very hushed. " _There's no way I have enough seashell soaps for all of them._ "

Lukas glanced at him. " _I can't tell if you're joking or not,_ " he whispered back.

Jesse slowly dropped her head forward into her hands. " _Just this once, couldn't something be_ easy?" she bemoaned in a sotto voce.

* * *

 **A/N: Aww, poor Jesse xD And wow, only two people got the correct age range/age.**

 **RQTC: Winter or Summer?**

 **Summer; we have a much longer summer break than winter break xD**

 **LunarStarsMoon: (grins) / Oh. xD**

 **AquaK13: Haha yep xD / And... nope xD Quite a few years off, actually.**

 **Darkbeast Dend: Nahh, it's cool. / Of course you don't know, that's why I asked what you think xD**

 **Kaos Ruin: Heehee x3 / I know, right?**

 **Idon'tlikecheese: Correct. (confetti)**

 **sailor. mikuchan: 'You Can Find It'. / (laughs) / Correct; but that's a really wide age range, so... xD**

 **S4SH4L4SH4theGaMeR101: Haha! / Umm... nope. A few years off xD / And yep! xD**

 **Slayer88: Two years off xD**

 **LunarStarsMoon: Hehehe xD / That's fine x3**

 **Meow Shadow: (laughs) / Glad you like it so far! And yeah, my 'thing' is... cliffhangers xD / POST POST POSTINGGGG xD / A year or two off, actually, but very close!**

 **SofiaTheWriter88: Lol yep xD / But yes. Yes he is. / Hahaha! xD / And thank you! I'm glad you like it so much.**

 **RapidSammi: (laughs) / Agreee! / Um, two or three years off there, friend xD**

 **Emily The Avenger: Nope! Wrong age range. xD / I know, right? xD**

 **DynamiteHunter6: Really? That's interesting. Why's that? / Correct age range! and yeah, not asking you to divulge x3**

 **EthanDaCabbage: Fair enough :3**

 **x.X. A.L. X.x**


	47. Endermen for Days (I'm So Sorry)

" _Okay, so how are we supposed to get out of here?_ " Lukas hissed- literally. His hair was standing to stand on end as he stared at the Endermen endlessly milling around the next room. " _We seriously need to come up with a plan. And not our- our usual, 'we'll-come-up-with-a-plan-when-we-need-to-OH-WAIT-NOW-WE-NEED-ONE-_ " His voice had risen both in pitch and volume and was as close to a shriek as any of them had ever heard it.

" _Shhhh!_ " Axel hissed back at him, his voice as low as any of them had ever heard it.

"- _kind of plan,_ " Lukas finished, his voice back to a whisper.

"Well, he's right," Magnus pointed out.

"Yes, thank you for pointing that out when none of us can hear you onscreen, Magnus," Jesse snarked back, although it was fairly obvious that she was doing it because her nerves were too shot to do anything else. "That's _so_ helpful."

Jesse glanced back at Soren onscreen, who was staying in the back of the group. " _Soren, you're the one who's been studying Endermen for years... any ideas?_ "

Soren was silent for a moment as he watched the Endermen, before glancing back to Jesse. " _One constant about Endermen is that they hate water. If you could get one of those fountains to overflow..._ " He trailed off thoughtfully before glancing between Jesse and Olivia. " _Jesse, you or... um..._ " His face went slightly slack. " _Lizzie?_ "

" _Olivia._ "

" _Olivia could go._ "

Olivia shook her head a bit, making all of them look at her. " _When I fell into the water in the grinder earlier... well, I didn't really want to say something; it really wasn't that important. But when I landed in the water, it was like I was getting a static shock over my body. It wasn't too bad, but... if we're trying to fool the Endermen, I might have to go more fully 'Enderman' and I'm not sure if it'll actually start hurting at that point._ "

Jesse pursed her lips slightly as the group glanced at each other. " _Okay... gah, just as I thought I'd never have to smell this thing ever again,_ " she sighed, pulling the mask over her head. " _No one better hit me in the face again._ "

Both onscreen and real Soren gave her a rather sheepish grin.

Jesse slowly began to make her way forward again. Petra rasped, " _Good luck_ " before she walked into the room full of Endermen. Glancing around, she watched one Enderman that was watching her carefully off on the side, before turning back to the front- and jumping with a soft gasp as a pair of violet-tinted eyes met hers.

Several members of the audience jumped as well. Olivia's face was buried in Axel's shoulder.

Jesse froze stock-still, staring back at the Enderman, not even daring to blink. She stood there, perfectly still, for almost a full minute, before the Enderman slowly turned away, its back facing her, and then walking away smoothly. The spider hybrid allowed herself a long, quiet sigh of relief, before continuing her journey over to the fountain.

Only to jump, trip over her feet, and nearly fall when Soren called out to her quietly, " _Try not to die._ "

" _Notch-_ damn, _Soren, don't_ do _that!_ " Jesse exclaimed softly over her shoulder, glaring at him with one hand over her heart. She looked as though she could've cheerfully strangled him.

He got the point and shut up.

Jesse tiptoed to the fountain, before quietly beginning to punch through one of the blocks that was keeping the water into the fountain. She let out an exclamation of triumph as water splashed all over the floor, making all of the teleporters hiss angrily and teleport to higher ground, out of the way. She looked around a bit before turning back around to her friends and waving all her arms at them. " _Coast is clear!_ " she called.

Everyone uncovered their face, and upon seeing no Endermen- well, excluding the short one in the water- they tentatively came towards her. Olivia made a face as she started walking through the water herself. " _Oh, gosh, this feels like pins and needles,_ " she remarked awkwardly.

Petra patted Olivia on the back sympathetically.

Jesse peeked into the next room and then let out a groan. " _Aw, I gotta do this TWICE?_ " she groaned at the sight of the next room swarming with as many Endermen, if not _more._

"Oh Notch we're all going to die," Lukas groaned.

"No we're not, Lukas. Think happy thoughts!" Jesse said encouragingly.

"Oh, my bad. Hey, you know what? We're surrounded by Endermen in the End with almost no way out, but hey, we're all gonna be fine!" Lukas said, in a extremely sarcastic mock-cheerful manner (it was pretty obvious he was just doing it out of stress, though), before dropping his hands and giving her a deadpan look. "That better?"

Jesse gave him a disgruntled look for a moment, before flicking him on the forehead and turning back to the screen.

Petra chuckled. Jace grinned, leaning against the taller redhead. She looked at him, before patting him on the head and turning back to the screen.

Onscreen, Jesse started forward with a huff, motioning to her friends to stay behind the wall and out of sight. Reuben looked up at Axel, who was still in plain sight of the Endermen, and nudged Axel. The burly boy had gotten distracted, though, and he toppled into the water with a yelp and a splash.

Real-Axel huffed.

Jesse marched straight to the fountain. " _Okay, fountain number two,_ " she said determinedly, " _prepare to meet your doom._ " And she punched through another block, eyes flicking sideways as she watched the other Endermen, before breaking through the block and sending a wave of water over her feet and all over the floor. The other Endermen shrieked in rage before teleporting to higher ground, like the previous room.

Jesse gave another quick look-around before shouting, " _Okay, everyone, let's go!_ "

Axel opened his eyes, and, upon seeing no Endermen except for Jesse in sight, bolted for the exit. The others were quick to follow, and Jesse raced after them- only to nearly slam full-force into Petra, although at the last second she realized that the group had stopped and applied the brakes, skidding to a halt and falling over into the water. Apparently the shock was a bit too much, because the Enderman suit ripped a moment later.

Jesse winced and pulled the Endersuit off as quickly as she could before kicking it into a corner.

"You know, most girls don't take their clothes off in front of guys unless they're in private," Gill said suddenly.

Real-Jesse's face turned fifty shades of red, and she hid her head in her hands. Lukas coughed a bit, looking _supremely_ uncomfortable now, and even Petra was blushing a bit. Maya grabbed a pillow from behind her and proceeded to start clobbering him with it, her own face bright red. "Gill, would you _quit being so dirty?!_ " she yelled at him, voice rising into a squeak.

Most of the other females in the audience were also blushing heavily now, and Isa had actually hidden her face behind Benedict from blushing so hard. Gill was grinning mischievously though. "Sorry, sorry!" he exclaimed, but he was still cracking up.

"You better be!" Maya yelled at him, before flopping back onto the couch with a huff, face still bright pink.

Onscreen, Jesse looked back up apologetically. " _Sorry, sorry,_ " she whispered, before looking at the group, which was still standing perfectly still. " _What's wrong?_ "

When none of them answered her, Jesse gently pushed her way to the front, and her eyes widened.

The screen changed, and everyone in the audience's face went extremely pale. The wool world was almost literally _coated_ with the tall monsters. The bridges, the 'grass', the 'trees', even some of the other structures. The only place they weren't was in the water.

"Uh oh," Jace said slowly, shifting so that he was sitting mostly behind Petra. She glanced at him before flopping onto him, making him go 'oof' quietly.

Onscreen, Jesse let out a long, slow breath. " _Well,_ " she said, finally.

" _They're_ everywhere," Axel squeaked, his own eyes wider than dinner plates.

" _How are we supposed to get through this? Both physically and psychologically. If we somehow get through this..._ " Lukas shuddered, his hair and ears shivering like a leaf, his tail extremely bushy now. " _I can't say this won't become some sort of recurring nightmare. No offense, Olivia._ "

Olivia was staring at the crowd of Endermen herself, slowly shaking her head. " _None taken,_ " she replied breathlessly.

Slowly, the whole group turned to look at Jesse. Even Soren. And he'd been the leader of the Order of the Stone!

Jesse bit her lip and stared into the crowd of Endermen. " _Hmm... well, most of us are hybrids. I'm not sure Endermen react towards other mobs... at all. So maybe if we tried to go into our more... well, mob-like forms, we could get to the trapdoor? If Petra lent Soren the cloak, he'd be able to make it through,_ " she suggested at last, still staring into the crowd of Endermen.

"Not a bad idea," Petra said from where her head was now resting on Jace's stomach. The mocha-haired boy had to prop himself up on his elbows to actually watch the screen.

The group turned to regard the scene before them onscreen.

Finally, Lukas let out a long sigh. " _Well, it's the only idea we've got._ "

Jesse slowly nodded, a more determined look fixing itself over her anxious expression.

* * *

 **A/N: Ooooh so excited for next chapters (jumps around)**

 **RQTC: Does anyone play Episode Interactive?**

 **LunarStarsMoon: (high five) / Lol yep x3**

 **Emily The Avenger: Correct! / Lol xD / Ahh, I've heard of it. I honestly don't really want to read it... but at the same time I do xD**

 **Meow Shadow: (laughs) Well, I try. / Kewl. :3**

 **Kaos Ruin: I'm a nice person; I don't think it actually ever occurred to me to pick the other option xD**

 **sailor. mikuchan: Yay!**

 **Darkbeast Dend: It's honestly fine, don't worry about it. / Cool!**

 **DynamiteHunter6: Well, she does, but to get the resources she needs to kill all these monsters... and I don't know about you but she probably doesn't want to fight a crap-ton of monsters everyday xD / Nice!**

 **JJ14: I'm honestly not sure how to include it... (rubs head awkwardly) it's more like bromance.**

 **S4SH4L4SH4theGaMeR101: (laughs) Yep.**

 **Emily The Avenger: NO PROBLEM EM! xD**

 **Rabbits rule: Cool! Glad you like the chapters. / (blinks) Um, wow! Thank you! / (blinks) That... sounds more like a fanfiction idea.**

 **SofiaTheWriter88: Yeep :3**

 **Raven: (laughs) I'm glad you think like that... honestly my writing's decent, but it's nothing really amazing.**

 **EthanDaCabbage: Oh! I'm glad you like them!**

 **mEEplePeoPLe: Thank you!**

 **x.X. A.L. X.x**


	48. Water Escape

Jesse shut her eyes onscreen, taking a deep breath. For a moment, nothing happened.

And then, she started to lean forward. She quivered in a slumped-over position for a moment, before suddenly whipping down to the ground, all six of her arms slamming into the ground. The screen switched to show her mouth, where her canines slowly sharpened into tiny fangs. Both eyes started glowing blood red, and her lowest set of arms and her legs began to rotate in an _extraordinarily_ creepy way until the joints locked. It looked as though her lower limbs were doing a crabwalk, while she was crawling on the top four.

"Whoa," Nell vocalized what most people in the room were thinking.

Jesse opened her eyes, blinking slightly, before looking around her at her friends. Lukas was next to her on all fours, teeth gritted and eyes clenched shut. His hands were actually starting to look a little fluffy, and his claws were in full effect. His canines had also sharpened, but unlike Jesse's teeth they were more like tiny needles in his mouth. His hair seemed to have started developing dark, oblong spots, and his ears and tail were twitching in agitation. He opened his eyes to reveal that they were _definitely_ green now. His legs also seemed to have switched the joints so that they were more cat-like, because his knees were bending at an awkward angle.

"Huh," Harper hummed. "I guess switching to a more 'mob-like' form means you take on more of the characteristics of the mob. Including the way their joints move."

Nobody commented on this; their eyes were glued to the screen.

Jesse's gaze switched to a set of feet, and slowly she lifted her head to see Olivia, who was nearly as tall as an Enderman at this point. Her eyes had turned magenta with slits for irises, and more of her body seemed to be jet black, especially her arms and legs. Her clothing also seemed to be darker than it usually was, and Olivia was standing _ramrod_ straight. Her hair also seemed to be straighter, too, if you looked closely.

Axel was nearby, more of his skin starting to turn to a mottled green color. His irises had grown to the size where the whites were lost. He was also on all fours, Reuben perched on his back almost as if he were riding horseback. The only part of Axel that wasn't still mottled green were patches of his face and the very tips of his fingers.

Petra's eyes had turned faintly gold, but the rest of her was still that dull gray color. The Blaze Rods that had formed were gray, and mottled purple, and they were slowly disentegrating as Petra shakily hovered into the air. Even that slight motion seemed to be exhausting to Petra, who looked as if she might pass out any minute now. The spider hybrid stared at her friend for a minute before lowering her gaze to see Soren fastening the cloak on, pulling the hood over his head anxiously.

"With any luck, Petra'll make it to the trapdoor with no problem," Dan said, trying to sound cheerful.

Jesse slowly turned to look at him. "Have we had any luck so far?" she asked him.

"... good point."

Jace hugged Petra anxiously. Petra patted him on the arm, before shooting Lukas a worried look, her usually calm expression fading to one of acute anxiety. He spotted it and gave her a wavery smile, before returning to the screen.

" _Ready?_ " Jesse asked, her voice sounding rather strangled from her new spider-vocal cords. It came out as more of a hiss.

Everyone nodded and hissed, meowed, or at least made an affirming sound that confirmed their agreement. Jesse took a deep breath and started creeping forward, keeping her gaze on the ground. The Endermen were all watching them intently and in almost literally _perfect_ silence.

"This is easily the most terrifying part so far," Lukas said faintly. Everyone had given into the instinct of either covering their faces or looking at the screen out of the very corners of their eyes. Maya had the pillow she'd been using to whack Gill with up to her face.

Everything seemed to be going well, even if only for a moment, and even if the situation they were in was _absolutely terrifying._

At least, it was until an Enderman's screech rang out onscreen.

Jesse's head jerked up and around, and her eyes widened in horror as Petra collapsed to the ground like a puppet with the strings cut, Blaze Rods vanishing on the spot. Her eyes were half-lidded and no longer that faint gold; they'd reverted back to black.

"PETRA!" several members of the audience shouted. Jace had a death grip on the redhead.

The Endermen immediately around Petra were starting to screech angrily, more and more of them taking up the call as Petra thudded onto the woolly ground, not even making much of a sound.

" _PETRA!_ " Jesse shouted onscreen, her strangled voice rising into more of a human tone. Suddenly, her limbs rotated back to their normal position, the fangs retracted, and her right eye went back to green.

"Ah, crap," Jesse muttered, thumbing the corner of her lip anxiously. "I must've lost focus when I panicked."

Olivia bleeped into sight next to Petra, having also reverted back to normal- she must've also panicked upon seeing Petra- and scooped the redhead up, before giving off a shiver as _ice_ started forming on the Enderman hybrid's arms.

" _Into the water!_ " Soren yelled, and everyone leapt in without any hesitation, even Olivia, who flinched upon landing in the water. The water around her was starting to freeze over, a thin layer of ice forming on the water.

"Oh Notch oh Notch oh Notch," Olivia chanted, having buried her face into Axel's shoulder again. Axel had also covered his eyes, Jace had his face buried in Petra's back, and Lukas had a hand over his eyes.

"I can't watch!" Maya yelped, putting the pillow back up to her face. Aiden aimed a kick at her shin.

" _We have to-_ " Olivia winced, barely able to keep Petra's head above the water. " _We have to get out of here!_ "

Jesse swam over and took ahold of Petra, although her eyes widened a moment later as she flinched in the cold. She was starting to shiver rather harshly as well.

"Wait, don't spiders die if the weather is too cold?" Cassie asked suddenly.

Jesse groaned and covered her face.

" _Oh!_ " Soren exclaimed onscreen. " _When I built this place, I was worrying about how flammable the building material is. So I built a fire suppression system to keep the whole place from going up in flames._ "

The cold was definitely affecting Jesse in a bad way, because she looked as though she were about to pass out, and she took a good five seconds to respond. " _So... there's more water?_ " she asked, beginning to sink below the water. Axel quickly reached out and pulled Petra away out of her unresponding hands, shivering a bit himself. He opened his mouth, as if he were about to fire a barrage of questions at Jesse, before shutting his mouth again. He seemed to have gotten that now was not the time to do so, thank Notch.

" _Much more!_ " Soren exclaimed, pointing at a tower with waterfalls pouring off of it. " _If we activate it, we could disperse all these Endermen while getting to safety. The lever's right up there."_

Jesse shook her head furiously, clearing it, before raising a hand and firing a string at the tower. It caught, and Jesse gave her wrist a good, harsh flick. She went flying out of the water, before slamming into a waterfall, sending water splashing all over the wood and nearly getting washed off. She quickly scrambled to get a good grip, before racing up the side of the tower and flipping the lever with a single, hard hit. " _Okay, I have no clue how much water this thing's gonna kick out, so-!_ "

She got cut off rather abruptly as a huge wave of water slammed her off of the structure, the wool world filling up as the water level rose rapidly but steadily.

Jesse took a deep breath just as her head went under. Petra shook her head out of the stupor she'd fallen into, blinking slowly and dazedly. She looked as if she had no idea where she was.

Both Jesse and Lukas swam over to the redhead as ten bubbles and ten hearts appeared in the top left of the screen. Jesse grabbed her left arm, Lukas took the right, and the group quickly swam towards the trapdoor along with the others. No Endermen were in sight, having all started teleporting away the minute the water level had begun to rise.

Soren went through, then Olivia, who was moving rather sluggishly with her expression pinched up in pain. Then Reuben swam through. Then Axel.

Jesse's bubbles dropped at an alarming rate, until there were only three bubbles left.

Two.

One.

"Oh Notch," Lizzie gasped, hand up to her mouth. She wasn't the only one; the rest of the audience looked as if they were all holding their breaths in concern.

Jesse's hand grazed the trapdoor just as the bubbles ran out, and she gave her head a hard shake, jolting herself back to reality, and kicking it open, she shoved Petra through first. Lukas swam in a bit behind her, and Jesse dove through the trapdoor, slamming it shut behind her.

The screen blacked out.

Petra let out a relieved sigh and sat back. "Thanks, Lukas, Jesse. Sorry about..." She directed the last part at Jesse, but the black-haired girl shook her head.

"No, don't worry about it. If I was the one sick with Wither Sickness, you would've done the same for me."

Maya sagged into the couch cushions with a loud "whew". "That was _way_ too close for comfort."

Lukas absentmindedly placed a hand over his heart, arm still wrapped around Jesse. "Tell me about it."

* * *

 **A/N: Whew! This was fun to write.**

 **But oh noes! What's gonna happen next?**

 **OMG 9000 READS (well, over...) AAAAAAHHHHHH**

 **RQTC: Has anyone actually ever said you're not Soren's friend when playing? If so, what does he say?**

 **Slayer88: Fair enough x3**

 **LunarStarsMoon: (laughs) / (falls off the chair due to shouting) Ouch...**

 **S4SH4L4SH4theGaMeR101: (grins)**

 **rebekahtpe: True xD**

 **Rabbits rule: Okay xD It's just that a lot of or most fanfiction's descriptions go 'What if' so.. yeah xD / ... um... no xD I did not know that.**

 **Darkbeast Dend: Cool :3 / Lol I love FNaF xD I've watched people play it so many times that I've memorized the behavioral patterns xD so it's not scary at all anymore.**

 **sailor. mikuchan: (grins evilly)**

 **KaosRuin: I know, right?**

 **LittleAngelbun: (looks at the ceiling)**

 **SofiaTheWriter88: Aww, thanks!**

 **EhtanDaCabbage: Never mind :3**

 **IShipMagnegaard: Oh, lol, totally forgot about that xD Yes I'm still doing that; but we're still two episodes off.**

 **mEEplePeoPLe: That is why I only have it online. My parents don't bother going online to read it haha xD**

 **DynamiteHunter6: 1) Jesse (she's easiest to write for), 2) Lukas (he's also easy to write for), 3) Aiden (I'm actually not sure why haha xD), 4) Ivor (he's awesome), 5) Umm... I dunno, Reuben? (He's so smol lol xD)**

 **Emily The Avenger: Lol, yep xD that just popped into my head randomly and since he enjoys teasing Jesse and Lukas... xD**

 **x.X. A.L. X.x**


	49. Break

Jesse let out a yell as she, Petra, and Lukas were all thrown from the End portal, all landing in a rather large heap on the floor.

The audience all winced sympathetically.

Lukas's hair was dripping into his eyes again, but he quickly climbed off of the pile and shook all the water off, making Axel flail in protest as water showered all over him. Jesse quickly rolled off of Petra and started to work on swatting the thin layer of ice that was forming on Petra off. Olivia helped as well, although she kept making spastic flinching motions and accidentally hitting Petra harder than she meant to, but Petra just stayed silent about it.

Once all the ice was off, Jesse let out the most relieved sigh they'd ever heard in their lives. " _We made it,_ " she gasped in relief.

" _Making it is relevant,_ " Soren replied, spitting out a mouthful of water onto the floor.

Jesse turned to see what he was looking at, and then her eyes widened. " _Ahhh, crap. Forgot about that._ "

The screen zoomed out to show that the room was practically _crawling_ with monsters. And all of said monsters were slowly approaching the group. Some more tentatively than the others, like the creepers and spiders. But they were all approaching.

"Oh. Yeah. I completely forgot about that," Sparklez said slowly, rubbing the back of his neck sheepishly.

Jesse whipped out her sword and slashed at the nearest zombie, killing it in three well-placed hits. She then threw herself backwards and did a crab-walk to avoid a few arrows, before whipping back upright and slamming her sword full-force into another zombie. " _Not that this isn't fun or anything,_ " she called out to Soren, ducking behind a wall of the archway as more arrows came spitting through, " _but can we just grab that Formidi-Bomb and get_ out _of here?!_ "

" _One... small problem,_ " Soren remarked, drawing his own sword and fending off a zombie. " _Tiny really._ " He slammed the butt of the sword into its face, before driving the sword through its body and making it puff into smoke. He looked up at the black-haired spider hybrid. " _Miniscule._ "

" _Get on with it, Soren!_ " Jesse exclaimed, flipping the sword in a smooth motion and driving it through another zombie's body.

" _... I haven't actually built it yet._ "

Both onscreen and real Jesse and Lukas looked at each other incredulously.

" _That's a small problem?!_ " Jesse shouted to the builder.

" _How is that a tiny problem?!_ " Lukas complained, " _that's a_ huge _problem!_ "

Soren let out a nervous chuckle, expression becoming more thoughtful, before his eyes lit up.

Jesse arched her eyebrow at him. " _I recognize that spark in your eye; but I don't remember if it's the 'I have a great idea' spark or the 'I have an idea but you should probably run away before I blow you all to smithereens by accident' spark._ "

This prompted several laughs from the audience. Soren ducked his head sheepishly when the Order sent him significant looks.

" _You two are people who appreciate cool stuff that's cool for no reason, right?_ " Soren asked the two of them, choosing to ignore Jesse's comment. Jesse and Lukas shared another panicked look, before Lukas stooped to grab a bow and arrow from the floor and shot a zombie that was approaching Petra, whose hands were shaking so hard that she was about to drop her sword. Jesse turned back to look at Soren.

" _Sure._ "

Soren jerked his head at the inside of the archway. " _Go ahead and throw that lever behind you._ "

Jesse peeked over her shoulder to see that, yes, there was a lever on the wall. Jesse shrugged and flicked her wrist, sending a string sailing at the lever. Smacking the lever, the force from which she'd just 'thrown' it was enough to flip it.

" _Hold onto your socks,_ " Soren called as the screen switched to show the monster infested room. Pumpkins fell from the ceiling and landed atop Ts of iron blocks, " _'cause they're about to get blown off!_ "

The iron blocks of each individual T shivered into an iron golem, leaving six iron golems in the place of the Ts, as well as small shards of iron and dust all over the floor. " _Go to work, boys!_ "

Axel blinked onscreen. " _Holey cow._ "

One of the golems raised its arms and literally smacked a zombie out of the room. Another one kicked a skeleton into the wall, where it exploded into smoke and bones, and a third took ahold of a zombie by the leg and brought it down on the floor, making it explode into smoke, dust, and rotten flesh. A spider jumped at another golem, which casually caught the spider and then tossed it over its shoulder as if it were nothing more than a wad of paper. The fifth one held a zombie as though it were some sort of bizarre, rotted baseball bat, and hit the spider with it, sending it flying at another group of monsters and bowling them all over.

"Awesome!" Gill cheered.

" _Okay,_ " Jesse's face developed a smirk, " _THAT is cool._ "

" _No kidding,_ " Lukas agreed, nodding at the scene in front of them.

Hadrian hummed a bit but didn't actually say anything.

A skeleton backed away as two iron golems advanced on it, before both of them slammed a fist into it at the same time, sending the skull of the skeleton soar across the room and bounce across the floor once, twice, thrice, before clattering to a stop at Soren's feet and then puffing into dust. Soren winced a bit, before all of them ducked as a zombie went flying over their heads and straight into a wall. Another skeleton met the same fate as the zombie, bursting apart on impact and scattering bones all over the floor. Another zombie tried to escape, but one of the six golems knocked it facefirst to the floor.

" _Eeeeyikes,_ " Olivia winced a bit sympathetically.

Jesse suddenly blinked, as if a thought had occurred to her. " _When... those golems are done with the monsters,_ " she said, tentatively, " _they're not going to attack..._ us, _right?_ "

Soren looked at the five hybrids and pink pig, before shrugging. " _Ask me no questions, and I'll tell you no lies._ "

"He doesn't know, does he?" Cassie asked flatly.

Soren became extremely interested in the episode.

" _Um, that didn't actually..._ "

Soren's head snapped back around to the front. " _Ask me no questions!_ "

" _Speaking of asking questions,_ " and everyone turned to look at the creeper hybrid. He turned to Petra calmly- and then grabbed her by the shoulders and started her shaking her so hard you could practically hear her brain rattling around in her hand. " _WHAT THE HELL HAPPENED IN THE END?!_ " His voice had risen into a near-hysterical screech. He looked as though he might actually be on the verge of a massive panic attack.

"Axel!" Stacy exclaimed. "You could seriously hurt her; her Wither Sickness-!"

"He doesn't know that. He just knows that something's wrong with her," Dan said, looking as though he was turning pale. "He might _actually_ end up hurting her..."

Jace swallowed and tightened his arms around Petra.

Onscreen, Jesse and Lukas let out twin shrieks and bolted over to Axel, Jesse wrapping all six arms around the burly male and yanking him away from Petra automatically, while Lukas yanked Petra to safety, hair starting to stand on end. " _Axel, Axel, don't!_ " Jesse yelped, " _you don't shake a person like that!_ "

Axel stood there, gulping in breaths of air in an attempt to calm himself down, while Petra held her head in pain. " _But what_ happened?!" he squeaked, both in fear and in anger.

" _Petra's got Wither Sickness,_ " Lukas said automatically, before his eyes widened as he realized he'd just told and putting a hand to his mouth.

Petra reached over and patted Lukas on the back. "They would've found out eventually. It was just a matter of time."

Onscreen, Petra's head snapped up and around to look at Lukas. " _You know about it?_ " she asked, sounding surprised.

"I'm not sure onscreen-you sees it like that," Stampy said, quietly.

Lukas's hand was still covering his mouth, but his eyes flickered to Jesse automatically.

Petra's gaze darkened, and her head snapped around to glare at Jesse, betrayal playing in her eyes. " _You_ told _him?! I thought I told you not to tell anyone!_ " she snapped, before dissolving into a coughing fit. " _I thought- you promised!_ " she managed through her coughing fit, glowering at Jesse.

The spider hybrid simply looked away. " _Sorry,_ " she said quietly.

" _You promised- you said you weren't going to-_ " Petra dissolved into a more acute coughing fit, but the intensity of her glare didn't abate in the least.

" _Sorry,_ " Jesse repeated again, even more softly than before.

Petra's eyes seemed to flash even more angrily than before, and she'd taken three steps forward and-

 _SMACK._

Real-Jesse's eyes widened, and Petra turned to stare at the girl with a shocked look. Everyone was gaping at the sight of onscreen-Petra just having slapped Jesse full in the face, the spider hybrid's head having actually snapped to the side from the force of the impact. Lukas wrapped his arms around Petra in a tight hug from behind and pulled her away a few steps to keep her from slapping Jesse again. Jesse didn't say anything or even flinch, she just reached up almost absentmindedly to touch her reddening cheek, her red and green eyes nearly blank.

"Oh Notch," Petra said slowly, gaping at the screen. "I just slapped you. I just _slapped_ you." She turned to look at Jesse, apology in her eyes. "I- I didn't-"

Jesse just put a hand up, staring at the screen blankly. "It's fine," she said quietly, although one finger was still absentmindedly fingering the bruise on her cheek.

" _Petra, what the heck's gotten into you?!_ " Lukas exclaimed in shock, Petra still thrashing around and trying to get out so she could hit Jesse again.

" _No, she's right,_ " and everyone looked back at Jesse again, who was looking at the floor. " _I shouldn't have told you, Lukas. I did technically promise not to tell, after all..._ "

"Petra's expression relaxed until an expression of embarrassment came over her face. " _I'm... Sorry, Jesse. I don't really know what came over me just now,_ " and she reached up and rubbed the back of her head sheepishly.

Jesse shrugged slightly. " _That's okay._ " There was a moments' pause, before she finished, in a slightly lower volume, " _It's my fault, anyway._ "

* * *

 **A/N: Oooh, Petra just slapped Jesse! Le gasp 0-0 But, next chapter'll be fun, too :3**

 **...**

 **TEN THOUSAND VIEWS.**

 **WE HAVE ACHIEVED OVER TEN THOUSAND VIEWS ON THIS STORY.**

 **LIKE HOLY CRAP, PEOPLE!**

 **RQTC: Iron or gold?**

 **Iron. It's more durable than gold, so it's more useful (ugh, after playing through Episode 7 I shudder a little bit every time I see the word 'useful' xD)**

 **Emily The Avenger: (laughs) Glad to hear it.**

 **SofiaTheWriter88: (cracks up)**

 **Darkbeast Dend: (shrugs) / Um... yeah, that is a really personal question...**

 **LunarStarsMoon: I'm honestly not surprised that you didn't xD**

 **S4SH4L4SH4theGaMeR101: Well, it's true though xD**

 **TheLadyIanite: Oh! I'm glad to hear that! :3 Welcome!**

 **Rabbits rule: xD / Uhh... no. You should not have gray skin if you're cold.**

 **KaosRuin: 0-0 Weird...**

 **sailor. mikuchan: Nothing. (looks at ceiling innocently)**

 **RapidSammi: (le gasp)**

 **rebekahtpe: You have done a bad! xD Nah, I'm kidding. I got the game when it first came out (a few days after October 13th, 2015). / (laughs) / Silver necklace; I look weird with gold xD**

 **DynamiteHunter6: xD yep**

 **x.X. A.L. X.x**


	50. Hopeful Memories

**WE HAVE REACHED CHAPTER 50! Man, we haven't had this type of updating magic since the original Hybrid. Onto the story!**

* * *

There was a very long, very uncomfortable silence in the room, except for the Iron Golems wandering the room in search of more monsters, thankfully ignoring the hybrids.

Real-Petra winced and leaned over to look at Jesse. "I _really_ am sorry about hitting you."

Jesse shrugged a bit, although her gaze was fixed on the screen blankly. "It's fine. I might've done the same thing in your position."

Lukas looked down at the shorter girl, before squeezing her shoulders gently and returning to the screen himself.

" _You guys hear that?_ "

Jesse turned to look at Axel with a bemused look on her face. Besides the stomping of the golems, there wasn't any sound to hear in the big room. " _Hear what?_ "

" _All that stuff,_ " and Axel took on a jokey, ghost-y voice, " _'Take me, take me now'._ "

A faint smile came over Jesse's face as her lips unwillingly twitched, and she finally gave up and giggled a bit, rolling her eyes as she looked back up at the many minecarts still zooming around above them.

" _I think it's saying 'Olivia should get to take more than Axel,'_ " Olivia joked along as well, doing her own ghost-y voice, " _but why? 'Because she's cooler.'_ "

Real-Olivia playfully shoved Axel. He playfully pulled her head into a gentle headlock and gave her a noogie, making the girl laugh and try to bat him off.

Onscreen, Petra smirked a bit in amusement.

" _Aw, c'mon, loot,_ " Axel joked, frowning playfully at the stuff around him and crossing his arms, " _I thought you and me were tight._ "

Jesse rubbed her head awkwardly. " _Well, if Soren says it's okay, I suppose it couldn't hurt to take a couple of things,_ " Jesse said, shrugging slightly.

" _I'll just fetch the super TNT,_ " and everyone turned to look at Soren, " _it's right up there._ " He pointed to a spot above the archway, where a platform with three chests was sitting. There wasn't a staircase or ladder to get up to it, though.

Jesse looked from Soren to the chests, a bewildered look coming over her face. " _Erm, do you need me to shoot a web up there, or...?_ " she asked, trailing off in confusion.

" _No need._ " The iron golems jumped onto each other's shoulders, creating a 'golem ladder' of sorts. Soren climbed up them, reaching the platform extremely quickly.

Magnus shook his head at the architect sitting next to him. "A normal ladder is just too good for you, huh?" he asked. Soren grinned sheepishly at the Rogue.

"Actually, I just ran out of wood."

Mevia let out a bark of laughter upon hearing that.

The architect looked back down at the hybrids, who were gaping at him in amazement once again. " _Oh, and feel free to help yourselves._ "

Axel pumped his fists in the air, making Isa stifle an unwilling snort at that.

" _Just make sure you keep an eye out for the gunpowder we'll need to make the Formidi-Bomb,_ " Soren finished, before going back to rooting through the chests on the platform.

Jesse followed Lukas and Petra into a corner. The moment they reached the corner, Petra leaned against the wall and slumped down to the floor, Lukas easing her into a sitting position with wide eyes. Instead of the angry energy she'd had only minutes ago, she now looked as if she'd just gotten shot or something.

Jesse knelt down a bit so that she was on more of an eye-level with Petra, putting her hands on her knees. " _Are you..._?" she trailed off, as if she weren't sure of what to say.

Lukas looked at her sadly. " _It's gotten really bad._ "

The faintly cheerful atmosphere that had settled over the audience evaporated. Petra's amused smile from Axel and Olivia's little 'who should take more' joke fell.

Jesse looked back at Petra, who had started staring at the floor blankly. Lukas continued, sounding extremely anxious, " _Part of me is hoping, that when we bomb the Witherstorm, the sickness will just... dissipate._ "

"I'm sorry, but..." Harper's mouth set into a grim line, and Ivor glanced at her. "I'm... not sure it works that way."

Petra lifted her head slightly and gave Jesse a weak smile. " _That'd be nice, huh?_ "

After a second or two, she let out a low groan and let her head hang again, squeezing her eyes shut as if she was in a good deal of pain. Lukas looked down at Petra, eyes shining with worry. " _It- it makes sense, right?_ "

Jesse was silent for a moment, before moving so that she was next to Petra and wrapping her arms around Petra in a tight hug, chin resting on the taller red-haired girl's shoulders. " _We can hope. And we will hope,_ " she said quietly, blinking hard. Petra didn't answer, but she slowly wrapped her own arms around Jesse, and the two of them sat there, entwined in a hug.

Petra glanced over at Jesse, who had also started looking at Petra. Their eyes met, and Jesse stared at Petra for a moment, before giving a small smile. Petra returned it, and they returned to watching the episode.

Jesse finally released Petra onscreen and started smacking at the ice beginning to form on her clothing, arms, and even a bit of her hair, trying to get it off. Upon getting most of it off, she looked back up at the two of them.

" _Fingers crossed, right?_ " Lukas made a frail smile.

Jesse returned it. " _Toes, too._ "

The black-haired girl got back up and wandered away. She went over to the nearest chest and flipped it open, reaching in and rummaging around before pulling out two pieces of gunpowder. She gave it a look, before shutting the chest and moving around the rest of the room, finding a bit here, a couple there, and soon, she had eight pieces of gunpowder in her hands, doubling up on her uppermost set of arms.

"Alright, there you go," Soren said encouragingly. "We're getting somewhere!"

Onscreen, Jesse put all eight pieces in her pocket, before blinking. She reached in again and pulled out the red leatherbound book.

"Oh, man!" Dan exclaimed, sitting up rapidly, "I kinda forgot about that."

Jesse looked around the room, seeing that Lukas and Petra were still in the corner, Axel was just kind of standing around, and Olivia had pulled out a... fishing rod, for some reason. She slid down the wall and flipped it open, Reuben squealing and trotting over to her. She quietly started reading aloud, one finger tapping the spine of the book absentmindedly.

" _'Ivor hasn't actually come in a while. At this point in time, Jesse has started 'cycling through' with each of us, but it's rather obvious that she'd prefer to be with Ivor. Why, I have no idea. Ellegaard said she was going to convince him to start coming regularly again. I'm not sure how she's going to do it, but better her than me. I'm not actually very good at being... social._ '"

The Order was starting to giggle. Soren huffed and blushed a bit.

" _'Lukas is actually getting quite good at crafting, too. He's not_ terrific _with a sword, but he's extremely good with the bow and arrow, surprisingly. I suppose since his eyesight is god, he has pretty good hand... paw-eye coordination. ~ Soren.'_ "

Jesse flipped the page. " _'Since we're visiting on a nearly daily basis now- we do need time to ourselves, after all, and the children are good for relaxing. Even if Magnus and Axel occasionally blow the room up everyone two weeks-'"_

This prompted a round of giggling from the audience. Jesse had her hands up to her mouth and even Aiden looked as though he were fighting back a smile.

"' _I_ _finally convinced Ivor to come with us once a week. And... by convince',"_ Jesse came to a stop, a very funny face creeping over her lips as she read the next part of the passage, before slowly continuing, _"'I mean I slapped him full across the face and yelled at him for twenty minutes._ '"

Magnus _completely_ lost it, falling off the couch with a bellow of laughter. Ellegaard was shaking so hard that she was actually clutching at her chest to try to breathe, and Gabriel had his face buried in the arm of the couch as he tried to keep from laughing. Soren was making a very odd face that seemed like he was half-grinning and half-choking. Ivor blushed and scowled a bit as the rest of the audience's laughter grew more acute. This just prompted even MORE laughter.

" _'Jesse's been extremely quiet lately, usually sitting in her own little corner and reading one of the potion books Ivor keeps leaving, but I don't think she finds it quite as fun without Ivor there. Notch knows why she likes him so much. ~ Ellegaard.'"_

Another turn of the page.

"' _Ivor FINALLY came with us today, and holy Notch you should've seen Jesse jump on him, she was so happy.'"_ Moment's pause, where Jesse's grin grew even bigger.

" _'No, I mean she_ literally _jumped on him. Anyway, he stammered out some sort of explanation that he'd only be able to come once a week unlike the rest of us, but she really didn't seem to care. She just looked like it was Christmas or something. Axel was grinning too. When I asked why, he said it was because one of his best friends in the world was happy, so he was happy too.'_ "

Jesse made a teasing cooing sound and poked Axel in the cheek. "Awww," she cooed.

He smacked her hand away, but he was grinning anyways.

" _'I teased him and asked if she was his girlfriend. He smacked me. ~ Magnus._ '"

Jesse exploded, falling over onto the floor in a fit of laughter. Olivia had buried her face back in Axel's shoulder with a cackle of laughter, Petra and Jace were hugging each other as they tried to keep from following Jesse's lead and toppling to the floor in their own little fit of laughter, Axel was blushing but cracking up, and Lukas was crying with amusement. The rest of the audience wasn't doing much better, either...

Onscreen, Jesse giggled a bit at that, before she heard a clicking sound and looked up from the journal. Axel had pushed a lever, and a bunch of minecarts rolled out, going around a small bend and coming to a stop in front of a long tunnel of redstone tracks.

" _Huh,_ " Jesse hummed at the carts, getting back to her feet and slipping the journal back into her pocket.

Soren climbed down from the platform, down his Golem-ladder. Jesse walked over to him. " _I think I've got all the gunpowder,_ " she told him.

" _Glad to hear it,_ " Soren grinned at the spider hybrid, " _oh, and, Jesse, I am_ so _sorry for not keeping this place as organized as I should. It's very embarrassing."_ He reached into his pocket and pulled out the Super TNT. " _And this is my Super TNT._ "

Jesse looked at it admiringly. It glowed faintly, a shimmering aura over it that was the only hint that it was different from any other old TNT block.

"That is actually... really beautiful, actually," Jesse hummed thoughtfully.

Mevia nodded. "Yes, it... really is," she said, arching one eyebrow at the screen.

There was a short pause.

"Albeit in a very dangerous way."

"True."

" _Ooh,_ " Axel said admiringly, coming over and standing a little behind Jesse, who was a good three feet away from the block. " _Can I touch it?_ "

" _No, Axel,_ " Olivia said, sounding and looking faintly amused, " _all of us would die if you or Magnus came within three feet of it._ "

This set the audience off again.

" _Isn't Super TNT the Formidi-Bomb?_ " Petra questioned, her brow wrinkling slightly in confusion.

" _Of course not!_ " Soren exclaimed. " _They're two completely different words, aren't they?_ "

The whole group blinked at him.

* * *

 **A/N: Listening to Badlands while writing this (it's the Crown Mesa soundtrack).**

 **RQTC: You all know the portal network, so... Best portal they've been through so far?**

 **My favorite one so far is the one with all the sheep in the hallway. That was funny xD**

 **LunarStarsMoon: (shrugs) / Yeah... / True :3 / Thank you! I didn't either lol xD**

 **Emily The Avenger: I think you might be 'behind' at my school, actually; this year a lot of freshmen are going straight into Algebra 2 xD (don't worry, though, I'm 'behind' as well) / (laughs)**

 **Kaos Ruin: Yes, I can- I can see that 0-o**

 **MissyMattingly: :3**

 **Darkbeast Dend: (laughs)**

 **AquaK13: Uhh, I dunno xD / Yep... / Lol! / Yep, iron's the best.**

 **Rabbits rule: (hums) Don't worry, I do some of those things too. / Hahaha! xD / Uhh.. no. No it is not.**

 **S4SH4L4SH4theGaMeR101: Yep. xD It is, though, that's totally accurate.**

 **SofiaTheWriter88: Same to you, friend! :3 And yep... slap.**

 **RapidSammi: (sits there for a moment) (shrugs)**

 **sailor. mikuchan: (hums)**

 **DarkPrincess2001: (reads review three times) (realizes what you mean) Oh! ... no spoilers. xD**

 **rebekahtpe: Diamond sword. I like axes but I'd be more careful with a sword, so I'd be less likely to injure myself by accident xD**

 **LittleAngelbun: (gives you a chapter)**

 **x.X. A.L. X.x**


	51. Run Away, RUN AWAY!

" _So, then,_ " Jesse broke up the awkward silence after about a minute, " _what IS Super TNT then, exactly?"_

" _Well, it's just another one of my... marvelous Impossible Objects."_

Jesse gave Soren a deadpan look, before pointing at the TNT while still staring at Soren. " _If it's impossible, how'd you make it in the first place?_ "

Axel scratched his head a bit, making Jesse glance at him. " _I feel like you're a lot more sarcastic nowadays, Jesse._ "

"Yeah, you really don't look like you have it in ya," Magnus said, glancing from the screen to Real-Jesse. She blinked at him innocently.

She shrugged onscreen. " _I used to not be. Then I learned from the master,_ " and she glanced at Petra.

Real-Petra smiled sheepishly as everyone started giggling at that. Onscreen-Petra looked rather amused by this as well.

" _Remember, Jesse,_ " Soren said, lips twitching as if he were trying not to laugh at the banter (which was probably the case), " _I killed the Ender Dragon. I do impossible things everyday._ "

Ivor's faint smile fell, and he shot a glare at the ginger. The Order carefully avoided his gaze.

Jesse held out a handful of the gunpowder she'd stuffed into her pocket and arched her eyebrow. " _So, do we just combine it with the gunpowder, then?_ " she asked, waving the handful around a bit.

" _Well, the crafting recipe is quite simple, really. Super TNT in the middle, and gunpowder all around,_ " Soren gestured slightly at the TNT, being very careful not to wave the arm holding the Super TNT too much.

Jesse smiled and nodded as she reached out for the TNT. " _Got it._ "

Soren jumped back out of reach, a panicked look crossing his face. " _No! No no no! The ingredients are_ highly _unstable. Even putting them in close proximity with each other is a risk._ "

"Oh," Otto scratched his head. "That's..." He paused, as if trying to figure out the right word for what he was trying to say, mentally grasping for the appropriate word. "... inconvenient, isn't it?"

Soren nodded. "Quite."

" _Oh, okay..._ " Jesse stepped back and put the gunpowder back in her pocket again, her own faintly panicked expression crossing her face as she put her arms up in surrender. " _Well, we- we may not have the Formidi-Bomb yet, but at least we have the ingredients to build one. Progress!_ "

 _"I feel like doing jazz hands when we say that. Like, 'progress'!_ " And Lukas did said jazz hands.

The blonde huffed as everyone started giggling at that, a pink tint coming over his cheeks.

Onscreen, Jesse rolled her eyes with a giggle at that, and Petra gave her head an admonishing shake. " _Lukas, you are a dork,_ " she declared playfully, although she still sounded faintly sick. Everyone grinned at that, both the hybrids and the audience.

Lukas acted affronted, putting his hands on his hips. " _Hey!_ " he joked.

Before anything more could be said, Jesse gasped, smile dropping right off her face, and slapped her hands over her eyes. Everyone whirled around to see what she was looking at, before gasping themselves and clapping their own hands over their eyes. The screen changed to show that an Enderman had abruptly appeared in the other room, magenta sparks still floating down to the floor. Immediately most of the audience turned away with a yelp, at least attempting to cover their eyes.

Soren tsked softly. " _Oh. Oh dear. I was afraid of this. With the End underwater, the Endermen will try to escape._ "

" _Could've mentioned that before!_ " Lukas hissed, his hands still covering his eyes and his now-very-bushy tail flicking around and hitting everything in a three-foot radius.

"Yeah, that- that would've been nice," Stacy said, hands over her eyes.

" _Well, what are we supposed do?_ " Jesse squeaked. " _I don't think we're going to be able to outrun them or anything; they can TELEPORT for Notch's sake!_ "

Soren's eyebrow furrowed at that for a moment, and he remained still before his eyes practically lit up. " _Of course..._ _of course!_ " He pointed at the minecarts that Axel had brought out only a few minutes before, rather dramatically. " _To the minecarts, everybody!"_

The whole group immediately bolted for the minecarts, more and more and _more_ Endermen teleporting into the room after them. Despite this fact, Soren had a grin on his face, for some reason.

"Why's he grinning?" Dan wondered.

" _I've been waiting ages to say that..._ "

"Oh."

Soren glanced back at Jesse and Lukas, who happened to be the nearest people to him. " _To people, I mean._ "

Onscreen, Lukas nearly tripped and landed flat on his face at that. Real-Lukas had 'coughed' for a few minutes, smothering his mouth. When he removed his hands, though, he was still grinning. Jesse was having a little silent giggling fit, having buried her face in Lukas's shoulder. Jace was biting his knuckles in an attempt to keep himself from laughing.

It must be said that it really wasn't working.

Everyone quickly leaped into the minecarts. Reuben jumped in first, then Jesse, then Olivia teleported into the cart, then Lukas leaped in, Axel nearly fell into the cart headfirst by accident, Petra glided into hers with this perfectly _exhausted_ look on her face, and Soren hopped into the last one. The force of the impact of landing in the minecarts started to move the minecarts along the track, as more and _more_ Endermen appeared in the room behind them.

Reuben poked his head over the rim of the minecart curiously as the wheels inched forward at the redstone-activated, glowing tracks. The moment the wheels touched the red tracks, he zoomed forward down the tunnel.

"Wow!" Maya exclaimed.

Jesse looked at the tracks herself, before all six of her hands tightened on the minecart rim. A moment later, her own cart practically rocket-launched forward, throwing the girl back a bit in the cart. " _Whoa!_ " she exclaimed, before the minecart hooked up with Reuben's and the two of them were racing down the tracks.

Next came Olivia, then Lukas, then Axel, and then Petra. Soren's minecart had just joined up with the whole train when an Enderman's screech rang out in the air, and not even a full second later, the door slammed shut behind them. The whole tunnel fell silent except for the sound of the minecarts racing along down the tracks.

" _That- that was close,_ " Petra panted out, hands tight on the cart rim.

" _Now, all we gotta do is find a way to get the bomb into the Witherstorm,_ " Lukas said after a moment, panting a bit, " _shouldn't be- too hard, right?_ "

"Don't you dare jinx it," Petra warned him.

"What are you telling _me_ that for?! Onscreen me can't hear you!" Lukas complained, spreading his arms out expansively.

Olivia nodded in agreement onscreen. " _It's not a picky eater. We could just stick it in the tractor beam and it'll eat it itself. And then... boom! Bye bye, Witherstorm._ "

The whole group was starting to nod at this comment when Axel suddenly screamed, " _INCOMING!_ "

Jesse whipped around to see the opening of the tunnel. The sun was setting and-

"Ah," Stacy said, deceptively calmly. "That might be a problem."

There was a creeper on the tracks.

Reuben squealed and covered his eyes with his hooves, right before the carts slammed into the creeper and catapulted their riders into the air, scattering all over the ground. Jesse let out a yell as she flew into the air, doing a slow, almost lazy flip in the air, before slamming onto her back, bouncing, and coming to a stop a few feet away, panting heavily. A moment passed before she slowly sat up, grimacing. " _... ow..._ "

The audience winced sympathetically at that.

A spider scurried past her. Then a creeper. Then a zombie and another creeper. Jesse blinked at this as she watched them running in the other direction.

"Are the googlies... running _away?_ " Stampy asked, blinking in bewilderment.

" _There you are!_ "

Jesse's eyes lit up, and she whirled around to see the redstone engineer holding a sword, the Rogue also standing next to her with his own stone sword. Magnus grinned at her. " _So glad you could make it!_ "

Real-Ellegaard breathed a sigh of relief at seeing them alive.

Jesse ran over to them as Axel literally _lifted Magnus off the ground_ in a hug and Olivia bleeping over and throwing her arms around Ellegaard in a fit of excitement. Grins and laughs were exchanged, and Jesse let out a relieved laugh. " _I'm so glad you're okay! I thought Ivor was coming to get you or something!_ " she called to them as she drew level with him.

Ellegaard blinked at her. " _Ivor? We haven't even see him!_ "

"I guess that's a bit confusing for them," Cassie mused. "They didn't even know Ivor was there."

Another monster came rushing past Jesse, making the whole group flinch back automatically, before Soren spoke, making everyone automatically turn to look at him.

" _You don't have to worry about the monsters. They're running away._ " Soren raised his arm slowly and pointed, face ashen with fear. " _Worry about what they're running away from._ "

Jesse turned to see, before nodding and saying, " _Ah_ " very quietly.

Because there, in all of its three-headed glory, was the Witherstorm.

* * *

 **A/N: Short(er) chapter. I trieeed xD**

 **RQTC: Who's checked out my story Tower of Minecraft? Be honest (Lenny face)**

 **LunarStarsMoon: I hardly ever change anything xD so those typos are gonna be in there forever and ever xD xD xD**

 **S4SH4L4SH4theGaMeR101: Hahaha yeah xD**

 **MissyMattingly: x3**

 **AquaK13: (cracks up)**

 **LittleAngelbun: x3**

 **sailor. mikuchan: The only thing that I can think of that being a reference to is Silence of the Lambs, but I haven't watched that... so...**

 **KaosRuin: Glad to hear it xD**

 **SofiaTheWriter88: (hums thoughtfully)**

 **DynamiteHunter6: (laughs)**

 **EthanDaCabbage: Nice, dude! Also, glad to hear the chappie made ya laugh xD**

 **Emily The Avenger: (blows one of those noisemaker thingies)**

 **RapidSammi: (laughs) Okay, that's a pretty good reason.**

 **Darkbeast Dend: :3**

 **Rabbits rule: (evil grin) xD I like wolves. xD Sorry, random, I know. / By the way, quick things about rabbits, when you're in high school and you're planning a senior prank... ... do not release 200 rabbits into the school.**

 **rebekahtpe: I'm planning on writing a story of each journal entry once this is done xD As a bit of an 'extra' story xD Uh, flint and steel. I can just set them on fire, like you said, and then run away while they're stopping, dropping, and rolling xD**

 **Guest: I have no tacos, sorry xD**

 **x.X. A.L. X.x**


	52. Is It Over?

" _I... feel like it got bigger,_ " Axel said onscreen slowly, staring in the direction of the Witherstorm.

Olivia nodded, her mouth hanging open slightly. " _It... must be like the Great Devourer in that cartoon Jesse liked to watch a while back."_

"Hey, I like that too!" Jace exclaimed. Jesse grinned a bit and reached out to high-five the mocha-haired boy.

" _The more it eats, the bigger it gets. And so far, it hasn't really shown signs of being a picky eater._ "

She was nearly cut off by Ellegaard's quiet question. " _Soren?_ " she asked, slowly.

The two Order members put their swords away as they stared at Soren, tentatively approaching him, almost as if he was just an apparition.

" _It's him!_ " Magnus exclaimed as they stopped only about arms' length away, staring at him intently. " _I-it's you!_ " Obviously, he was addressing Soren on the second part.

Soren stepped forward a bit himself hesitantly, slowly giving the two Order members an almost shy, worried smile. " _Hello, old friends._ "

"It's a shame Gabriel couldn't be there as well," Soren said quietly, the other two Order members glancing at the warrior. Gabriel took in a small breath, as if preparing to ask her something, before pausing and turning away again, his mouth pressing into a thin line as he stared at the screen.

Before anything else could be said, both onscreen and in real-time, an ear-splitting roar rumbled through the air, making everyone onscreen clamp their hands over their ears until it abated. Soren's shy smile immediately faded into a more serious look. " _It's time to go,_ " Soren said, more urgently this time, " _we only get one shot at this. Remember, once the Formidi-Bomb is crafted, it'll explode in a matter of seconds._ "

There was a grave silence as the information sank in, before Soren continued, in a more quiet voice, " _It means whoever is doing the crafting... will be in great danger._ " Another short, awkward pause. " _I was hoping... perhaps we could draw straws?_ "

Everyone looked at each other silently, the chaos in the background seeming to fade away. None of them seemed to want to say no outright... but none of them seemed to want to go, either. After a moment, everyone looked at the three Order members. Soren looked away, rubbing his elbow. Ellegaard shuffled her feet and looked down at her feet. Magnus developed an interest in the sky. A few more moments passed.

" _I never wanted to be a hero._ "

Everyone's heads snapped around. The screen switched to show Jesse with every single set of her arms crossed, a hard look on her face. " _I never wanted to be a hero,_ " she repeated, " _but I'm willing to do the heroic thing._ "

"Jesse, if that means what I think it means-" Petra's warning was cut off as onscreen-Jesse took a deep breath and shut her eyes, bracing herself, before turning to Soren, red-and-green eyes blazing and iron-hard. " _I'm going to set off the Formidi-Bomb._ "

" _Jesse!_ " Real-Petra yelled at her. Not that she was the only one; several of the younger members of the audience had also blown up at her in anger, and the older ones were all gaping at her. "What the _heck_ are you thinking?!"

"Every minute we stand there like idiots is another minute wasted! We can't afford to waste time with that- that _thing_ a stone's throw away!" Jesse shot back.

"Why does Jesse have to do it?" Gill complained. "You're the Order of the Stone, you defeated the Ender Dragon, you're the greatest heroes that ever lived...! So why does..."

He trailed off. Maya picked up the thought herself, "Why does Jesse have to do it?"

The Order all exchanged a rather shamefaced look. Finally, Soren sighed. "That's a difficult question with no good answer."

" _Jesse!_ " Onscreen-Axel burst out, " _you- you could die!_ "

Jesse's expression was a bit anxious, before it set, and she looked up and gave him a small, sad little smile. " _I know. I'm not all that excited about it. But I've got to do this._ "

Axel opened his mouth to protest onscreen, but Jesse turned away to face Soren again, the builder coming closer. For a few seconds, the audience thought he was going to try to talk her out of it, even going so far to open his mouth, but Jesse cut him off. " _Soren, I've made up my mind. You're just going to make something that's already hard for me to do even harder. Just give me the TNT._ " And she held out her hand, waiting.

The audience all glanced from Real-Soren to Onscreen-Soren, as if expecting him to try anyway. Onscreen-Soren stood there for a few more seconds, his mouth still slightly open, before he shut it again. After another moment's silence, he set the Super TNT block into her hand, meeting her eyes. " _We... the rest of us... we'll build distractions in its path. Hopefully it will buy you some time,_ " he said, in a shaky voice.

Petra coughed into her hand, giving the two Order members a glare. " _You should be ashamed of yourselves._ "

There was a long pause where both of them looked at the floor, before Ellegaard looked back up and stepped towards Jesse. " _Jesse, take my armor. It'll help._ "

Everyone's eyes widened both onscreen and in real-life. Ivor blinked in surprise before looking at the Order's couch automatically, seeing his own surprise mirrored on their faces. Ellegaard's had softened into a smile.

A moment later, not to be one-upped by Ellegaard, Magnus stepped forward. " _Nah, you can take mine. It's gotten me out of a lot of jams._ "

Ellegaard stared Jesse in the eye. " _I insist._ "

" _I double insist._ "

" _I triple insist._ "

" _I... insist four times._ "

" _Quadruple."_

 _"Know-it-all."_

 _"You say that as if it's a bad thing."_

Jesse put up her hand, looking a bit overwhelmed and effectively cutting off both Order members, before hesitantly moving to stand in front of Ellegaard, giving her a worried look.

" _Jesse, you deserve this. What you're doing means WE'RE ALL GONNA DIE!_ "

Both onscreen-Jesse and most of the audience jumped at that.

Jesse blinked at her in shock, before something seemed to click in her mind and she whirled around on the spot. The Witherstorm was pretty much hovering in _front_ of them by now, and they all quickly fled back a bit. Ellegaard quickly yanked off the armor and tossing the pieces to Jesse to show her wearing a brown suit underneath.

Jesse grabbed the pieces and threw them on as she received them. The chestplate, the pants (oh... wow, that sounded a lot less wrong in my head), the boots, and yanked the gloves on in record time. As it was, when she had the chestplate on, she looked at it for a moment before wrapping her arms around her midriff, sucking in a huge breath of air, and squeezing into it.

"If there was a trophy for 'shortest time for putting on armor with four extra limbs'," Jesse spoke, in a frail attempt to make a joke, "I would've just won it in a heartbeat." This did get a few chuckles, but most of the audience's attention was transfixed to the screen.

The screen changed to show Jesse shaking her head and looking slightly off to the side, fully armored up in Ellegaard's armor.

Ellegaard hummed thoughtfully, tilting her head to one side. "Hm. It suits you," she said, after a few seconds.

Jesse winced a bit and put one hand to her ribcage area, before letting her hands down again.

" _Jesse, you're going to have to set down a crafting table out there and make that Formidi-Bomb!_ " Soren almost shouted urgently onscreen, " _everyone else, grab a buddy and split up. We need to keep that Witherstorm on track, so build, build, build!_ "

Olivia groaned as she rushed over to Axel. " _Oh,_ NOTCH, _she actually has to put down a table?!_ " she nearly shrieked, sounding extremely panicked right about then.

"That," Otto said, pinching the bridge of his nose and looking as though he had a migraine, "is _incredibly_ inconvenient."

" _Less talking, more making sure none of us die!_ " Jesse yelled, grabbing a crafting table into her hands and bolting towards the Witherstorm.

" _Jesse, don't forget!_ " Soren yelled after her, " _Super TNT in the middle, gunpowder all around!_ "

Jesse turned back to nod at him, before turning back around. Right then, she flung herself sideways as a tentacle whipped over her head from where she'd been a few seconds ago, smashing some trees out of the ground, roots clinging to the dirt, leaves flying, branches snapping off from the force of the blow, and sent it flying away who knew _how_ far.

The spider hybrid rolled over a few times, before scrambling back to her feet and racing towards the Witherstorm at breakneck speed. Finally, she skidded to a halt right underneath the gigantic, cloud-like monster. " _Ohhh, I hope this works,_ " she groaned.

She slammed the crafting table onto the ground, dropped the Super TNT in the middle, and then began to put the gunpowder in place. She was doing it so fast, and her hands were shaking so hard, that it was honestly a little surprising to the audience that she wasn't dropping the gunpowder all over the floor.

Just as the last one was placed down on the table, another deafening roar rang through the air, and an indigo glow covered Jesse, the crafting table, and the ingredients on the table. Gravity took a vacation, and everything floated into the air.

"No!" Lukas yelled, a death grip on the girl next to him.

" _Not good, not good!_ " Jesse nearly screamed as she floated into the air. The Super TNT and gunpowder had started to shiver together a moment before, but now the pieces were floating away from each other into the tractor beam. " _Not yet!_ " she screamed at the Witherstorm, as if it could hear her or even cared. " _Not yet!_ "

She let out a hiss of anger, squeezing her eyes shut, before slowly swimming through the air and snagging one of the stray pieces of gunpowder. " _Okay, okay. I got this. I got this!_ " she practically chanted, hands shaking again.

"Jesse, if you die, I swear to Notch I'm going to bring you back to life just so I can kill you again!" Petra nearly yelled at Real-Jesse.

"I feel like she'd find a way to do that," Jace said to Lukas, Jesse nodding in agreement.

"She's Petra."

"Good point."

Jesse spun in midair slowly, snagging another piece of gunpowder and using her fingers to bat it into reach. The moment she had a secure grip on the second piece, she quickly flailed out of the way as a _tree_ lazily floated past her, watching it as she started floating towards the Witherstorm's mouth. She wrinkled her nose and clamped a hand over her mouth. " _Ugh- burned cake and rubber-_ not _a good combination,_ " she muttered, seeming to suppress her gag reflex.

Jesse reached out a moment later, pulling a last piece of gunpowder into her hands, before reaching out and catching the Super TNT in her hands, looking anxiously from the bomb to the gunpowder. " _Oh, please, please, PLEASE don't blow up..._ " she groaned.

"Ah, yes. I nearly forgot about that," Mevia murmured.

Jesse swam back down to the crafting table, spotting the others finishing up what looked to be a Reuben with sunglasses. A moment later, she gasped in shock as a black tentacle lashed out, flying at the others. " _LOOK OUT_!" she screamed.

The tentacle smacked into Ellegaard and Magnus, sending both of them flying. Magnus smacked into the base of the statue with a groan, but Ellegaard was sent flying back at a tree.

The screen suddenly went into slow motion. Olivia bleeped into sight behind Ellegaard, catching the redstone engineer from behind, before getting knocked off her feet by the impact and flying at the tree herself. She squeezed her eyes shut, before she disappeared in another spray of magenta sparks.

Suddenly, the screen sped back up, and Olivia bleeped into sight again several feet away, the two of them toppling to the ground and rolling several feet before coming to a halt. Olivia slowly sat up, wincing. Ellegaard followed suit a moment later, much more slowly and shakily.

Both Olivia and Ellegaard breathed a relieved sigh.

Onscreen, Jesse's teeth gritted, and both eyes were now blazing _red_ with fury. She was mere meters from the Witherstorm's mouth now, as she turned back around to face it. " _Mess with my friends,_ " she said, in a quiet, intense, furious voice, " _and I will_ destroy _you._ "

With that being said, she moved more quickly than they'd ever seen her move, EVER, setting down the remaining TNT and gunpowder. The ingredients shivered, before condensing together with a small 'pow' and a momentarily bright light.

When the light faded, what remained was what looked like a normal TNT block, but with a dark purple-gray color rather than the customary bright red. There was also a glowing, shimmering F on each side of the TNT block. Simply crafting it seemed to have demolished the crafting table, which was proven a moment later as it floated into the Witherstorm's mouth in several pieces.

"She's literally got a few seconds before it explodes!" Soren shouted, "if she doesn't get that into the Witherstorm, this whole thing will have been for nothing!"

Jesse took exactly half a second to admire it, before taking ahold of it and drawing her arms back like a bowstring. " _Hey! Eat this!"_ she yelled at it, before shoving the Formidi-Bomb right at the Witherstorm's mouth.

The Formidi-Bomb floated almost lazily towards the beast's mouth, when suddenly something snagged the back of her armor.

Jesse went "hmm?" in surprise and turned around to see Axel, Lukas, Petra, Olivia, Magnus, Ellegaard and Soren hauling on a fishing rod, the same one Olivia had been looking at in Soren's treasure room. She must've ended up taking it.

Reuben was jumping up and down in an excited fervor next to them, and Ellegaard looked as though she had a hand clamped over her chest and ribcage area in pain, and was favoring one leg more than the other.

But she was alive.

Jesse let out an incoherent cheer as they reeled her back towards the ground, away from the huge monster, as the Witherstorm's middle head opened to slowly grant the Formidi-Bomb entry. It floated inside.

Just as the jaw closed over the bomb, a massive blast of white light suddenly sent Jesse flying towards the ground from the force of the explosion. Her back slammed into the ground, and she seemed to bounce off, the screen abruptly going black.

"Did... did she do it?" Cassie asked, sounding breathless.

Jesse's voice suddenly spoke onscreen, fading away even as she spoke, making the audience fall silent with the truckload of tension that had started permeating the room.

" _Is it over?_ "

* * *

 **A/N: There will be some _slight_ changes made to the original Hybrid story; most of them being around this part. I think I've mentioned this before, actually xD Easily one of the longer chapters of the story so far.**

 **RQTC: Who has read Ranger's Apprentice? I may be making a crossover x3**

 **MissyMattingly: Most of the storyline is explained throughout the actual story, so you shouldn't need to actually read Tower of God xD and hm, interesting idea.**

 **Kaos Ruin: (works on the next part of the story; which I've decided to change a bit from the original Hybrid.)**

 **LittleAngelbun: (laughs) Okay, you do that.**

 **S4SH4L4SH4theGaMeR101: (laughs) / And did you like it?**

 **LunarStarsMoons: (laughs) / ... what does Tower of God have to do with... paranormal stuff..? (confused) / (laughs) It'll take a while, since I'm trying to work on finishing this one first.**

 **Emily The Avenger: (laughs) I know, right? / Nope. / Aww, thanks for including HCM on the list!**

 **AquaK13: (laughs) / You don't have to know the series to get the story; you just have to keep reading. A lot of stuff is eventually explained throughout the story. xD**

 **Rabbits rule: Uhh, no, the reason isn't because they'll take over the school... it's because... well... bunnies have a lot of... sex... so basically you'll have... humping... rabbits everywhere in the school.../ I'd tickle them and make them laugh more xD I like it when people laugh and are happy. And if they weren't ticklish, I'd just poke them in the cheek over and over. xD / No... no, I'm not a stalker. I just guessed from the way you format and write your reviews. I trust everyone too, don't worry xD / (looks at my new pack of wolves) Um... you do realize my parents are allergic to animals, right? xD / (goes and pets Jess)**

 **sailor. mikuchan: (grins evilly)**

 **Darkbeast Dend: (laughs) /** **Uhh, I've... never read it, and I don't know where this fanfiction is... soo... (rubs head awkwardly)**

 **RapidSammi: Hahaha! Sorry, Sammi-chan x3**

 **SofiaTheWriter88: Lol, that's true.**

 **rebekahtpe: Yay! / Don't worry, I ain't planning to. xD / YES! / No, my English teacher did. / A butter knife. It's a knife but it's still dangerous. (If it's a matter of life or death, aim for the eyes. If ya can't see well, ya can't attack well.)**

 **Guest: I was working on a card for my grandmother yesterday xD**

 **DynamiteHunter6: Really? Wow, I'm flattered! / Harry Potter, Rangers Apprentice, and anything that Rick Riordan has written.**

 **x.X. A.L. X.x**


	53. It's Alive!

The first thing that the audience could hear was this insistent, faintly irritating ringing sound.

The screen came back on to show Jesse flat on her back, almost sleepily blinking up at the sky. She slowly pushed herself up to a sitting position, blinking slowly again. It switched to show Axel, Olivia, and Lukas kneeling in front of her with concerned looks. Axel's mouth was moving as he asked something, but the only thing that was audible was that ringing sound.

Behind them, a black tentacle hit the ground with this muffled thud that could be heard faintly through the ringing, Lukas turning to look at Axel as his mouth moved in response. Another thud, and the top part of the Witherstorm hit the ground. The head bounced up and down for a moment, the indigo eye completely dark and mouth hanging open slightly.

"We did it," Jesse said slowly, before a relieved grin came over her face. "We did it!"

Cheers went through the room. Axel and Lukas high-fived, and Petra literally flung her arms around Jace, knocking the both of them to the floor in her excitement. Not that Jace seemed to care; he seemed just as excited as she was.

" _Is that it?_ " Axel's voice slowly came into focus, the ringing coming to a stop. " _Is it over?_ "

Jesse got to her feet, all of her friends following her lead, as she pulled off the chest plate. Her lower arms all relaxed from where they'd been wrapped around her midriff, giving a slow, almost luxurious stretch. She looked around at the wreckage surrounding them. A few trees were on fire, but Jesse's attention was focused on the Witherstorm's ginormous corpse. A part of its rib cage was showing, purple guts splattered over the ground, as it sat in the middle of a huge crater.

" _I can't believe it,_ " Olivia gasped, staring at the thing in a sort of muted shock. " _I can't believe it's actually dead._ "

Lukas let out this relieved laugh, whirling back around to face Jesse again, ears flicking a bit. " _You_ did _it, Jesse! You actually did it!_ "

Magnus laughed himself, more boisterously. " _Handled like a champ!_ "

" _About time we got a real win,_ " Axel's grin was practically splitting his face open. Reuben came running up to Jesse and butted his head against her legs insistently. Jesse grinned and set the chestplate down, which Magnus picked up and went to go return to the redstone engineer, and rubbed the pig's head.

She looked up at them a moment later, a big grin spreading over her face. " _Thank you all for- for saving my life back there."_

 _"You would've done the same for us,"_ Lukas replied, grinning at her.

Ellegaard smiled at Jesse from where she was standing nearby. " _Good... good... work, Jesse..._ " She suddenly winced and staggered sideways, Olivia quickly moving to the redstone engineer's side and easing her to the ground.

Real-Ellegaard's smile faded a bit in worry.

Jesse's eyes widened, and her smile fell right off her face. She leaned forward to look at Ellegaard, concern crossing her face at the sight of Ellegaard's hands clamped resolutely over her side, and her left leg that was twisted at a slightly odd angle. " _What's wrong?_ " she asked, brow furrowing in concern.

Olivia grimaced. " _I don't know... I mean, I knew that she hurt her leg, but..._ " The Enderman hybrid trailed off, staring at Ellegaard so intently that the redstone engineer actually dropped her eyes from the girl's intense gaze. " _Move your arm._ "

" _What?_ " Ellegaard asked evasively, hand still remaining clamped over her side.

" _Move your arm. You've been holding your side for like five minutes now. Off. Shoo. Move,_ " Olivia replied, making a vague shooing motion at Ellegaard's arm.

Ellegaard slowly obliged, easing her hand off of where it was firmly clutching her side. Immediately, Jesse gasped and her hands went straight to her mouth.

The audience's eyes all widened in shock.

A dark stain was starting to spread on Ellegaard's side, staining the brown suit she was wearing. Ellegaard's hand dropped to her side, slack as she stared at the red blood that was staining it.

" _Oh Notch,_ " Olivia's hand went to her own mouth, the spider and Enderman hybrids exchanging a worried look. " _The Witherstorm must've done more damage than we realized..._ "

"At- at least she's still alive, right?" Lizzie said bracingly, sounding as if she was scrambling to find something positive to say. "If she'd hit that tree, she could've died."

"It's a good thing Olivia caught her, then," Milo said, glancing at the dark-skinned girl.

Ellegaard's eyes widened, and she looked at Olivia with a grateful look, eyes sparkling with tears. "I... thank you, Olivia. I owe you my life."

Olivia returned the smile, although it faded a moment later as she turned back to the screen anxiously.

Jesse's brow furrowed and she muttered something under her breath darkly. Everyone in the audience would've been perfectly willing to bet that it was some sort of swear word. " _It must've been strong enough to do some real damage to Ellegaard..."_

" _I'm... fine,_ " Ellegaard managed, " _r-really._ " She swayed unsteadily a moment later, breath hitching in pain.

"Like hell you are!" Dan exclaimed as he turned to look at her, "you're _bleeding!_ And we don't know how heavy the internal damage is."

Gabriel shook his head at Dan. "If there's anyone more stubborn than Magnus, it's Ellegaard. She'd say she was fine if someone had just stabbed her in the heart."

Ivor huffed slightly and shook his head. "You have no idea. One time, she got a fever, and refused to bother any of us because of it?" He raised a hand and put his fingers so close together that they were nearly touching. "We were _that_ close to losing her."

"Ivor nearly had a heart attack, he got into such a panic," Soren contributed.

Onscreen, Soren quickly set a hand on her shoulder, keeping her from simply falling over. " _Y-you're just going to have to hang on for a bit,_ " he said bracingly as he tried to keep Ellegaard from swaying or falling over. " _We'll get you to a potion stand or something as soon as possible, and you'll be as good as new._ "

" _Yes, that sounds good,_ " Ellegaard replied, but the audience got the feeling that she was simply saying that to appease him.

"You're going to be fine," Jesse said firmly, everyone looking at the black-haired girl from where she was now glaring at the screen. Her voice wavered when she spoke again. "You are going to be-" Her breath caught, and for a moment, she gasped silently, trying to keep herself from breaking down in tears. "You are going to be perfectly fine."

For a moment, nobody said anything. Finally, Ellegaard sighed and stared at the screen, hands tightening into fists on her lap. "I hope so."

There was a moment's silence, where everyone was staring at Ellegaard in concern and seemingly unsure about what to do.

Suddenly, there was a gasp.

Everyone turned to see Petra, who was sitting on the ground only a few feet away, gaping at something behind the group. Jesse turned to see what it was herself, her eyes widening.

The screen switched to show people wandering away from the Witherstorm's violently demolished corpse. They staggered, some crawled, some looked as if they were confused, some looked totally lost, a few looked as if they were shell-shocked. But they were alive.

They were all alive.

"They're alive?" Stampy gasped. "That means that Gabriel could still be alive!"

Jesse's eyes lit up. "And Aiden, Maya, and Gill!" she exclaimed, sounding excited. "Everyone- they could still be alive!"

" _All those people... they're alive!_ " Jesse let out a relieved sort of laugh, turning back to everyone. " _We've got to go help them!_ " She gave her friends a quick look. " _I'll go help the people who might be trapped- you just help whoever comes over here!_ "

Everyone nodded, Olivia carefully easing Ellegaard back so that she was leaning against a tree, before Jesse turned around and dashed towards the carcass, Reuben galloping after her at full speed. The two of them dodged around a giant tentacle that draped over the ground limply. Running over, she heaved a tentacle off a man who was trapped beneath it, and helped him to his feet. " _Get to safety. There're people over there that can help you,_ " she said earnestly, pointing back in the direction she'd come from.

The survivor's eyes roved over her six arms and red eye, but he slowly nodded. " _Thank... thank you. Thank you,_ " and he began to limp after everyone else.

Hopping down into the crater, Reuben let out a snort and galloped off. Jesse jogged after him, coming over to another survivor and helping him up as well. " _You're going to be okay. I promise,_ " she said, giving him an encouraging smile.

The man looked over her extra arms, but he nodded shakily. " _I... thank you._ "

Jesse nodded again and moved through the maze of the carcass of the Witherstorm, before coming to a halt, eyes widening in surprise.

The screen switched to show Gill struggling to push a tentacle off of him.

"He's alive!" Maya nearly shrieked, jumping to her feet in excitement. Gill let out a relieved sigh, slumping back into the seat.

Jesse raced over to him and shoved the tentacle right off, before helping him up to his feet. " _Don't worry, Gill. It's all over now. My friends and I are going to help you._ "

Gill looked up at her. His eyes were an odd color as they narrowed at her for a moment, before squinting his eyes shut and putting a hand to his head. " _I... I hope you're right. Thanks._ " Without another word, he moved off in the direction she'd come from.

Jesse watched him go for a moment, before making her way even deeper into the carcass, covering her nose with a wince at the smell. Her head looked around as she looked around for survivors, before she turned a corner. She stopped in her tracks, eyes widening. " _No._ "

"No?" Isa's brow furrowed. "What's wrong? What do you mean?"

The screen switched to show, sitting on a lump of flesh and bone as if it were a sort of pedestal, was the Command Block. It wasn't sporting a single crack. Not even a scratch. It looked perfectly immaculate.

The audience all gasped in horror.

" _What?_ " Stacy gasped. "But- the Formidi-Bomb- was supposed to destroy the Command Block!"

Soren's brow was furrowing as he stared at the screen. "I don't understand," he said hollowly.

" _No,_ " Jesse repeated, stumbling backwards and hugging her elbows, " _No! Th-the Command Block- that's impossible!_ "

Reuben let out a squeal of agreement, tilting his head at the block.

" _I don't... understand,_ " Jesse said, gaping at the block and unknowingly echoing Soren, " _Soren said the Formidi-Bomb would destroy it, but it looks... fine._ "

The Command Block suddenly flickered to life, sparkles of pink, green, yellow, purple, every color of the rainbow lighting up the block. " _Guys!_ " Jesse yelled, whirling around, " _over he-!_ "

She was suddenly jerked off of her feet by an invisible force, lifting into the air, the sparkles that had surrounded the Command Block now surrounding her, circling her, pulling her closer and closer to the Command Block, as if they were some sort of tractor beam. Reuben let out a loud, panicked squeal.

"No!" Lukas's arm tightened around Jesse, Reuben hopping into the girl's lap with a squeal and Jace throwing his arms around the girl, Petra joining into the group hug by accident as she toppled against Lukas. Axel's fists tightened as he scooted closer to the group, making Olivia scoot aside herself and reach out blindly, grabbing ahold of Jesse's forearm and tightening her grip around it.

" _No!_ " Jesse screamed, thrashing to break free desperately but to no avail. She fired a string as the sparks made their way into her vision. A sort of dizzying, miasmic swirl began to come over her vision, making the screen dizzying and almost... hypnotizing.

The string skidded off the ground.

" _No,_ " Jesse repeated, but more dreamily this time. Her eyes dulled carelessly as she tried again, the string flopping limply to the ground this time. It was as if she'd stopped caring. " _No... somebody... help..._ " Her entire body went completely limp as she stared blankly.

"No no no no no no," Lukas practically chanted, wrapping his arms around her chest and nearly making her gasp in pain. "Not Jesse, _not Jesse-!_ "

Onscreen, a hand shot out of nowhere and closed on Jesse's wrist.

Jesse jolted back out of it, thrashing her head in a furious shaking motion to clear it, before looking up in confusion. Her eyes widened as she realized who it was. The screen changed to show Gabriel hauling back on her arm, slightly oddly-colored eyes narrowed in determination as he hauled her backwards.

Gabriel.

 _Gabriel!_

"He's alive!" Sparklez shouted, sitting forward in excitement and almost knocking Cassie and Winslow to the floor in his excitement.

A moment later, Jesse had thrashed her way free of the sparkles, and knocked them both to the ground. Jesse scrabbled to her hands and knees, gaping in pure shock at the warrior. " _I thought you were dead!_ " she blurted, staring at him, " _I- I_ saw _you-!_ "

Gabriel put a hand to his head, Jesse scrambling to get a handhold to help him up. His eyes drifted aimlessly over Jesse's extra arms, over her worried face. " _I... what... what happened here?"_

The ground rumbled, a strange sound beginning to emit from the Command Block. " _I'll explain anything you want,_ everything _you want, just not right now!_ " Jesse nearly screamed, panic rising into her voice and making it an octave higher. A second later, she spotted something out of the corner of her eye.

The head moved.

Impossibly, the head of the Witherstorm moved, the ribs shifting and moving to fix itself again, the sky darkening, a loud thunderous growl thundering through the air, a growl that meant certain doom.

A growl that meant that the Witherstorm was still alive.

"No!" Gabriel shouted.

Onscreen, Jesse shook her head in disbelief. " _That was... Ellegaard got hurt for nothing,_ " she gasped. " _That was all for nothing..._ " She backed away slowly, horror kindling in her expression, as the monstrosity rose.

And then, to the right of it, another head with another body appeared, smaller than the one Jesse was facing.

On the left, the third head rose into the air, with its own body to boot. Blocks began to swirl around the Witherstorms, swirling around them in a hurricane, repairing mangled flesh, sealing damaged innards back together, fixing them all as if nothing had ever happened to them.

People were running away, screaming, as Jesse shook her head in pure horror as _three_ separate Witherstorms rose into the sky, an indigo tractor beam switching on from each eye. It was Endercon all over again... only worse.

"We failed," Petra was gaping at the screen. "Oh _Notch,_ we failed. There's... there's _three_ of them now."

" _We... we only made it worse,_ " Jesse was quaking so hard that she was pretty much vibrating, one hand trembling over her mouth. " _Oh, Notch, there's_ three _of them... oh_ Notch..." The black-haired girl looked as though she might throw up any second now.

She looked at Gabriel. " _Come on, we have to get out of here!_ " she cried out.

She began to sprint away, before realizing Gabriel wasn't following her, but rather staring at the chaos with his back to her. Jesse skidded to a halt and ran back a few steps, panic dancing in her eyes. " _Gabriel, let's go!_ " she screamed in fear at him.

Gabriel slowly turned to face Jesse, brow furrowing.

What he said next made both every member of the audience's and onscreen-Jesse's heart skip a beat. Or two. Or maybe even three.

" _Who's Gabriel?_ "

The screen went black.

Slowly, the title screen came back on, marking the end of the episode. There was a long, silent shock where everyone was just staring at the screen, unsure what to do next.

"I... I can't believe it," Reginald gasped.

Hadrian shook his head a bit, looking shell-shocked. "I'm not sure any of us can."

No one knew what to say.

No one _had_ anything to say.

Slowly, one by one, each member of the audience got up and left the room. Until finally, the only occupant of the room was Ivor, his hands tight on the couch arms, staring blankly at the screen.

* * *

 **A/N: (Edit) Stupid... (grumbles) FFN is a jerk. Sorry. Let me write up the responses and stuff.**

 **Ready for some fun stuff to happen next chapter? (grins evilly)**

 **RQTC: ... um... (offers you a virtual cookie) Want one?**

 **Kaos Ruin: You should be (Lenny face)**

 **MissyMattingly: (shrugs) / Maybe I will (wiggles eyebrows) / Oh! Thanks! I'm glad to hear that!**

 **RapidSammi: (squeals with you)**

 **LittleAngelbun: Um, I don't need it, but thanks!**

 **LunarStarsMoon: (shrugs) / (laughs) Fair enough.**

 **S4SH4L4SH4theGaMeR101: (laughs)**

 **AquaK13: Yep xD / It's fine, no worries :3**

 **x.X. A.L. X.x**


	54. Burning Discoveries, Part 1

Ellegaard had been expecting Magnus to be going around as if absolutely nothing was wrong, blowing stuff up, being his usual explosive self, and maybe causing even more mayhem than usual.

So she was surprised to see him standing there and literally doing... nothing.

He was staring at the smoking remains of the room he'd blown up the day previously from the doorway, staring blankly into the room but not actually seeing it. He hadn't crossed his arms, wasn't tapping one foot on the floor, wasn't leaning on anything, he didn't even have a facial expression. He was just... staring.

"You alright?" she asked, quirking her eyebrow at his back curiously.

Magnus jumped and nearly fell forward, spinning around to see the redstone engineer with wide eyes. Upon realizing who she was, he relaxed and crossed his arms at her. "Since when have you been so sneaky?"

"I wasn't sneaky at all. You were just lost in thought. What were you even thinking about?" she asked, moving so that she stood next to him.

"Stuff."

Ellegaard arched her eyebrow at his monosyllabic answer. "Stuff."

"Stuff." He didn't exactly seem like he wanted to elaborate.

The two of them stared at each other for a moment, unsure of what to say to one another.

"Well, we have been standing here in perfect silence for thirty seconds and you haven't insulted me, teased me, or left the room altogether," Ellegaard broke the silence abruptly, "is this about Gabriel getting amnesia?"

Magnus stared at Ellegaard as if she came from outer space. (Not that they knew what outer space was... oh forget it.) "Gabriel?"

The redstone engineer shrugged at his bewildered expression. "Yeah. Forgetting your entire _life_ is a pretty big d-"

"You _actually think_ this is about Gabriel?" Magnus's hands had clenched into fists, and he was still staring at her in disbelief.

It was Ellegaard's turn to stare at him as if _he_ came from outer space. "What else would it be about?" she asked, tentatively. "Is... it the Witherstorm, or-?"

She was cut off by him grabbing her by the shoulders, eyes blazing with anger and... something else. Pain? "You just nearly got _killed_ by that thing, Ellegaard! And you might still die, you're in terrible shape! I mean, I know Gabriel getting amnesia is bad, but he can make new memories or get his old ones back, but, Ellie, you might _die!_ "

She'd flinched back a step, and was now staring at him in shock. He released her shoulders and took a step back, looking away, the pain becoming extremely evident now. "You might _die,_ " he repeated, crossing his arms. "And we might not have time to fix that."

"But... you _hate_ me," Ellegaard finally replied, staring at him in complete shock. "You've always hated me... why would you care if I lived or died?"

Magnus's arms tightened on his own forearms. "You... actually think that?" He looked away. "Yeah, we rub each other the wrong way a lot... but I don't want you to _die._ " He blinked unsurely, hands tightening again. "I'd _never_ want you to die."

He stared resolutely at the wall for a minute, letting the silence between them stretch out one minute. Two minutes. Right when he was just going to leave, she replied in the tiniest voice he'd ever heard her speak in, "I don't want you to die either."

He looked back at her to see Ellegaard's hands starting to shake in fear. "I don't want any of us to die. Not you, not Gabriel, not Soren, not Jesse, not Olivia or Petra or any of them, I don't even want Ivor to die, _I-_ " She choked, and now tears began to fall down her cheeks like rain trickling a path down the window. She put her trembling hands to her mouth, trying not to outright sob but making little choking sounds. When she finally regained her voice, she eked out, " _I_ don't want to die."

Magnus's arms jerked, before he let them down. There was a moment's pause before he finally moved forward and did something he hadn't done in _ages._ He hugged her. He wrapped his arms around the slightly shorter woman and pulled her to his chest.

Ellegaard finally began to cry in earnest, body shaking violently with silent sobs as she desperately tried to stop herself but failing. Magnus just kept his arms around her in a comforting way, in a way that he couldn't put into words but that his actions could speak volumes for.

Neither of them knew how long they stood there for. It could've easily been three minutes, but then again it could've been six hours. They didn't say anything the whole time.

They didn't say anything when the two of them broke apart, before they smiled a bit at each other, the redstone engineer reaching up and mopping away a few of the remaining tears on her cheeks.

They still didn't say anything when Magnus reached out and squeezed Ellegaard's hand.

* * *

Jesse sat with Olivia, Axel, Petra, Lukas, Maya, Jace and Reuben in the kitchen. She'd made herbal tea silently before handing it out, adding a few spoonfuls of sugar to hers before taking a sip. Honestly, for someone who couldn't actually _cook,_ she wasn't terrible at making drinks. There wasn't much conversation, but it wasn't a sad silence or a tense silence.

It was just silent.

"I can't believe that everything could go so wrong. Even in an _alternative_ path to the future," Maya finally sighed, setting down her now-empty mug.

"I was right." Everyone looked at Lukas. He hadn't even touched his mug. It was cold by now. He was just staring at it as if he was thinking about drinking it but at the same time too _sick_ to drink it. "I was right." The second repetition was so soft that it was nearly _whispered_.

Jesse sighed at last, staring into her own half-full cup. She could really have done with another one of Ivor's calming potions- her nerves were completely shot right about now. "At least everyone's still alive so far, right?" she asked, tentatively. "It could be so much worse."

Lukas slammed his palm onto the table, making some of the cups rattle and some of the occupants of the room flinch. "Ellegaard might _die._ Gabriel's completely lost his memory. And who knows what's going to happen this time around? If one of us get taken by the Witherstorm this time around-!"

"We'll think of _something,_ I'm sure," Jace spoke up, having not had any of his own cup of tea and having instead given it to Reuben, the pig occasionally lapping at the mug of herbal tea with apparent enjoyment. "We have to. We have to stop people from dying on us all."

"But we still have to watch them die before we can do that," Olivia said softly.

There was a very long, very tense silence at that, before Maya sighed and drank the rest of her drink. "I'm not sure I want to watch the next episode right after that one. The suspense is killing me, but I'm not sure I'm going to be able to keep myself from crying if I do. I'm going to look for Gill. See you all later."

Setting down the mug, she got up and walked into the hallway. Another silence permeated the room, Jesse taking a sip of her drink, before slowly setting the mug down with a decisive thud, not looking up from the drink even as everyone turned to look at her. "So what are we going to do about Aiden?" she asked, in a low voice.

"Aiden?" Axel looked puzzled. "What about him?"

"Did you see how he was pushing Maya and Gill around while we were watching the episode?" Jesse pointed out, taking another sip of her lukewarm tea. "We can hardly just let him keep doing it; for all we know he might end up hurting someone by accident."

"You mean like how he punched me in the jaw and you in the face," Lukas muttered darkly, staring at the table. Jesse absentmindedly fingered her cheek again, wincing slightly as she probed the bruise too hard.

"So what can we do about it?" Olivia asked, frowning a bit at the memory.

"We could invite her to sit with us," Petra suggested. "Like we did with Lukas. It would at least keep her out of Aiden's reach physically, for the most part anyway."

"That could work," Axel said thoughtfully, before frowning as another thought occurred to him. "But what if she says no?"

"She could sit in my armchair," Petra said decisively. "Since I'm sitting with you guys, I'm not exactly using it."

Jesse nodded and opened her mouth to continue, but right then there was a loud crash from the armor room. It was both an area used for sparring, but there were a couple furnaces behind a fenced-off area to smelt iron ingots and such.

The whole group glanced at each other worriedly, before Jesse was the first to jump off, abandoning the rest of her tea on the table and bolting out of the room. Petra was hot on her heels as the two of them skidded into the armor room to see Maya pressing her back to the wall with a shocked expression, one of the furnaces tipped over, hot coals scattered all over the ground, and Aiden and Gill pretty much _screaming_ at each other, their voices mingling together into an incomprehensible babbled mess. Gill reared back, eyes blazing with fury, drawing his fist back to hit Aiden in the face.

Aiden struck first, shoving Gill in the chest and making the boy lose his balance. Gill staggered before falling, hands landing right on the hot coals. Immediately, he let out a choked cry of pain, anger turning to pain as the blazing coal burned his hands with an angry hiss.

Cassie skidded into the room a moment later from the other direction. She took one look at the scene in front of them before rushing forward and grabbing Aiden in a hug, heaving him back away from Gill and keeping him trapped against the wall as he tried to break out of her grip.

Gill got back to his feet, obviously about to give the now-trapped Aiden a piece of his mind, but Jesse lunged out and grabbed one arm and hauled him back. Maya quickly dashed back over and grabbed the other arm, and Petra shoved a now-violently struggling Gill against the fenceposts, as far away from Aiden as possible.

"Gill. Gill!" Maya was yelling at him to try to get through the violent haze clouding his mind. "Cut it out! Calm down!"

"Excuse my language," and everyone turned to see Em standing in the doorway with a shocked expression on her face, "but what the _hell_ just happened here?"

"That would be a good thing to know," Lukas said, stepping into the room himself with a faint expression that Jesse couldn't identify on his face. Jace stepped in as well, his expression a near mirror-image of Lukas's.

Maya shook her head as the boy that she, Petra, and Jesse had pinned to the fence took a deep breath in an attempt to calm himself down. Aiden pointed over Cassie's shoulder. "He shoved me and knocked over the furnace!" he yelled accusingly.

"You burned my hands!" Gill snapped back, struggling to keep his temper to at least a lower level.

"The two of them got into a fight," Maya interrupted before Aiden could spit a response back at him. "I don't know what about, but when I got here they were full-out yelling at each other. I asked Gill what was going, Aiden called me a-" She paused. "... well, something not too polite, and then Gill shoved him. Aiden tripped and knocked over the furnace, and, well... Jesse and Petra saw what happened," she finished, glancing at the boy she was still pinning down.

Jesse slowly let go of Gill's arm, moving in place to stand between Aiden and Gill defensively, hands up placatingly. "No more fighting. Got it?" she asked, tentatively.

When she got no response, she continued, "Gill, I'll help you track down Ivor to fix your hands up. Cassie, can you get Aiden... someplace where nobody will get injured or harmed in any way, shape, or form? Maybe cool him down if it's possible?"

Cassie nodded. Jesse glanced back at her friends in the doorway. "Um, Lukas can come with me... Jace and Petra can clean up all of these burning coals," she glanced at said coals, "Maya and Em can try to find some coal for the furnace and put it back up, and... I don't know, do we need to make lunch or something?"

Olivia shrugged from where she was in the doorway. "I dunno, I was thinking of making a chore list so everyone gets a turn of making dinner or lunch. I don't know how, but the chests get restocked every night at like midnight or something, because they were full again this morning when Maya and I were making breakfast. But, anyway, we could make a chore list for cooking and stuff?"

"Okay, you do that. Try to put people in threes or fours, making food and cleaning and stuff like that will probably go quicker if you put them in groups," Petra nodded, glancing at Jesse and Jace. When those two simply shrugged at the suggestion agreeably, she clapped her hands together. "Welp. Let's get to it, then."

Slowly, the group split up, Gill's adrenaline rush having faded and now cradling his hands gingerly as Lukas and Jesse headed down the hallway, Reuben oinking and tagging along behind the group.

* * *

 **A/N: Welp, next chappie'll probably also be a (cough long cough) filler chapter, since this is starting to get a tad bit long.**

 **So, I was in the countryside all of yesterday and most of today, hence the (very late) update. But, hey, better late than never, right?**

 **RQTC: Countryside or city?**

 **Countryside. Countryside countryside countryside. Ignoring the slow Wifi, it's absolutely beautiful.**

 **S4SH4L4SH4theGaMeR101: (rubs head) That good, or... bad?**

 **LunarStarsMoons: Pretty succinct description of the situation xD**

 **AquaK13: (laughs) / Omg same here!**

 **Emily The Avenger: Well, so far anyway (wiggles eyebrows)**

 **Darkbeast Dend: (shrugs slightly) I'm not sure I'll check it out; I don't know anything about Team Crafted. / (shrugs) He's not stupid. Just confused. / I was in a place with spotty/crappy wifi, so I didn't really feel like it xD**

 **RapidSammi: (cracks up) Awww. I would take it off, but... yeah, duct tape is painful.**

 **sailor. mikuchan: Oh my god, thank you for pointing that out -_- FFN derped out on me.**

 **rebekahtpe: (laughs) I'm not sure anyway. / Oh my god, yes xD / RQLCA: It was her senior year prank.**

 **DynamiteHunter6: (laughs) / Yeah, I got so pissed when that happened. / (thumbs up) / Invisible by Christina Grimmie, Ancient History by Set it Off, and Heathens by Twenty One Pilots. The list changes all the time. / ... that... is actually a good question. / No problemo!**

 **mEEplePeoPLe: Umm... hard to explain, actually. xD / Toni42, NoItsBecky, GirlOfMyOwnWorld, ChoyofBonk, and Harry Leferts. / Yes to the Twitter, no to the Facebook. I don't use Twitter much though.**

 **LunarStarsMoon: That's good, though, because that means I can give them to you x3**

 **LittleAngelbun: (gives you more)**

 **Rabbits rule: (keeps petting you) / (laughs) I don't drink coffee much. / It has no possible allergens in it... / (smacks Fluffy gently)**

 **TheLadyIanite: Oh! Thanks, I'm glad you liked it :3**

 **Emily The Avenger: Oh god don't make me cry xD**

 **x.X. A.L. X.x**


	55. Burning Discoveries, Part 2

Ivor shook his head with a faintly disgruntled expression on his face as he added some glistering potion to the water bottle on the stand. Immediately, the liquid vibrated before turning pale green. " _Honestly._ Would you children all stop _injuring_ each other?" he asked, sharply but not really angrily.

Gill would've replied indignantly, but he was doing his best to not let his burned hands touch anything. The skin of his palms were a brilliant red and shiny, and covered with blisters.

Jesse glanced at Lukas as if he was going to answer, but he was still staring in a certain direction resolutely, as if trying not to look at her. He had that same expression that he'd been wearing back in the armor room, but it was still as indecipherable as a computer code to her. She followed his gaze to see him staring at Gill with that odd expression.

She poked him after a minute. "You alright?" she asked.

He started, turning a bit to face her again. "Wh-? Yeah. I'm fine," he replied, cheeks flushing slightly in embarrassment, although why he was embarrassed was beyond her. "What's up?"

Gill coughed something that sounded suspiciously like " _Ishipit"_ as he tried to figure out where to put his hands.

Ivor huffed a bit at that and pulled the two green potion bottles off the stand without another word, before handing one to Gill and one to- to her surprise- Jesse.

She blinked down at the liquid in it as Gill tipped the bottle back and chugged the contents down in a few gulps, before back up at him, blinking innocently up at the black-haired man.

Ivor gestured at her hand- which, honestly, she'd forgotten about. It was actually a bit of a surprise to look down and see the white bandage wrapped around her hand- and then her cheek. "You've got that... burn," his eyes lingered on the bandage on her hand for a moment, long enough for Jesse to realize that she hadn't fooled the man with her story about burning it on the furnace- after all, he had seen her last night, and she'd had the bandage on at that point- "and that bruise to contend with."

"Oh..." Jesse looked down at the bottle, before back up at Ivor, giving him a small smile. "Um, thanks, D-" She stopped herself in her tracks when he raised his eyebrow infinitesimally at her. Her cheeks turned slightly warm. "Ivor."

She didn't notice Lukas glancing at her as she tipped the bottle back and swallowed the contents.

Within seconds, the bruise on her cheek had disappeared completely, and the dull stinging of pain from the cuts on her knuckles had faded away. Jesse smiled at the hand, flexing it, before giving Ivor a cheerful smile and a nod.

His eyes softened a bit, but before anything else could be said a small explosion and a loud yelp could be heard from outside the library.

All of their eyes went to the ceiling, before to each other. Lukas jumped up after another few seconds and dashed up the steps, the rest of the small group following.

They emerged from the staircase to see Magnus doubled over and cackling, while Stacy was spitting mouthfuls of slime onto the floor. Ellegaard had a hand over her eyes in irritation, but there was a small smile twitching on her face anyway.

Now that they saw both women, actually, both Ellegaard and Stacy were _covered_ in the green stuff. Stacy's clothing was practically _dripping_ with slime, and her hair was saturated with it. Ellegaard seemed to have thrown her arms up over her face in time, because it just looked like she was wearing a hat of the slime.

"Where the heck did you even find a chest that shoots slime in people's faces?!" Stacy exclaimed, swatting her hands once and sending a small waterfall of slime onto the floor.

Magnus rubbed his hands together with evil glee, eyes practically sparkling with excitement. Sparkling, I tell you. "Oh, it was actually in another chest in one of the extra bedrooms. The mechanism that kept all the prank items secret was amazing~" His voice trailed off into a sing-songy voice.

Ellegaard shook her head in amusement. "Well, good for you, terrible for the rest of us. Except maybe Axel. Now, I'm going to go towel off and then find Harper and Olivia."

Jesse was doing her best to keep a straight face- Ellegaard looked very amusing with a slime hat on. "You do that. Meanwhile, Gill, Lukas, and Ivor are going to help Magnus clean up the slime in this section of the hallway."

The three males that she'd named swiveled to look at her in perfect unison. "We are?" they chorused.

Jesse's lips twitched again. "Yes. You are," she said, elbowing Lukas in the ribs.

"... okay..." Lukas reluctantly agreed.

"Good. And I will help Stacy get a different outfit, seeing as she is now... soaked in slime," Jesse said, looking at Stacy and poking the girl gently on the shoulder. With a gentle squelching sound, upon pulling her hand away, a string of slime trailed from her finger before snapping and leaving a blob of slime on her finger.

"Yes, that- that would be nice," Stacy said, giving her now-slimy clothing a disgusted look.

"Fantastic. Let's go!" And, grabbing onto Stacy's sleeve automatically- and almost immediately regretting it the moment she felt the cold, slimy... um, slime touch her palm, she dashed off down the hallway, nearly dragging the brunette down the hallway herself.

Ellegaard shook her head in amusement and went off to go clean herself up as well. Gill turned around to ask Magnus a question, before pausing and then letting out a long sigh. "... perfect."

Lukas twisted around to see what he meant.

The Rogue was nowhere to be seen. It was as if he'd simply vanished from existence.

The three remaining boys all exchanged a look at the mess, before Ivor sighed and turned around to head back to the basement. "I'll go get some mops..."

* * *

"Are you okay?"

Unsurprisingly, Cassie got no response from the brown-haired boy with celery-green eyes who'd currently been glowering at the opposite wall for the past ten minutes in perfect silence. She hadn't exactly been expecting one. She'd even taken him up to the farthest corner of the house, where there were a few cobwebs and at least a clear centimeter of dust, to get some silence and hopefully calm him down.

Winslow was playing with one of the tapestries on the wall at Aiden's feet. Usually, whenever Winslow was there, any awkward silence was perfectly bearable.

But now, the tension in the room was thick enough to cut with a knife.

Finally, she sighed and crossed her arms. "You know, you can't just lash out like that all the time. In the past... _day_ alone, you've caused two separate injuries that could've been _supremely_ harmful if things had even gone the slightest bit differently."

Internally, she grinned grimly at herself. She was being such a hypocrite...

The silence continued stretching out. Cassie was just about to continue when the boy (Aaron? No, Aiden- that was his name) let out a long sigh, crossing his arms. "Yeah. I know," he said briefly. A short pause as he shook his head. "I don't even really know why I've been doing it lately. I'm just mad... I guess."

"Well, if that's you when you're 'just mad', then I don't wanna see you when you're all fired up and ready to breathe fire," Cassie joked.

To her surprise, Aiden actually snorted a bit, a grin momentarily sneaking its way over his face, before catching himself and looking away again.

The silence was broken again when Winslow accidentally yanked the tapestry down over Aiden's head.

"Oh! Winslow!" Cassie stifled a laugh and adopted a scolding tone as she attempted to help Aiden pull off the tapestry. "I'm so sorry, he doesn't usually... do... that..." She trailed off slowly, eyes having caught sight of something hiding behind the tapestry.

Aiden popped his head through the tapestry, his eyes actually glimmering a bit with amusement. "It's-" He cut himself off, having caught sight of it himself. "... fine."

Detangling himself from the tapestry, he stepped closer to the solid wooden door that had been disguised behind the tapestry. There was a minute of silence before Aiden glanced at Cassie. "Er... should we find out what's in here?"

The redhead shrugged and reached for the door. "Eh, I don't see why not. It's probably a good idea to scout it out before telling the others about i-"

As she opened the door, her attention distracted as she looked at Aiden, Winslow suddenly let out a loud yowl, all of his fur standing on end. Aiden instinctively lunged forward and tackled Cassie out of the way of the door as a spinning blade came spitting out of the doorway and embedded itself in the wall opposite them. If Cassie hadn't moved, it probably would've decapitated her.

"Um..." Cassie looked up from where she was now lying on her back, mouth having gone dry with fear. "That happened."

Aiden was panting a bit, eyes wide with shock. "Yeah," he replied breathlessly. Then- "Still wanna check it out?"

Cassie considered this, the momentary shock of fear that had left her paralyzed on the floor fading away and being replaced by curiosity.

Then again, curiosity did kill the cat...

Satisfaction brought him back.

"Sure," and she was about to get up before realizing something. She looked to heaven, feeling her cheeks beginning to warm. "Er, Aiden?"

"Yeah?"

"Can you get off me, please?"

Aiden opened his mouth to say something, looked down, and quickly scrambled to get off her. "S-sorry," he muttered.

Cassie was about to continue into the room, before spotting something on his cheeks and squinting. "Are you _blushing?_ " she demanded to know after a moment, a smile twitching on her lips.

"No. Shut up," Aiden muttered back, the blush growing extremely acute.

She snickered and moved through the doorway, looking back at him while still staying alert about any more possible traps. "Aw, don't worry about it. Anyway, let's take a look at what's in this-" She was cut off by her own surprise, feeling her eyebrows shoot up and her mouth fall open. "... room."

Aiden poked his own head in, before his eyes widened, and he moved to stand inside. " _Whoa._ "

The room was a _huge_ library. Literally, the library towered up at least two floors, and was the size of the dining room and the living room combined. Not only that, every surface excluding the ceiling and the floor was composed of bookshelves, with a single armchair in the center of the room, under this ginormous glowstone lamp.

"This is the most comprehensive library I've seen... _ever,_ " Cassie breathed, cautiously continuing into the room. "Like, I haven't even seen _half_ of these books! _Decibels..._ _Movie Mode..._ _Storm Without Rain... Elements_ _... The First Guests..._ " Her fingers brushed some of the spines. "And she's got at least two copies of all these books- like, _wow!_ "

Aiden looked around the library cautiously. "It's nice... but why was it hidden behind a tapestry and then guarded by a spinning knife blade to boot?" he mused, anger having been completely forgotten.

"I dunno... oh, hello, what's this?" Cassie leaned closer to one of the shelves, having spotted this tiny, almost unseeable golden plaque.

 _N.I.B._

"N.I.B.," Cassie reported, after squinting at it for a full minute- her eyesight was terrible. (Hence why she wore glasses... duh)

Aiden arched his eyebrow. "What's that stand for?"

"I have no idea..." Cassie gave the library one last reluctant look. "Wanna tell the others about this place now?"

Aiden glanced up and around at the books another look himself. "... yeah, sure," he decided, before the two of them trotted out the door.

* * *

"Still have another twenty minutes until lunch is ready?" Olivia wondered, checking her watch.

"Yeah, Clutch and Slab are working on the food. They don't look it, but Clutch is an _exceptional_ cook... and at least Slab doesn't end up burning everything," Harper hummed, as Ellegaard trotted out of her room with dry hair and the brown suit that they'd seen in the episode on.

She jerked her thumb back at her room as explanation upon seeing their expressions. "It's soaking wet. I'm letting it dry."

"Ah." A short, slightly awkward pause. "Should we go exploring the place, then?"

Ellegaard hummed a bit. "Well, I don't see why not."

The three women started walking through the hallways, carefully avoiding the topic of the episodes and instead discussing redstone extensively. They eventually found themselves in the basement, where Ivor was fiddling with the potion stands.

"Oh." Ellegaard pulled herself up short. "Ivor."

The black-haired man's hand jerked to the side in shock, dropping a handful of Blaze powder on the floor. He let out a loud sigh of relief upon seeing that none of it had landed in the potion before looking up at the three women. "Give me some _warning_ before you do that next time- you know how I am when I start working on a potion," he grumbled, his hand resting on his heart.

Despite herself, the redstone engineer snorted. "I sure do." Turning to Harper and Olivia, she explained, "Whenever Ivor started working on a potion, he'd get so absorbed in his work that he'd literally forget to eat, sleep, or, um, perform other human bodily functions." At the chuckles this answer received, she grinned.

Ivor just grumbled and grabbed another handful of Blaze powder. "Mm. Anyway, what were you doing down here?"

"Exploring; we still have another fifteen minutes," Olivia replied, checking her watch.

Harper nodded absentmindedly in agreement, having started poking through the shelves. She stopped at this redstone-trimmed bookcase. "Um... _"The Guide to Forging for Newbs_ " by... TheRealRedForges. And there's a trademark at the end of the name."

A small, thoughtful frown came over her face, and she reached up to pull it out.

The minute the book came halfway out, there was a dull clunking sound, and Ivor set down his Blaze Powder as Harper took a step back, the shelf rising up into the ceiling and revealing a huge room with pure obsidian walls, except for the doors that lead into other, separate rooms.

"Whoa," Ellegaard said slowly, stepping into the room, Olivia and Harper following a few steps behind and Ivor trailing after them. The room had a small corner with a glass wall that kept it barred off. Ivor rapped on the glass with his knuckles, arching his eyebrow at the sound of it sounding much more solid than normal glass. "Hm. This seems incredibly difficult to break."

Near the ceiling, there was a little mini-minecart track with a mini-minecart going around on it. The group watched it for a minute, before the group slowly split up to go poke through each of the five doors.

Ellegaard poked through the sets of armor in her room. "Um, there's seven sets of armor in here!" she called behind her. "They have little descriptions next to them on the walls." She gave the descriptions a quick glance over, muttering to herself quietly like she usually did. Actually, now that she thought about it, a lot of people who worked with redstone tended to talk to themselves. "'Capable of going 1000 miles an hour', 'Strength boost capable of breaking bedrock', 'unbreakable red diamond armor', 'imitation abilities', 'jumping abilities', 'Dementor armor', and- ouch," she winced a bit at the brightness of the last set of armor. "Gah, this is just painfully white. I can't even see the damn description plate..."

Olivia poked her head into the next room. "Hey... it's like Soren's grinder, only a lot smaller. And there's a bunch of spawners near the ceiling, and then they drop down into the grinder... actually, that's pretty clever, now that I think about it. A lot more efficient, too."

"Hm, this just looks like some sort of resting room," Harper hummed as she looked into the third room. "A bunch of beds, and some chests with some food in it. The food's still unspoiled, too."

"This last room is a weapon room of sorts," Ivor called out to the others. "And the weapons are all in glass cases, with names and descriptions... uh, 'The Redstone Sword - ignites redstone that it comes in contact with', 'The Redstone Bow - same function as The Redstone Sword', 'Thanatos - causes instant death to all it hits. Armor and health regardless', Fury's Cry - causes all who sees it to have fear settle deep in their hearts. Unbreakable, has no weight and acts like Captain America's shield', whoever Captain America is- um, 'Letus - Unbreakable, lightweight, comes back to Red in the shape of a Redstone Block ring and can turn into a Redstone Block ring. Kills all it touches if the user wants it to'." He paused a bit. "... well, some of these are a bit morbid."

Ellegaard had moved from her armor room into the second-to-last one. "Er, this room's a vault!" she announced. "It consists of diamonds, gold, and emerald... ooh! And redstone and obsidian!" she finished, sounding a bit more excited.

Olivia pushed open the last door, before staggering back at the wave of heat that practically hit her in the face. The walls and floor of this room were also pure black, except for this literal _wall of lava_ on the opposite wall. There was another waterfall in the corner, making steam rise up in faint spirals towards the ceiling, and a bunch of chests on the floor. There were also minecarts rushing in and out of the room, dropping things off and taking some away.

Olivia pulled back. "What _is_ this place?" she wondered, looking around it again.

Ivor stopped by the glass wall and leaned closer to the small plaque that was stuck to the wall. "I think this is called 'The Redstone Rooms'..." He squinted at the plaque for a moment before reaching up and pinching the bridge of his nose. "Alternatively 'Redstone Heaven'."

There was a short silence. He turned to look at the three women. Ellegaard and Olivia had their hands clasped at their mouths, eyes sparkling as they surveyed the room with renewed interest, and Harper's eyes were practically glowing as she looked around.

He let out a soft sigh and shook his head, but he was grinning anyway. "Of course that would be your reactions." He leaned away from the plaque and gave the room another look-around. "... well... should we head up to lunch and let the others know about this place, then?"

"... yeah, okay."

And the whole group trotted out of the room, only pausing long enough to shut the door again, before traipsing up the stairs to the dining room.

* * *

 **A/N: Oh, this ain't the last we'll see of these places and items (grins evilly) And we're gonna come back in _full_ detail.**

 **RQTC: Are you a social butterfly or an awkward potato?**

 **Awkward, awkward potato. I'm so awkward I'm buried six feet under ground.**

 **Guest: (hands you banana) Here you go.**

 **TheLadyIanite: Whoops, sorry. (laughs) Have a chapter.**

 **LittleAngelbun: (high-five)**

 **DarkPrincess2001: A very accurate description of the situation xD**

 **RapidSammi: Heehee :3**

 **AquaK13: Yeah... / hehehe xD / I know, right?**

 **LunarStarsMoon: (laughs) / And thanks!**

 **the indecisive bird: (cracks up) / (hums) Okay, cool.**

 **Emily The Avenger: (laughs) Well, I'm glad you like the chapter.**

 **Darkbeast Dend: (shrugs) Been good.**

 **Rabbits rule: (keeps petting Jess) / If it did, that's good I guess xD**

 **Luna96: (Yay!) / Ahhhh. xD**

 **sailor. mikuchan: (thumbs up) Lucky xD**

 **x.X. A.L. X.x**


	56. Chaos

It was about mid-afternoon when they finally all re-grouped in the living room. Mainly because Cassie, Aiden, Harper, Ellegaard, and Olivia had been showing off the discovered rooms that they'd found and they'd all been poking around the places, being careful not to move stuff too much. They'd only done it for about an hour before they decided they should try to squeeze one last episode into the day.

So now Jesse was sitting on the floor again, Lukas's arm having automatically gone around her. Not that she minded; it was actually kinda nice... anyway, Reuben was sitting in her lap, Petra was leaning against Jace, and Axel and Olivia were pretty much curled up on the floor next to each other.

Petra had pulled Maya aside earlier and talked to her. While Maya had declined the offer to sit with them, she HAD moved to the armchair Petra had vacated. She could practically feel Aiden's glare burning into the back of her skull. Gill had joined her after a bit of deliberation, leaving Aiden alone on the couch.

Okay, well, not _exactly_. Cassie and Winslow had migrated over to the seat, leaving the YouTubers with a little more wiggle room.

Or, well, that was the reason Cassie had given... they weren't sure if that was the actual case. Whatever the case, the scowl on his face faded a little bit when he was sitting next to her.

The Order had rearranged their own seating arrangement themselves. Soren and Gabriel were now sitting on one side, and Magnus and Ellegaard were sitting together on the other side.

Mevia finally wrestled the remote away from Hadrian and pressed the play button. The screen faded to black, and Jesse's voice spoke again, " _Previously on Minecraft: Hybrid Mode._ "

The soul sand, the Command Block, and the two Wither Skulls from the first episode appeared as the narrator took over once again. " _Everything in the universe starts out as just a block._ " Ivor tipped the Wither Skull into place on the Soul Sand T. The two of them were thrown off the stage by the force of the blast, and the Wither rose up, the Command Block ensnared in its rib cage.

" _What comes of those blocks..._ " The Wither floated up over the screaming crowd as they fled the room, the hybrids and Gabriel staring up at it with wide eyes. It changed to the glass dome above the hall, shaking and cracking. " _Is up to those who wield them._ " The dome shattered and imploded. Long, black tentacles snaked out first, before an inky mass of black followed. " _And in every block, there lies the potential to create..._ "

The Witherstorm's three heads slowly rose up, one by one, eyes flaring to life and each head giving off a deafening roar. " _Or destroy._ "

Now Jesse was climbing up through the trapdoor into the wool world, shielding her eyes from the brightness. " _Our hybrid heroes have travelled far and wide in search of the Order of the Stone._ " Olivia followed, wincing a bit at the bright light herself. Now it changed to the hybrids and Soren jumping into the minecarts in Soren's loot room. The walls slammed shut behind them as the minecarts raced along the redstone powered tracks. And now Jesse was floating in the air right in front of the Witherstorm's middle head, pushing the Formidi-Bomb towards it. " _And a way to stop the Witherstorm for good._ "

The Witherstorm opened its mouth, and the bomb exploded right in its mouth, sending Jesse flying. Now they were back in Soren's library, under the effects of Ivor's Splash Potion of Slowness as he walked past Jesse and through the gap in the bookshelves.

" _But even well-laid plans can go awry..._ " Ivor turned around, smirking at that. The bookshelves slammed shut on his face. Now the hybrids were climbing up the long staircase after Soren. Jesse turned to see Petra, who was falling behind, looking up at her tiredly. " _The strong can grow weak..._ "

Jace gave Petra a gentle squeeze as the redhead let her head drop.

The screen changed once again to show Ellegaard, lying on the ground, staring blankly at the blood covering her hand, blood coating her side. " _And beloved heroes can be compromised._ "

Magnus silently squeezed Ellegaard's hand. The redstone engineer didn't look around at him, but a faint smile came over her face as she squeezed back.

With a muffled thud, one of the Witherstorm's heads slammed into the ground. The screen scanned the monster's massive corpse, before switching to show Jesse racing back to Gabriel as blocks swirled around them in a maelstrom of chaos. " _And although some glimmer of hope may remain..._ "

Gabriel turned back slowly, discolored eyes wide with confusion. The Witherstorm's ribs touched down onto the Command Block, head lifting itself up and giving a growl as it slowly rose, followed by its two smaller brethren. " _The threat to this world, to its very existence..._ " Jesse and Reuben backed away from it in horror, Jesse's topmost set of arms going to her mouth, before the screen abruptly went black. " _Is_ far _from over._ "

The screen remained black for a moment, before coming back in to the sounds of chaos and screams of people getting sucked back into the Witherstorm.

"Wait- but those people just got out!" Lizzie exclaimed.

"That must be terrifying," Em muttered. Clutch grunted in response.

Jesse was staring at Gabriel in shock. The warrior stood there, looking terrified and bewildered as he surveyed the area about him. " _Where- where am I?_ " he asked. " _What's going on? What is all of this?_ " His nose wrinkled slightly. " _And what's that awful smell?_ "

Jesse shook her head, still staring at him. " _Are you okay?_ " she finally asked, after a moment.

Gabriel stared at her for a moment. " _I... I have no idea. Who are you?_ " and he backed away a step, looking wary of her.

Soren wrapped an arm around Gabriel's shoulders and squeezed a bit. Magnus leaned into Gabriel, dragging Ellegaard with him and making her roll her eyes a bit. Gabriel looked at his friends for a moment, before a half-smile made its way over his face and he turned back to face the screen again.

" _Jesse!_ "

Jesse's head snapped up at the desperate shout. The screen zoomed in to show Axel charging into the storm of debris, looking around desperately as he searched for the girl. " _Jesse, where are you?!_ "

"Where's everyone else?" Maya asked, eyes narrowing in worry.

"Axel probably went back for Jesse. I'm sure we'll be fine," Petra said quickly, raising a placating hand.

" _Say something, Jesse!_ "

Jesse took a deep breath before screaming through the chaotic noise. " _AXEL!_ " she yelled, pushing out the sound as loudly as she could. She paused and glanced back at Gabriel, who was blinking uncertainly at her from a yard away. She made a soft ' _tch!_ ' sound and flicked her wrist, a strand of silk shooting out and wrapping around his wrist. He stared at it uncomprehendingly for a moment before he was nearly yanked off his feet as Jesse retracted him to her, seizing ahold of his wrist, before racing over towards Axel. " _WE NEED SOME HELP OVER HERE!_ "

Axel's head snapped towards her, barely able to make her out through the debris and smoke and chaos, and he ran towards the girl. " _Then help is on the way!_ "

Jesse's lower arms scooped Reuben up, and she quickly fired a shot of string that jerked them to the top of the crater, landing hard on her side and Gabriel landing awkwardly on his back. Axel skidded to a stop in front of them, eyes wide. " _No way! You found Gabriel?_ "

Gabriel frowned in confusion. " _Who's Gabriel?_ "

"Oh Notch, please don't say that again," Soren muttered.

Jesse glanced back at the Witherstorms, eyes widening in horror. The screen switched to show that each body had _two new heads_ on each body, each with its own eye and own tractor beam. The spider hybrid whipped back around to face Axel. " _We have to get out of here!_ " she cried out.

Axel nodded and whirled around. " _C'mon!_ "

Jesse quickly flicked Reuben onto her back, severing the string that was connecting her and Gabriel, before dropping to all eights and scuttling across the ground at a speed that Gabriel was struggling to keep up with.

She lunged after Axel past a huge mound of dirt of stone, the three of them skidding to a halt behind the makeshift wall. Olivia bleeped into sight as Jesse switched Reuben around so she had him in a hug as she got upright, and threw her arms around Jesse in a tight hug. " _Jesse, you made it!_ " she called out, voice filled with relief.

" _And..._ " Lukas's eyes widened. " _Gabriel?_ "

Petra's head snapped up at that. " _Did you say Gabriel?_ "

Before any other comment could be made, an indigo tractor beam yanked the makeshift wall into the air, making them all scream and sprint away, running away from the three Witherstorms.

"Run, f**kers, _run_!" Cassie yelled in a panic. She blinked at the mildly shocked look she received from the audience. "What? I curse a lot, okay?"

Abruptly, an Enderman bleeped into existence right in front of Jesse, who put on the brakes and skidded to a stop, coming to a stop so close to the monster that she was practically right up against it.

But it didn't acknowledge her at all. Just walked calmly past her towards the Witherstorm. Jesse blinked at that, before deciding not to press her luck, and running after her friends. She came to a stop near where Soren had come to a stop near a tree, staring back at the Endermen with an agonized expression. " _What's up with these Endermen?!_ " she shouted to him.

" _I have absolutely no idea. Those Endermen are running the wrong way. They'll be killed!_ "

" _You'll_ be killed if you just keep _standing_ there!" Stampy shouted as if onscreen-Soren could hear him.

Lukas came sprinting back over. He tried to come to a stop, but wasn't able to manage it as he literally plowed him, Jesse, and Reuben to the floor in a heap. " _Soren?!_ " he cried, quickly disentangling himself from the pile.

" _I can't just stand by and watch. I'd be condemning them to death!_ "

Jesse put her hands up placatingly. " _They'll be fine!_ " she assured him. " _They can just teleport away!_ "

Soren opened his mouth onscreen to protest, but then paused. A few seconds passed before he shut it again, worry still evident in his eyes as he seemed to have gotten the logic of that statement.

A fireball slammed into the tree they'd been standing under. Letting out startled screams, the three of them took off like rockets. Horses, creepers, zombies all ran next to them as they fled as well. In that one moment, mobs and humans alike had a single goal- to escape the Witherstorm.

" _Jesse, wait!_ "

Jesse skidded to a stop at the cry and turned to look at Lukas, who was staring behind him with a horrified expression. " _They're falling behind!_ "

Jesse turned to look. Sure enough, Axel was trying to help Petra, but he could only move so fast without having Petra fall right off his back. Olivia was teleporting with Ellegaard, so it wasn't much of a problem, but Ellegaard looked as if each teleportation made her feel worse and worse- her eyes were half-lidded now, and she was making incoherent mewling sounds, so Olivia mostly just had to run along. Not that it was really helping; the jolting didn't seem to be helping Ellegaard either. Some rain had started coming down, but it was just making both Axel and Olivia slower.

"Oh Notch oh Notch oh _Notch_ ," Dan babbled, sitting on the very edge of his seat.

Jesse bit her lip and looked back at Lukas as he shook his head in dismay. " _There's no way we can make it, not on foot!_ " he finished.

The spider hybrid looked around in a panic, before her eyes lit up in realization. " _Ah- one second-_ " Five of her arms shot out. Each hand snagged the reins of a horse, nearly jerking the spider hybrid off of her feet before she regained her balance, struggling to keep the bucking, plunging horses in place. " _Give the horses to Ellegaard, Magnus, Soren, Gabriel, and Petra,_ " she instructed rapidly, her words almost blurring together, " _the rest of us'll just have to make do without 'em!_ "

Lukas was nodding almost before she finished speaking. " _Got it!_ " He grabbed two of the horses and waved at Ellegaard and Petra, while Jesse flailed her free arms at Magnus, Gabriel and Soren. " _Guys! Get on! Get a horse! C'mon!_ " she shouted.

Lukas helped Petra onto a horse. Frost started forming on the horse armor that the horse was wearing, but the horse seemed to be totally unaffected by this. For the moment, anyway.

Olivia helped Ellegaard onto the horse as well, the other three Order members practically vaulting onto their horses in a hurry. Ellegaard seemed half-asleep, though, so Olivia had to snap her fingers vigorously near Ellegaard's ear. This jerked Ellegaard right out of the stupor she'd fallen into- temporarily, anyhow- and she grabbed the reins of her horse tightly.

Jesse dropped to all eights, looking up at Gabriel. The warrior was staring down at the spider hybrid with a bewildered look. " _Hang on- this... may be a bit of a bumpy ride._ " And with that, she fired a string into the air, and then gave it a sharp flick. A whipcrack rang through the air.

"Huh," Harper hummed. "Clever."

The horses all reared in shock, before galloping off. Gabriel let out a loud yell and threw his arms around the neck of his horse as it took off, Jesse scuttling across the ground along with the horses in great haste. Petra was clinging to the reins of her horse so tightly her knuckles were white, Lukas was racing away with his tail flapping in the wind, and Olivia teleported around, but mostly staying closer to Ellegaard to check how she was doing. Axel was running at full tilt, Reuben perched safely in his hood, head bowed against the wind.

" _Whoo-hoo! This is awesome!_ " Magnus cheered.

Ellegaard shook her head a bit and glared at him, one hand still pressed firmly against her side. " _How is this awesome?!_ " she snapped back.

Jesse veered around a spider jockey and kept racing along the ground, nearly doing a flip from the velocity she avoided it with. She was racing along the ground at pretty much _breakneck_ speed.

" _We're not going to make it!_ "

Jesse glanced up at Gabriel. " _Yes we are!_ " she yelled, discreetly checking behind her to see that the Witherstorms were getting ever-closer. " _Just keep it together, Gabriel!_ "

" _That monster is chasing me!_ " he cried out.

" _It's chasing all of us!_ " Jesse shouted back.

Maya winced. "I feel pretty bad for him. All he knows is that they're all running from a giant monsters. He doesn't even know his own name."

Gabriel sighed. "Yes, I'm... not looking forward to that."

Tractor beams sucked up the dirt in front of them, ripping out a deep section of the ground right in front of Jesse. " _Watch out!_ " Gabriel shouted to her.

Jesse's muscles all tensed, before she launched herself forward. Her hands slapped onto the edge of the hole, and she scrambled up and out rapidly.

Many members of the audience let out a relieved sigh.

" _Don't let it get any closer!_ " Gabriel cried out, leaning even further forward into his horse's neck.

"That's the greatest warrior of all time?" Aiden asked, sarcastically. Several members of the audience groaned at him.

"Screw off and _shut up,_ Aiden!" Jace snapped at him, having lost all patience with the brown-haired boy forever ago.

" _I'll try!_ " Jesse shouted back.

Olivia teleported right in front of an Enderman, just as a tractor beam fell on it. Olivia jolted back in surprise as the Enderman let out a screech of rage, looking up at the tractor beam, before vanishing. The Enderman hybrid blinked for a minute.

"What just happened?" Sparklez asked.

Nell shook her head slowly. "I have no clue, dude."

Onscreen-Olivia suddenly gasped and threw herself to the right and teleporting out of sight as a tentacle slammed down on top of where she'd been only seconds previously.

Axel let out a relieved sigh and tightened his arm around the dark-haired girl's shoulders.

Jesse cut precisely around as several tentacles stabbed into the ground violently around her, some missing her by a hair and one of them coming close enough that if she hadn't veered away at just the right second, it would've impaled her. As it was, it cut off a good two inches of her hair.

" _That was close,_ " Jesse murmured to herself.

Not even a few seconds later, a flaming skull blasted a crater in the ground in front of her. Jesse instinctively tensed her muscles and leaped- just in time, too, because she'd nearly fallen into the crater just by scuttling forward. She barely cleared the gap and kept bolting forwards. " _HO-kay, never mind, THAT was close!_ " she shrieked.

The whole group raced towards this bridge that crossed a small chasm. " _There!_ " Jesse shouted, which seemed a bit obvious. " _We just need to get over that-!_ "

A flaming skull smashed through the bridge, making the whole group come to a screeching halt to avoid falling into the chasm. Gabriel nearly toppled off his horse, as they all stared at where the bridge had been in dismay.

The audience gaped.

"- _bridge,_ " Jesse finished the thought with an annoyed sigh.

* * *

 **A/N: Annnnd we'll stop right there xD**

 **By the way, some of the previous chapter's book titles have been changed, but not a lot.**

 **RQTC: Who's hyped up for the next chapter? (grins) Oh, god, I'm actually the most hyped up to write everything in this episode. You'll see why if you've never read Hybrid, and if you have... be prepared for some nice little surprises.**

 **DynamiteHunter6: (grins)**

 **S4SH4L4SH4theGaMeR101: (laughs) Yep. / And yep x3 / Um, no... I don't get the reference. / Heehee xD**

 **RavenBlaze4850: Yes! / Hahaha xD We'll see**

 **Emily The Avenger: (cracks up)**

 **LittleAngelbun: (laughs) I'm pretty sure most of the readers of this story are fully aware. / Fair enough.**

 **MissyMattingly: (shrugs) Fair enough.**

 **the indecisive bird: (laughs) Same here, though / Not ALL the other fics. It's slightly related to the plot which books they're in there, so yes, faintly important. But I ain't saying nothing more. xD**

 **KaosRuin: (laughs)**

 **RapidSammi: Hehehe xD / Yay!**

 **AquaK13: Heehee x3 / (laughs) / I know, right?**

 **NinjaNaranja: No, not at all x3**

 **Darkbeast Dend: It means I've been good lately.**

 **LunarStarsMoon: (laughs) Nice, dude. / Yes indeed~ / Haha, yep x3**

 **Rabbits rule: (cracks up) / ... um... / (coughs)**

 **FireBallin17: Ah, I see.**

 **x.X. A.L. X.x**


	57. Safe (For Now, Anyway)

More and more Endermen were teleporting into sight around the group as they gaped at where the bridge had been moments before, Gabriel's horse dancing aside a few steps and the other horses shying away. Jesse looked around when suddenly a pair of black legs appeared right in front of her. Slowly, her eyes raised so that she was staring at the Enderman in the face.

"Oh crap!" Dan squealed in fear. Olivia had hidden her face again.

A tractor beam fell on the one Jesse was having the staring contest with, and its head snapped upward to look at the Witherstorm, screeching angrily before it vanished. Jesse looked up, mouth falling open slightly in astonishment as the Enderman appeared on the Witherstorm, ripping off one of the tentacles and making it roar in pain.

" _The Endermen!_ " Soren exclaimed, looking just as astonished. " _They're slowing it down!_ "

Olivia looked at one of the nearby Endermen, and let out a little series of noises that was akin to the sounds that Endermen made. It looked over at Olivia, nodded, and then screeched as it teleported out of sight, reappearing on the Witherstorm and beginning to rip blocks off of it.

" _What'd you just say to it?_ " Axel asked her, curiously.

Olivia shot him a glance, a faint smile coming over her face. " _'Thank you',"_ she told him.

" _What for?_ "

She rolled her eyes, the smile widening a bit. " _No, no, that's what I told the Endermen._ "

" _Oh._ "

This prompted a round of giggling from the audience.

Onscreen, Petra was gaping upwards at the chaotic flurry of tentacles and debris up in the sky. " _Are we seeing Endermen attacking a Witherstorm?_ " she asked slowly, looking stunned.

" _Endermen move blocks,_ " Soren said slowly, staring at the Witherstorms as they thrashed around and roared in agony. " _It's what they do._ "

Jesse shook her head a bit, quickly shaking herself out of the stunned reverie she'd fallen into. " _What are we just waiting here for?_ " she mumbled. She darted forward and shot string from her hands. Quickly flinging herself to the other side of the chasm, her arms began to weave together rapidly. The screen sped up as Jesse weaved, even flipping upside down and adding some layers to the whole thing, before flipping onto the other side as the others turned around. Taking the single string she'd been lacing the whole thing up with, she gave it a single, good hard yank.

The whole bridge's loose cobwebs jerked together into a much more solid, flat surface.

"That was awesome!" Nell cheered.

Olivia tentatively tapped the bridge with her foot. " _Will it hold everyone?_ " she called out to Jesse.

Jesse looked down at it, scrutinizing her handiwork. " _It should serve our purposes. But just in case, run across as fast as you can._ "

Gabriel firmly flicked the reins of his horse, nearly falling off as it galloped over the bridge, which bounced and wobbled but held. Galvanized by this, the rest of the Order galloped past as well. Axel bolted over, Reuben still riding him, Lukas tore over the bridge, and Olivia teleported after them. The moment Lukas was clear, Jesse flung herself back down to all eights and bolted after them.

Behind them, the Witherstorm let out a frustrated roar as the Endermen kept trying to rip it apart, the whole group fleeing out of reach of the storm, before the screen went black.

Jace threw his arms into the air. "We're all alive!" he cheered loudly. The living room came to life with excited cheering, before the screen started fading back in to show a small cave up in the mountains, and the whole group making their way inside. Snow was starting to dust itself down from the sky.

" _We made it,_ " and Jesse let out an incredulous laugh, her eyes widening. " _We... we actually freaking_ made _it."_

" _Jesse... I'm worried about Gabriel,_ " Petra said, walking over to Jesse. The spider hybrid turned to face her, eyes widening as she took Petra in. The Blaze hybrid's hair looked limp and dead, and her skin was a pale shade of gray.

Petra let out a sad sigh and leaned into Jace. Jace looked at her before tightening his arms around her in a hug. Instead of pulling a Petra like usual and rolling her eyes and making a sarcastic comment, she just let her head lean into the corner of his neck, staring at the screen.

" _If he was inside the Witherstorm... he might have Wither Sickness, like me._ "

Sparklez sighed. "This just gets worse and worse, doesn't it?"

Jesse looked over at the warrior, before slowly beginning to trot towards him. " _I dunno... you've ever acted the way he's been acting. And vice versa._ " She slowed to a stop in front of Gabriel, concern showing in her eyes as she gave him a slow, but encouraging little smile. " _Hey... you alright?_ "

Gabriel just looked at her with this puzzled expression. " _I'm... afraid I don't feel much like myself at the moment,_ " he replied, staring at her with that bemused look.

Jesse's gaze softened, and her lips pressed together into a line. " _I'm sure you don't._ "

Before anyone could say anything else, a voice cut through the air. " _Gabriel! It really_ is _you!_ "

The two of them turned in perfect unison to see Soren, Magnus and Ellegaard walking toward them. Well, more like hobbling for Ellegaard... and she was leaning heavily on Magnus, too. Ellegaard had taken off the suit jacket, which Magnus had wrapped tightly around her side, to show that the white shirt underneath was also drenched with blood. Jesse winced upon seeing that and waved Olivia over. Weaving together a rather large, but thin layer of cloth, she handed the silk over to Olivia. " _Can you take Ellegaard into a corner or something and... wrap up her side?_ "

Olivia nodded, taking the makeshift bandage and reaching out, carefully letting Ellegaard lean her weight against Olivia. " _Hey, hey, easy, Ellegaard... over here._ " And the two of them slowly made their way to the far corner of the cave, Axel, Lukas and Petra sitting in another corner and talking quietly.

Ellegaard let out a sad sigh and shook her head. "I hope I make it," she murmured.

Magnus was staring at the screen, but after a moment he replied, in a voice so quiet that the audience almost didn't catch it. "I hope so too."

Magnus and Soren were grinning at Gabriel in relief when Jesse came back over. " _They told us you'd kicked it!_ " Magnus exclaimed, the grin on his face pretty obvious.

Gabriel took a step back, looking a bit frightened. " _I... what... who are you people?_ "

" _It's me, Magnus!_ " Magnus's grin faded when Gabriel continued staring at him in bewilderment. Gabriel stared at him for a long moment, before shaking his head in confusion and taking another step back, eyes flicking between them in fear.

Ellegaard came back over, Olivia quickly handing her off to Magnus with a worried smile before going back over to Petra to check up on her. Ellegaard's shaky smile faded when Gabriel looked between the three Order members again, still looking totally confused. " _Don't... don't you recognize us?_ " she asked, voice filled with pain- although whether it was from her side, or Gabriel not recognizing her, no one could tell.

" _It's Soren,_ " Soren spoke softly, eyes flicking over Gabriel, who was standing a pretty good distance away, looking wary. " _We've..._ " He paused, looking as if he wanted to say something, before finishing, so quietly that most of the audience nearly didn't catch it, " _We've known each other for a very long time._ "

Gabriel shook his head again, before his eyes went over Soren's shoulder to see Jesse. He gently pushed past Soren to come to a stop next to Jesse, eyes wide. " _You. You're the one who rescued me._ "

Jesse blinked at him. " _Y-yeah..._ "

" _Please, tell me- what's going on?_ "

Jesse paused, seeming unsure of how to put things. Gabriel continued, putting a hand to his forehead, " _I- there was only... darkness. And then... I saw you. I think I... saved you. And then- and then we were... galloping?_ " He trailed off, one hand at his mouth as he kept trying to think. The other Order members came up behind Jesse, flanking her, staring at Gabriel with sad eyes.

" _... you were in the Witherstorm for..._ " Jesse paused as she thought about it, before her eyes widened a bit in surprise. " _... a few days. Trapped._ "

"A few- a few _days?_ " Otto shook his head, making everyone look at him. "It feels almost as if it's been years."

" _That was long enough to do this to me?_ " Gabriel asked, staring at her puzzledly with his discolored eyes.

Jesse gulped, looking as though she were forcing air down into her lungs. " _Yes._ "

Ellegaard shook her head quietly and sadly.

Onscreen, Gabriel looked at the floor. " _... it felt like an eternity. It was dark, it was foul, and I thought I was going to die,_ " he said with some conviction.

" _Well, you're not,_ " Soren said firmly, reaching out and taking ahold of Gabriel's shoulders firmly, making the warrior look up at him in surprise. " _You're going to be alright now._ "

Gabriel blinked at him, before Soren let out a soft sighing sound and pulled the warrior forward into a hug. Slowly, Ellegaard and Magnus moved to join the hug, the whole group slowly sinking to the floor in a pile.

Ellegaard turned away from the screen to bury her head in Magnus's shoulder. He pulled her into a hug, Gabriel leaning against the Rogue as well and shutting his eyes as Soren put his arm around Gabriel and squeezed gently.

Jesse watched them sadly. " _I think they need a bit of time,_ " she said, taking a step. " _We all need a little time. Even us hybrids._ " She suddenly blinked, a vacant look coming over her face. " _... hybrids._ "

"Is something wrong? What do you think, Mevia?" Hadrian asked the cyan-haired woman.

She shook her head, eyes fixed on the screen. "I have no idea, Hadrian."

Slowly, as if in a daze, Jesse made her way over to her friends.

* * *

 **A/N: Ah. I'm surprisingly excited to write the next two chapters. :3**

 **RQTC: WHEN THE HECK DID I REACH 13000 VIEWS GUYS LIKE HOLY HECK**

 **LunarStarsMoon: (laughs) / Yep, pretty much.**

 **Emily The Avenger: (laughs) I don't know what I'd do without this story either. Like lol xD**

 **S4SH4L4SH4theGaMeR101: (laughs) Glad to hear it!**

 **sailor. mikuchan: (grins)**

 **NinaNaranja: I'm glad to hear that!**

 **LittleAngelbun: Yep. Surprises. xD**

 **AquaK13: If you've read the original Hybrid... you've seen a glimpse of exactly how much Cassie swears. xD**

 **RavenBlaze4850: I ain't spoiling anything xD**

 **Darkbeast Dend: Glad to hear you liked Hybrid so much xD**

 **RapidSammi: (cracks up) / I'm glad to hear that!**

 **LegoGirl794: Nice :3**

 **Guest: I think I've addressed this, I'm going on a temporary hiatus. I don't know when I'm going to be back.**

 **Rabbits rule: Screw you, Fluffy, I like Jess. Jess! Come back! (runs after you) / And as for the suggestion... (coughs) No spoilers...**

 **The indecisive bird: The two books don't have anything to actually do with the mystery. It's just the titles. / (laughs) Go for it, dude.**

 **Person: Meow. xD**

 **DynamiteHunter6: (laughs) Glad to hear you liked it, dude.**

 **ChloSky: Lol yep xD**

 **x.X. A.L. X.x**


	58. Tear

Jesse sat down next to Lukas, the group of hybrids sitting in a little circle.

" _Oh my god,_ " Lukas said at last, in a soft voice. " _I just... we're._ " A hollow little chuckle. " _We're hybrids._ "

There was a moment's pause, before, as if he just realized it for the first time, he said, voice rising in both volume and pitch, " _Oh my_ Notch _we're HYBRIDS!_ " He leaped to his feet, blue-green eyes darting everywhere in a panic. " _We're not even_ human _, holy_ crap!"

"You _just_ realized that?" Aiden asked sarcastically.

" _Wow,_ " Jesse said quietly, shaking her head and staring at the wall, a blank look in her eyes.

" _We haven't actually... had the time to think about it,_ " Olivia said quietly, staring at the floor. " _We never had time. There was always something that was more of an immediate shock or threat. But now that I'm actually taking the time to sit and think about it..._ " She shook her head as well. " _I think I'm going insane._ "

Petra let out a hollow laugh, which quickly deteriorated into a soft cough. " _How... how didn't we know... how didn't we realize... for_ ten years. TEN YEARS. _That's a long time to not even realize that you're not even fully..._ human."

Jesse shook her head again. " _Wow,_ " she repeated.

Axel let out a laugh, but it was more of a nervous, querulous affair. " _None of us- we're practically monsters- we ARE monsters- almost literally- why haven't-!_ " his breath hitched as he tried to inhale, " _why haven't we all freaked out big-time by now!_ "

" _Wow,_ " Jesse repeated again. Her expression was still full of blank shock, and that one syllable seemed to be the only word she could say right then.

"I kinda get how they're feeling," Stampy mumbled, scratching his cheek. "I mean, they found out they're half googly, and they haven't actually freaked out about it until now... I think they're just realizing, in a way."

" _I can't believe it..._ " Olivia said slowly, hugging herself a bit as she kept staring at the floor.

Lukas shook his head and plopped back down next to Jesse, leaning against the spider hybrid. " _I- I can't, either. It just seems so... fantastical._ "

" _It's absurd,_ " Olivia agreed, reaching up and pinching the bridge of her nose as if she had a headache.

A short pause. Petra finally shook her head. " _Okay. I don't know... I just feel like we've kinda already accepted the fact. We just..._ " She trailed off, before giving her head a slow shake, a hollow laugh making its way out of her throat. " _We just never had the time to freak out about it before._ "

" _Yeah,_ " Axel panted out, still hyperventilating a bit. " _Yeah._ "

Jesse finally looked from the wall to her friends, green-and-red eyes flicking carefully from each person. " _I'm just... I'm glad we're all together. I'm glad we're all here,_ " she said finally, a faint smile coming over her face.

Petra leaned forwards without a word, dragging Jace with her, and pulled Jesse into a hug. Lukas joined in a second later, and Axel and Olivia joined into the group hug. For a moment, the gang sat there entangled in their hug in perfect silence, before they all shifted backwards again.

Everyone quietly echoed agreement onscreen. Jesse looked at Petra, eyes growing much more concerned and the smile falling right off her face. " _Are..._ " she paused, before amending whatever she was about to say and finishing slowly, " _How are you doing?_ "

Petra looked at her feet, hunching down into herself. " _If I don't move... or breathe... I feel like it's almost bearable._ " She hunched down a little more. " _And that's ignoring the cold._ "

Olivia huffed and crossed her arms. " _Man, if Ivor hadn't even created the stupid Wither, Petra wouldn't even be like this right now."_

" _That's not entirely true,_ " and that drew several surprised sets of eyes to the redhead, who was starting to slide down the cave wall with a pained look. " _If I didn't bring the Wither Skull to Ivor, he wouldn't have been able to create the Wither in the first place."_

Jace was shaking his head at Petra almost before onscreen-Petra stopped talking. "You're wrong. The blame for this whole mess isn't on you. It's on Ivor. Think about it, if he hadn't even _planned_ to create the Witherstorm, he wouldn't have even asked you."

Petra just pressed her lips together and didn't say anything.

Jesse looked down at her feet onscreen, her own lips pressing together into a thin line.

" _Jesse, I know this is probably... a bad time..._ " The girl looked up and turned around to see Soren approaching, his voice rising. " _But what happened out there?! Why is that thing still alive?!_ "

Both Real-Jesse and Onscreen-Jesse winced a bit at the rising volume and pitch of Soren's voice as he stalked towards her. " _My instructions were simple! You were the one in the middle of everything, what went wrong?!_ " By the time he'd finished the sentence, his voice had risen into the point where he was practically screaming.

"It's not her fault, don't yell at her!" Lukas said defensively, tightening his arms comfortingly around Jesse's shoulders. The black-haired girl gave him a grateful look, since she'd started trembling like a leaf and looked as though she might start crying any second.

" _Why is that_ thing _still alive?!_ " Soren nearly _screamed_ at Jesse, and Lukas was getting up defensively, ears twitching angrily, but then something happened.

Jesse snapped.

" _I don't_ know, _okay?!_ " she yelled at the top of her lungs, making Soren step back a step in alarm. " _What I_ do _know is that whole mess is my fault!_ " She grabbed at her hair, eyes wide and filled with tears and, altogether combined, making her look outright deranged.

" _If I'd convinced Petra not to give the skull to Ivor, if I'd convinced Axel not to take that potion, if I'd been able to get Gabriel out, if I hadn't taken Ellegaard's armor, if I had just been_ better _then Petra would be okay, Gabriel wouldn't have amnesia and Ellegaard wouldn't have gotten hurt and **NONE OF THIS WOULD HAVE HAPPENED!**_ **"** she screamed, so hard that her voice cracked, tears overflowing out of her eyes and down her cheeks as every bit of stress and pent-up emotion came pouring out of the spider hybrid with the force of a sledgehammer.

Jesse was staring at the screen with a blank expression, but her eyes were actually starting to overflow with tears, the tears flowing down her cheeks freely. Soren gave the girl a rather guilty look, biting his lip at the sight of both Jesses seeming to be crying.

" _Oh... Jesse, no!_ " Olivia was moving towards Jesse onscreen, reaching out to the spider hybrid with an alarmed look, " _No, it's not- don't- it's not your fault-!_ "

" _Yes it_ is!" Jesse sobbed out, hands clamped over her ears defensively and stepping out of reach of Olivia's arms as the others slowly started moving towards her, worry obvious on their faces. " _I'm not good enough! I'm_ never _good enough! I'm a screwup, I've always been a screwup, I'll always_ be _a screwup and I'll never be able to do_ anything _right!_ "

Lukas wrapped his arms around Jesse in a tight hug, the black-haired girl simply continuing to stare at the screen vacantly.

Onscreen, Jesse suddenly whirled around, ignoring the alarmed cry and the hand that brushed against one of her lower ones as she bolted out of the cave and into the trees, tears still pouring down her cheeks as she fled, running and running and running and _running-_

Her foot hit a tree root, and she pitched forward with an alarmed cry before falling facefirst into the dirt, snow drifting out of the sky around her.

There was a full minute of silence, before Jesse slowly sat back up, drawing her knees up to her chest and letting out a series of hiccupping, tearful sobs. Any mental wall that she'd put up to repress her emotions had just shattered.

Soren shook his head. "I'm sorry, Jesse. I shouldn't have shouted at you," he apologized, rubbing the back of his head.

Jesse just continued staring at the screen, tears still pouring down her cheeks from her vacant eyes, before she said in a soft voice, "It's alright. I'm used to it."

Unbeknownst to her, several members of the audience exchanged puzzled looks at that.

Onscreen, Jesse's shoulders were shaking as she cried. After a few seconds, the sound of crunching snow could be heard. Jesse didn't uncurl herself. She didn't look up from the little ball she'd balled herself up into to see who it was, hugging her knees and rocking back and forth slightly.

A hand settled onto her back and began to pat her quietly, the owner of the hand not visible on the screen. Jesse slowly relaxed, her knees still drawn up to her chest as her head slowly raised to show red, slightly puffy eyes as she stared straight ahead.

"Who's petting Jesse?" Dan wondered, eyes narrowing questioningly. Stampy shrugged at the question, looking just as bewildered as Dan did.

Suddenly, a surprised sound came out of Jesse's throat, and she looked up suddenly, eyes widening. After a second, she sat up straighter and turned to look over her shoulder.

To most of the audience's surprise, kneeling in the thin layer of snow and dirt on the ground, and still quietly patting her on the back, was Ivor.

* * *

 **A/N: I feel like this is just as awkwardly written as it was the first time around, even with the changes to dialogue... aggggghhh... well, anyway, this is part of the reason I was so hyped to write this chapter xD Because Jesse breaks down. xD xD xD Lemme know if you have any suggestions to fix the chappie!**

 **RQTC: Is this awkwardly written to you, or is it just me?**

 **Emily The Avenger: Lol, yep xD**

 **Kaos Ruin: I know, right? And no, but she is going to start crying. I think with Ivor and Aiden, their personalities at the time reminded her more of her actual father, so she was more fearful about the whole thing. Soren is as far from his personality as you can reasonably get, so she doesn't react the same way- she does flinch, though.**

 **AquaK13: Hehe xD / Aww, thanks.**

 **Darkbeast Dend: Cool. / Heehee**

 **SofiaTheWriter88: Ooh, were they?**

 **S4SH4L4SH4theGaMeR101: Thankssss :3**

 **Rabbits rule: I could've been a lot ruder, Fluffy xD / Haiiii :3 / Like I said... no spoilers.**

 **RapidSammi: N'aww thanks Sammi-kun.**

 **x.X. A.L. X.x**


	59. Possible Explanations

" _Ivor?_ " Jesse straightened up, eyes widening in surprise. This released more tears down her cheeks, but she paid that no heed- she was staring at the man sitting behind her in the snow. " _What are you doing here?_ "

Ivor paused, looking at Jesse for a moment with this odd expression on his face, before saying, tentatively, " _I... I have something I need to tell you. I need to tell everyone._ "

Jesse just stared at him for a minute uncertainly, concern in her eyes from where she was still hugging her knees. The corners of Ivor's mouth twitched, before he said, in a voice that had grown extremely quiet, " _Please._ "

The spider hybrid hesitated for another moment, before smiling a bit in a quivery way and standing up, brushing the snow off of the armor bottoms. " _Sure. C'mon, we're all back this way._ "

Ivor stood up, still looking at her oddly, before suddenly reaching forward and pulling the spider hybrid into a hug. Probably the first hug he'd given her in _years._

Jesse's eyes widened, freezing in place from where her face was now pressed into his shoulder, before she shut her eyes and let herself lean her head into his shoulder. Her lower arms all slowly moved into place to hug him tightly, the two of them now standing intertwined in a hug.

The audience all glanced at Jesse, but she was staring at the screen with this faint, happy smile. Ivor watched her for a minute as well, before a soft smile tugged at the corner of his mouth, and he slowly turned back to the screen. Harper was the only one to notice this.

Finally, Jesse let go of him, and Ivor stepped back, giving Jesse a weak smile. She returned it, before turning around silently and heading back, Ivor following a few steps behind.

The whole group looked up as she re-entered the cave, concern and worry in their eyes. The concern and worry suddenly turned to rage upon spotting who was behind her.

Well, except for Gabriel. He just kind of blinked.

" _Ivor?!_ " Soren growled, launching to his feet as Reuben galloped over to where Jesse was standing, rubbing his head against her leg. Jesse grinned and leaned down, patting the pig on the head.

" _You need to hear me out! What you all need to understand is that you're in very grave danger!_ " Ivor protested, flailing his hands in a 'surrendering/pinwheel' motion.

Hadrian gave Ivor an incredulous look. "You don't think they know that?!" he exclaimed, breaking out of his announcer's voice for once.

Onscreen, Petra seemed to have the same sentiment, because she let out a bark of angry, sarcastic laughter. " _Obviously!_ "

" _No, no, I mean- this group, specifically! The Witherstorm isn't acting randomly, it's following Gabriel!_ "

Gabriel blinked from where he was sitting on the ground. " _It's doing what now?_ " he asked, sounding puzzled.

" _Yo_ _u see, I... might have programmed it to follow his amulet._ "

"Oh god!" Dan exclaimed. "No wonder that thing's been find you lot so fast; it's been following you!"

"It tried to grab Gabriel back at the temple because he had the amulet," Lukas muttered, turning paler and paler every moment, "then it tried to follow Jesse through the portal because _she_ had it, then it followed them to Boom Town, and then to Soren's fortress... how didn't we notice- how didn't we-?"

Gabriel winced. "I'm sorry, Jesse. I shouldn't have given you the amulet."

"We never would've found you or the rest of the Order if you hadn't. Besides, how were you supposed to know that the Witherstorm was programmed to follow it?" Jesse said quickly and reassuringly, putting her hands up.

Onscreen, the cave was utterly silent. Everyone was staring at Ivor, before they all slowly turned to stare at Jesse, whose eyes were as wide as dinner plates.

Ivor slowly followed their gaze as Jesse reached into her back pocket with one of her lower arms and slowly tugged out the amulet. She held it out to him a moment later, looking completely speechless. Every gem in the amulet was glowing with a beautifully bright aura. The Order of the Stone was reunited, for the first time in years.

Ivor's mouth dropped open in shock, and he looked up from the amulet at Jesse. " _I... I didn't know..._ "

" _ARGH, Ivor, you- you_ fool!" Soren practically snarled, throwing his hands into the air. " _You've created a monster that's following Jesse! And it's only getting stronger!_ "

Ivor's head snapped around to face Soren, dark blue eyes blazing with anger. " _You don't think I don't know that?!"_ he snapped, " _Nothing can stop those things! Nothing even slows them down!_ "

Lukas glared at Ivor, tail flicking to and fro with agitation. " _Way to point out the obvious._ "

Jesse's brow was furrowing even as Lukas said this. " _Well... nothing except for Endermen,_ " she said, thoughtfully.

Ivor turned to stare at her, looking totally bemused. " _Endermen?_ "

" _Endermen...?_ " Soren echoed. His eyes widened a second later. " _Of course! Endermen! They could tear the Witherstorm apart! You saw them, the tractor beams travelled over them, and they went wild!_ "

Everyone's eyes widened, before Jesse's excited expression fell. " _Oh... we're forgetting about something... Soren, when we blew the Witherstorm up, we didn't destroy the Command Block. It was... fine. Not even a dent or scratch anywhere on it. It nearly got me,_ " and this made Jesse shudder.

Lukas swallowed a bit and tightened his arm around Jesse.

" _So even if the Endermen ripped the Witherstorm into tiny pieces-_ " Jesse began, but Soren had gotten the gist.

" _They wouldn't be able to destroy the Command Block._ " He sighed. " _And nothing can destroy that thing. Not even the Formidi-Bomb. I see your point._ "

Ivor tilted his head thoughtfully, eyes narrowing, before saying, tentatively, " _Actually, I... may have a solution to that._ "

"You do?" Harper looked at him in surprise. Joined by most of the other members of the audience.

"Yes, I do, it's..." Ivor paused, before gesturing at the screen. "I'm sure I'm about to explain it."

Onscreen, everyone's heads whipped around to stare at him, as he continued, " _When I first took possession of the Command Block-_ "

" _You mean stole it._ "

" _Yes, well-_ " Ivor waved Soren off absentmindedly, " _I created a failsafe. A backup plan of sorts, just in case._ "

"So why didn't you tell us that?!" Petra snapped. "Or used it yourself?!"

Ivor sighed, sounding extremely impatient now. "I wasn't expecting things to go so awry. Besides, I had the potion, which _would_ have worked if you lot hadn't _stolen_ it."

"Technically, Axel was the one who stole it," Stacy pointed out. "None of the others really had anything to do with it."

Jesse raised her eyebrow, before spreading her arms expansively. " _Yes, well, I'd be rather inclined to say 'just in case' would be right now._ "

"I agree with Jesse," Lizzie called out, raising her hand like a schoolgirl. Dan grinned at her in amusement.

" _I'm inclined to agree,_ " Ivor agreed with the black-haired girl.

" _So, what is this failsafe?_ " Soren asked, crossing his arms and scowling at his former friend.

Ivor began to pace the floor, a thoughtful look entering his dark blue eyes. Jesse arched her eyebrow at him. " _I always liked it when you got that look in your eyes. Although that did mean sometimes I had to hide behind you while you mixed potion ingredients together._ "

This prompted several laughs from the audience.

Onscreen, Ivor grinned a bit, but briefly. You could see he was definitely in thought now. " _An enchanting book. One that contains the power of the Command Block itself,_ " he spoke after a few more seconds of thought.

Everyone in the cave, and in the living room, exchanged shocked glances as Ivor finished, " _Use it to enchant a weapon, and you'd be able to smash the Command Block into pieces. Forever._ "

" _That sounds perfect!"_ Axel exclaimed. " _Let's go get that super weapon!_ "

Ivor winced at this. " _Just... one problem._ " This made everyone look back at Ivor, who was rubbing the back of his head sheepishly. " _It's at my secret lab... which is sort of... far away._ "

A loud groan rose through everyone in the cave.

"Of course it's far away," Em groused. "Why are we even surprised at this point?"

" _How far away would 'far away'_ _be?_ " Ellegaard asked, slowly, her hand still clamped tightly over her side.

Ivor let out a nervous laugh as he stepped back. " _Ah... well... let's just say it's the farthest place a person can travel before being utterly-_ "

" _Well, before we worry about it, we all need to get some rest,_ " Jesse interrupted. " _Some of us haven't slept for days. We need to take a quick break before we all pass out or something._ "

There was a short silence, before Ellegaard managed to break the silence by letting out an incoherent groan and slumping sideways, face turning pale.

" _Ellie!_ " Magnus exclaimed, grabbing Ellegaard's shoulders and trying to keep her upright, but Ellegaard's eyelids had fluttered shut, and her breathing was getting more and more shallow.

Ivor frowned as he approached, tentatively. Nobody tried to keep him from getting closer. " _What happened?_ " he asked, a note of rising concern making his voice rise an octave. " _What's wrong with her?_ "

Olivia shook her head, kneeling down and trying to keep Ellegaard from simply collapsing. " _The Witherstorm hit her and- we don't know. She's been bleeding nonstop for the past hour or so, though._ "

Ivor knelt down, eyes narrowing as he stared at Ellegaard, before reaching into his back pocket and starting to pull out some bottles, muttering as he did so. " _No... no... wrong type... got it._ " He stared at the bottle with a faintly green liquid in it, an expression of misgiving coming over his face, before he turned to look at Jesse. " _Hey, Jesse. Could you come here for a moment?_ "

Ellegaard stared at the screen, before looking at Ivor. "Are you trying to heal me?"

Ivor just stared at the screen, lips tightening into a thin line.

Jesse blinked before kneeling on the ground next to Ellegaard, whose breathing was getting more shallow and pained with each inhale. " _Yeah? What is it?_ " she asked, staring at Ellegaard worriedly.

Ivor stared at the bottle grimly, before looking up at Jesse, resolve hardening. " _I might have a way to heal the worst of Ellegaard's injuries._ "

That got her attention. Jesse was now staring at Ivor intently, as were several people in the cave. " _How?_ "

"Yes, how?" Soren asked. Ellegaard hushed him, staring at the screen intently.

" _But..._ " Ivor paused, staring at the bottle again, before looking back at Jesse. " _The thing is, it's incredibly risky. There's a high chance that I'll get the dosage wrong and kill her by accident. I'm not going to try it unless you all think it's worth a try._ "

There was an ugly silence at that as everyone took that fact in. Ellegaard stared at the screen, before letting out a little sigh and shaking her head at the male, a faint smile coming over her face. "Thank you, Ivor."

"What for? I haven't done anything yet," Ivor said, staring at Ellegaard bemusedly.

"No, you haven't. But you're willing to try. So... thank you," Ellegaard repeated, tightening her grip on Magnus's hand.

Ivor stared at Ellegaard for another moment, before shaking his head slightly and turning back to the screen.

Onscreen, Jesse was turning back from everyone else, before giving Ivor a slow nod. " _I think we should risk it._ "

Ivor watched Jesse evenly, before uncorking the bottle. " _Alright, if we're going to try. I have an extremely weak healing potion here. It would be enough to fix maybe a sprained ankle at most, so that is why we're going to try strengthening it. But... we're going to have to go with a very risky option, since I don't have any of my potion supplies with me._ "

Jesse didn't look like she was enjoying the way this conversation was going.

Ivor paused another moment, before saying, " _I'm going to tell you what you need to do, but I need you to keep an open mind to the idea..._ "

"Just _tell them_ already!" Mevia snapped impatiently.

Ivor merely grunted at her. "I'm not exactly stoked about the idea right now."

Onscreen, Jesse put her hands up in surrender. " _I promise I will react perfectly neutrally to whatever you're about to say._ "

" _Okay..._ " Ivor still looked extremely unsure, before stating bluntly, " _I need you to bite Ellegaard._ "

There was a very long, very pregnant pause.

" _Can I react now?_ "

Clutch snorted at that.

" _Yes._ "

" _Why the heck am I going to bite Ellegaard!? Wouldn't I just poison her?!_ " Jesse exclaimed, flinging her arms into the air and nearly smacking Magnus in the face by accident.

" _Well, no, not exactly..._ _see, spider venom actually reacts with healing potions in an interesting way. It's not used very often, since it's a risky option that you'll kill the person you're attempting to heal, but like I said, I don't have any of my supplies with me."_ Ivor opened his mouth to keep expanding on it, but Jesse put a hand up rapidly, staring at him blankly.

" _Ivor, please give it to me in the most succinct way possible, or we'll be here until next Sunday._ "

Ivor arched his eyebrow slightly, a smirk playing on his mouth, as the rest of the Order stifled their laughter.

Onscreen, the man smirked a bit himself. " _Alright. Spider venom has a strange quality that allows it to boost a potion's strength; as well as making Potions of Poison. When a healing potion reaches a person's stomach, the stomach acids allow the potions to reach the bloodstream directly. So if you were to bite Ellegaard, and get the dosage correct..._ "

Jesse finished the thought, her eyes widening. " _It would be enough to boost the healing potion's strength._ "

Ivor nodded, a faint smile coming over his face. " _Yes. Admittedly, since this is a weak potion, it won't be able to heal every injury even with the correct venom boost, but it will stop any internal bleeding and fix up any severe external wounds."_

"Have you actually tried that before?" Harper asked him.

Ivor shrugged in response. "No, not exactly, but I've studied the theory extensively. It... should work." He paused. "If Jesse can dispense the exact amount of venom needed."

Jesse rolled her eyes. "So, no pressure then."

Lukas snorted a bit at that.

" _But what is the correct dosage?"_ Jesse asked, frowning at Ivor as she realized the gaping flaw in the plan. "I _sure as hell don't know it. Please tell me you do._ "

" _As a matter of fact, yes._ _Adult spiders- you count as one now, since adult spiders reach full maturity after only about... er... 4 years...?_ "

" _Ivor?_ " Jesse was raising her eyebrow at him now. " _Could you speed up the explanation a bit? I'd rather not have Ellegaard die on us while you explain the logistics of the whole thing._ "

Ivor rolled his eyes, but he was smiling faintly. " _Alright. Adult spiders dispense about an ounce of venom every second. I need about one ounce to mix properly with the potion. So you just need to bite her for a second and then pull back._ "

Jesse stared at Ellegaard, before nodding and taking Ellegaard's hand from her side, which was starting to go limp. " _Okay..._ " She paused, before looking at Ivor. " _Do I need to bite anywhere specific?_ "

" _Spider venom is very fast-acting,_ " Ivor said almost absentmindedly, moving towards Ellegaard and making Olivia and Magnus automatically back away as he paused right in front of the woman, " _so no, anywhere is fine."_

Jesse nodded, before lifting Ellegaard's hand to her mouth with a dubious look. After a few seconds of hesitation, she opened her mouth and bit down.

One second passed before Jesse jerked her head back, something acid-green dripping onto the cavern floor as she jerked back and scrambled away from Ellegaard. At the same moment, Ivor quickly dumped the potion into Ellegaard's mouth. There was a long pause, before Ellegaard suddenly let out a shuddering gasp and shot upright, conking her forehead against Ivor's and making the man fall over backwards with a yelp.

Ivor huffed a bit while the audience attempted to stifle their laughter at this.

" _I- Ivor?_ " Ellegaard was gaping at the man, looking down at herself. " _I'm... alive?_ " Her eyes widened. " _Ah,_ sh-!"

Her swear word was cut off as she winced. " _Looks like my leg's not healed..._ "

" _No, but the worst of the damage up here should be... fine. For the most part,_ " Ivor amended the statement after a second or so, " _The wound on your side might still be there, but it's much less severe._ "

Ellegaard paused, before she shook her head a bit, a faint smile coming over her lips. " _I... thank you, Ivor. I know we're not exactly on the best of terms, so... thanks._ "

Ivor stared at Ellegaard, a bemused look on his face. He abruptly stood up a moment later with a loud sigh. " _Damn! I hate social situations. I never know what to do._ "

Magnus burst out laughing at that, partially from relief but partially because he found this amusing, and almost fell off the couch, Ellegaard almost toppling off with him. Several other members of the audience were also starting to titter loudly.

Ivor was about to move away when Gabriel came up to him, holding out his hand with a blank, but warm smile on his face. " _Hello. My name is Gabriel._ "

"Well, at least he's not asking who Gabriel is anymore," Soren said, in an attempt to be optimistic. It didn't really work.

Ivor stared at him for a moment, before looking back at Jesse with an odd expression on his face. " _Somebody pinch me._ "

Jesse did exactly that, making Ivor yelp and rub his upper forearm while scowling at the girl, but there was a small smile twitching on his lips.

This set Magnus off again.

Onscreen, the rest of the Order, excluding Gabriel, were barely able to stifle a round of giggles. Gabriel was smiling vaguely at this, but the smile was wiped off his face as he spotted Lukas looking at Petra with his back to the warrior, the ocelot face clearly visible. " _That jacket... I recognize it!_ "

"Is his memory coming back?" Sparklez asked, hopefully.

Lukas blinked and twisted to look at Gabriel. Jesse looked at Lukas, this bewildered expression on her face, before looking back at Gabriel. " _Lukas always wears that jacket._ "

" _No, no!_ " Gabriel shook his head insistently. " _There- there were other people wearing that jacket when I was thrown from the monster!_ "

Gasps erupted throughout the living room and the cave alike, and Lukas's eyes widened onscreen. Jesse chanced a glance at each of the members of the Ocelots, all of them staring at the screen hopefully.

Gabriel reached up and squeezed his eyes shut. " _Ugh... it- it hurts to just-!_ "

" _Hey, hey, hey,_ " Magnus's eyes were wide as he pulled Gabriel over into a corner, " _it's- it's okay._ "

Ellegaard smirked from where she was still sitting on the floor. " _You looooove us._ "

This set several members of the audience off, Magnus blushing and huffing but not actually saying anything.

" _Ellie, I will slap you._ "

" _You didn't deny it,_ " Soren pointed out, a faint smile twitching on his lips.

Magnus paused, still holding Gabriel by the arm, before turning back and making a face at them.

The laughter in the room reached hysterical-level.

He then walked into the corner. Jesse turned to Lukas, eyes filled with excitement. Lukas had the same expression as he blurted, tail flicking around excitedly, " _Jesse... d-do you think what Gabriel said is true? I mean... if they were just trapped then-!_ "

" _They could still be out there!_ " Jesse exclaimed, a grin spreading across her face.

Lukas nodded almost distractedly. " _I know! That means... I gotta go after them!_ "

Every member of the Ocelots' head snapped to look at the blonde.

A more surprised expression posed itself on Jesse's face. She stared at him for a moment, before opening her mouth to say something, unsurely.

She never finished it as suddenly Petra groaned. Axel quickly reached out and shifted Petra so that she sat on the floor, hugging her knees to her chest with a moan. Jesse bit her lip and glanced at Lukas, who was already turning away and heading for the entrance, before trotting over to Petra.

* * *

 **A/N: Oh my Notch this chapter is so _long_. xD Hence... why it took me three days to do it. **

**Yayyyy Ivor healed Ellegaard. He's not that bad of a bad guy after all.**

 **And holy crap 700 reviews 0-0 Guys this might end up having more reviews than the original Hybrid**

 **RQTC: Danny Phantom or Fairly Oddparents?**

 **Danny Phantom. Ahh... nostalgia xD**

 **DarkPrincess2001: That was my intention xD**

 **MissyMattingly: Alright, if you think so.**

 **sailor. mikuchan: I'm glad to hear you guys think that :3**

 **Emily The Avenger: (laughs) Well, glad to hear that it was your favorite.**

 **the indecisive bird: (shrugs) / Yep, pretty much xD**

 **S4SH4L4SH4theGaMeR101: Yeah :/**

 **NinaNaranja: Alright, if you say so :3**

 **Kaos Ruin: No spoilers. xD**

 **LunarSTarsMoon: (laughs) / Ah. / Ahh, that sucks / Really? I never felt like that part was emotional.. 0-0**

 **RapidSammi: Really?! Wow, I never thought of that part as emotional! / Aww thanks :3**

 **Rabbits rule: Fluffy, what did you find awkward about the chapter? (And Aboun) / (laughs) Uhh, thanks, Kylik... sort of. I'm not sure how to respond. / (laughs) / Auto-correct is a dangerous thing. xD**

 **AquaK13: Alrighty xD / Yep xD**

 **Darkbeast Dend: It's more familial fluff than anything. Kinda like dad-daughter relationship. / Alrighty, glad you think so :3 /**

 **FireBallin17: Whew, good to hear that :3**

 **Beli0304: Nice to meet you Beli! I'm glad you like my stories so far, and I definitely hope you'll stick with them! / Okay, good to hear that :3**

 **TheLadyIanite: (uses one of those little noisemaker toys) xD**

 **LittleAngelbun: Alrighty :3**

 **DynamiteHunter6: I think I addressed this directly in the original Hybrid story? They were six or seven, maybe eight at the most when they were experimented on, so they're about 16, 17, or 18 now.**

 **x.X. A.L. X.x**


	60. Convince

**So, uh... homework and schoolwork's gonna start kicking my butt for the next month. It should calm down around April, but until then updates will be very slow. Sorry! xD**

* * *

Petra was coughing uncontrollably onscreen between speaking. " _We've gotta do-_ " Cough. " _Everything we can-_ " Another cough. " _To make this right._ "

Ivor shifted uncomfortably, but didn't actually say anything.

Olivia hesitated, before slowly crossing her arms and kneeling down so she was on more of an eye-level with the redhead. " _Petra, I know this might be hard to hear, but... you're too sick to do anything._ "

 _"I'm not_ that _sick,_ " Petra argued.

A hand moved to rest on her shoulder, and Petra blinked and turned to see Gabriel pulling his hand away, staring at it and looking bemused that a thin layer of frost was coating it. He stared at it for another minute before looking back up. " _I'm... not sure I know you. I feel like I do, and I should. But... well, I don't. I might not remember anything, but I do know that you can't keep going. These people... they care about you._ " He hesitated, a question in his eyes. " _I think_ I _care about you._ "

Real-Ellegaard cooed teasingly at that. Gabriel leaned over Soren to gently smack her on the back of the head, but he was smiling.

Onscreen, Petra stared at Gabriel with wide eyes as he finished, " _And if you keep going like this, we might lose someone we all care about."_

The redhead stared at him, before huffing and shaking her head. " _No. I'm not a quitter!_ "

" _We're not saying you are,_ " Axel replied, putting his hands up in surrender.

" _I want to be there for you!_ "

"Yeah, I'm not leaving you guys to fight that thing by yourself!" Petra exclaimed.

"Petra, you're getting weaker by the minute," Maya spoke up, gesturing at the screen uncomfortably. "You'll probably slow them down if you come with them."

"I can handle myself!" Petra exclaimed, shooting a withering glare in Maya's direction.

"Can you handle yourself while you're practically freezing to death and dying of Wither Sickness?" Em almost drawled sarcastically. "Face it, Peets-"

"Don't call me that-"

"You're not going to be much use to your friends if you're dead."

"Well I'm not going to just _leave_ them to it!" Petra exclaimed, turning her withering glare onto Em. Em remained quietly unwithered, and Petra refused to back down from glaring at Em.

Jace looked at her, then at Jesse, before he played his trump card. "You know Petra, there's another reason you can't go with them," he said calmly.

Petra twisted to look over her shoulder at him. "And what would that be?" she asked, deceptively calmly.

Jace maintained eye contact with her for a few moments, before speaking, "Because if you die, I will never forgive myself."

Petra blinked, looking confused. "Why?"

Jesse took the opportunity and started running with it. "If you come with us, Petra, and you die, I'm never going to forgive myself for not making you stay behind and rest yourself," she spoke, evenly. "And since Jace and I are pretty much the same person, the guilt stretches to cover both of us."

"So you see Petra, Jesse and I can't let you come with us," Jace finished.

Petra stared at him, before, to several people in the room's surprise, she turned back to the screen, leaning back into his shoulder. "No, I guess you can't," she sighed, leaning her head against his shoulder.

Jace felt his face grow rather hot as he turned to stare resolutely at the screen, ignoring the giggles of the group.

" _Petra, if you keep pushing yourself, you're not going to be_ able _to be there for us,_ " Jesse responded earnestly onscreen, crouching down to meet Petra's eyes.

Petra looked at Jesse for a moment, before slumping back against the wall a bit with a tired sigh. " _Maybe you're right..._ "

"Well of course I'm right, I'm a genius," Jesse teased playfully. This prompted a round of laughter from the audience.

" _Besides, you should probably stay back with Ellegaard,_ " Soren suggested. " _You can check on her injuries and... stuff, and she can make sure you stay... well, relatively warm._ "

Petra stared at Soren for several long moments- long enough to make him begin to fidget uncomfortably- before looking at Jesse, as if expecting her to tell Soren off or something.

"You do realize she's not going to let you come, right?" Isa asked, tentatively.

Wisely, Petra decided not to say anything in reply.

" _You need the most rest out of all of us. And... if you're not going to get it if you come with us,_ " Jesse finally told Petra, gently.

Petra lowered her head with a sigh. " _If you say so..._ " Short pause, before she looked back up. " _But you'd better kick the Witherstorm in the face for me._ "

Jesse chuckled at that, covering her mouth with one hand. She wasn't the only one- many people in the cave, and in fact the room, had started tittering at that. Even Aiden was hiding a grin carefully.

Gabriel tapped Jesse on the shoulder a moment later, making the black-haired girl look back at him. When he had her attention, he pointed at Magnus. " _Er, Jesse... tell me, who is this person? He keeps insulting me._ "

Now it was Real-Ellegaard's turn to burst out laughing, making Magnus blush a bit and huff as he glanced away. Gabriel rolled his eyes, while Soren just shook his head with an amused look.

Onscreen, Magnus laughed and sheepishly rubbed the back of his head while Ellegaard rolled her eyes with a grin.

" _One moment, I feel as if I'm talking to a friend... the next, I'm being made fun of._ "

"Yes. That's Magnus for you," Ivor sighed, pinching the bridge of his nose to hide the fact that a broad grin was making its way across his face.

Onscreen, Ivor rolled his eyes. " _That's Magnus for you,_ " he said, unknowingly echoing himself from a moment before.

"Hey, I just said that."

Harper 'coughed' a bit, hiding an amused grin very carefully.

Onscreen-Soren let out a sigh and put his hands over his eyes, his lips twitching as if he was deliberately hiding a smile. " _You're telling me._ "

" _This is Magnus!_ " Jesse said, flailing all of her arms at the Rogue. " _He's the King of Boom Town._ "

" _Didn't you defeat him and become Queen of Boom Town?_ " Ellegaard pointed out, arching her eyebrow at Jesse.

Jesse dismissed that fact with a wave of her hand. " _I was Queen for, like, twenty seconds._ "A moment's pause, before she quickly waved her hand again. " _B-b, that's not my point! He's your friend. He's been your friend for a very long time._ "

" _Really?_ " Gabriel blinked at Jesse.

" _Really._ "

Magnus sighed and shook his head. " _It's not working._ "

" _Tell him something about your past,_ " Jesse suggested. " _Something only you or the others would know._ "

" _What about the time you set his bed on fire?_ " Ivor suddenly suggested.

"He _what?_ " several audience members exclaimed.

Ellegaard raised her eyebrow at Ivor. " _Which one?_ "

" _I didn't set fire to his bed_ that _many times!_ "

Soren crossed his arms, an amused grin crossing his face. " _You did have a penchant for setting his bed on fire though. He went through, what, twenty? Twenty-seven?_ "

"I went through twenty-eight, but one of them was my fault. I put a bed down in the Nether," Gabriel said thoughtfully, before shooting Magnus a playful glare. "But the remaining twenty-seven were his fault."

Magnus huffed but said nothing.

" _I only set fire to seven!_ "

Olivia rubbed her temples, a broad grin coming over her face. " _Yeah, that makes it_ so _much better,_ " she joked.

" _Ah, yes, I remember now,_ " Ivor put his finger into the air with such a straight face that the audience was positive he was hiding a grin, " _He set fire to seven, blew seventeen to smithereens, and the remaining three he threw off a cliff._ "

 _"I said I was sorry! It was an accident!_ "

" _Which would this be? Setting fire to the bed, blowing it up, or throwing the beds off the cliff?_ " Soren chimed in teasingly.

" _I hate you all,_ " Magnus grouched, his cheeks flushing bright red in embarrassment.

" _Lies, you love us,_ " Ellegaard teased back.

Many members of the audience were now in _stitches_ from this little byplay.

Gabriel stared at them thoughtfully, looking puzzled, before shaking his head. " _I'm sorry... I don't remember._ "

Petra smiled at him before giving him an encouraging slap on the back, seeming to regret it a moment later when Gabriel yelped and shivered. " _It's okay. You'll get your memory back sooner or later. We were all pretty close._ "

Jesse nodded agreeably, before turning back around and going over to Lukas, who was still rummaging through a chest. He paused in his task and looked up upon hearing Jesse's approach. " _Lukas, what are you doing?_ "

The blonde stood up. " _I told you, I'm going after my friends. I thought the other Ocelots were dead, but... if they're not, I have to go find them._ "

"I appreciate the sentiment, Lukas," Maya said softly, "really, I do. But you should stick with Jesse. You have no idea what could happen."

Aiden kept staring at the screen silently, not saying anything.

" _Lukas, you can't just- just up and leave,_ " Jesse protested, " _you're a part of our team now!_ "

The real blonde yelped as Axel reached over and gave him a noogie. "You sure are, Lukas."

"Please don't noogie the blonde!"

This made Petra snort with a grin.

" _Thanks, Jesse... but you saying that just reminds me that I left my team._ " Lukas stepped closer to Jesse, his tail twitching anxiously. " _Look, Jesse, you and me... we've made a really good team so far. We were good friends before, and... I'd go so far as to call us friends now. So... I know you'd understand why I have to go help my_ old _friends. Just like you'd go back for Axel, or Olivia, or Petra._ "

"We'll be fine," Aiden spoke up, making everyone look at him in surprise. When he said nothing else, they all looked back at the screen.

" _Lukas, we were friends_ ten years ago. _We_ are _old friends. And I'm asking you, as a friend-_ " Jesse's voice caught, and she hesitated for a moment, before saying quietly, "please _stay. We need you, Lukas._ "

Lukas paused, looking at Jesse uncertainly. The black-haired girl hesitated, before deciding to drive the point home. " _With three of those things, we need all the help we can get. The best way to help your friends is to make sure the Witherstorm dies, and_ stays _dead this time around._ "

Lukas hesitated a minute longer, before letting out a sigh, ears drooping. " _Okay. I'll stay. I just... I hope they'll be alright._ "

" _I promise I'll do_ everything _to help you find them after this whole mess is over,_ " Jesse said earnestly, almost automatically crossing her heart and covering her eye. Lukas nodded, a grateful smile spreading over his face.

" _... thanks, Jesse._ "

The black-haired spider hybrid moved forward and wrapped her arms around him, burying her head in his shoulder in a tight hug. After a few seconds, he returned it. " _No problem._ "

The screen faded to black, leaving a silence in the room.

"Seriously, you two ought to just kiss already."

Maya had to dive off of Gill's lap to avoid the two pillows that went sailing at the Ocelot member from both Lukas and Jesse.

* * *

 **A/N: So, uh... yeah. I'll be really busy this next month, so updates on this story are going to slow down significantly.**

 **And, like I said, there will be more and more changes as time goes on, but most of them are pretty small.**

 **So, uh... I have 15,000 views on this thing.**

 **Guys, if we keep going at this rate, this story's going to have more views/reviews/EVERYTHING than Hybrid itself.**

 **I'm not freaking out right now because I'm at school and that would be weird. xD**

 **RQTC: Chaotic peace or harmonic entropy?**

 **Harmonic entropy.**

 **rebekahtpe: (laughs) / Huehue (evil grin) / Laptop. xD**

 **Mel: Thanks, Mel! And sure thing!**

 **Darkbeast Dend: Favorite dimension is the Nether. I have no idea why. xD / (pokes myself) Um, nope. Still have a heartbeat and am breathing. I am very much alive. xD**

 **RapidSammi: (laughs) Glad to hear you like it. / I prefer Danny Phantom, it's funny xD**

 **the indecisive bird: Nope xD Yeah, I'm trying to get over 200, 'cause I'M AN OVERACHIEVER! xD**

 **Emily The Avenger: (grins)**

 **NinaNaranja: (grins) Ivor's my favorite character, so he's gonna get some positive attention in this story.**

 **Idon'tlikecheese: (high-five)**

 **Kaos Ruin: (laughs)**

 **DarkPrincess2001: I'm glad you like it! I'm actually planning to rewrite Hybrid with the changes implemented here, but that's still mostly just a thought. / You'll see how they find out when they find out xD**

 **S4SH4L4SH4theGaMeR101: No worries, he's staying xD**

 **LunarStarsMoons: Hehehe xD**

 **AquaK13: Yeeessss xD (high-five)**

 **DynamiteHunter6: Nahh it's cool xD**

 **J.M.M.: Hey, good to see ya man xD As long as it suits you, you can come and go from this site anytime xD**

 **FireBallin17: Haha cool xD**

 **SofiaTheWriter88: (thumbs up)**

 **Beli0304: Haha, yeah. Hence why Jesse's like "Hurry the heck up Ivor" xD**

 **I'm a cat: Woof. xD**

 **Rabbits rule: (laughs) Well, I'm glad you like the chapter.**

 **x.X. A.L. X.x**


	61. The Traveller's Tune

The screen suddenly came back on to a deafening roar.

Jesse jolted upright, rubbing her eyes sleepily. They must've all tried to get some sleep. Ellegaard was leaning against the back wall of the cave but sitting up a bit, wincing as she ran a hand through her now-tangled hair, while Petra was covered with the cloak Jesse had borrowed from the Order's temple.

" _I- we need to keep moving,_ " Jesse said, pulling out the amulet automatically, before looking at it. An uncertain expression made its way across her face, before the screen zoomed in on it.

There was a moment's pause, before suddenly a larger hand took the other end. " _I'll take it._ "

Jesse's head jerked up to look at Axel, shock filling her green-and-red eyes. " _But- Axel- you-you can't!_ " she exclaimed, still not letting go of the amulet. " _You could be killed! You heard what Ivor said, if-!_ "

" _We could all be killed, Jess,_ " Axel pointed out, tugging the amulet from her hand.

Jesse hesitated, before asking, quietly and anxiously, " _Are- are you sure?_ "

" _Of course not,_ " Axel said dismissively, shaking his head with a sheepish smile making its way over his face.

" _But you'll have three Witherstorms following you everywhere you go!_ " Olivia almost burst out, eyes wide.

" _If it gets too intense, I'll duck into the Nether or something,_ " Axel shrugged it off. There was a moment's pause as he pocketed it, before saying quietly, " _I'm tired of being the selfish one._ "

Jesse's eyes were wide, before Magnus came up next to Axel and gave him a quick pat on the back and a worried smile. " _Well, Axel shouldn't have to do this alone. I'm coming with you._ "

"You're really gonna do that?" Ellegaard asked the Rogue quietly from where her head was resting on his shoulder.

Magnus smiled and patted her on the head. "No monster hurts my Ellie and gets away with it."

Ellegaard froze, eyes widening and cheeks flushing bright pink. Magnus blinked at her, before realizing what he said and feeling his own face turn bright red. Ignoring the snickers and pointed looks being sent his way, he went back to watching the screen.

" _Well, I'm coming with Jesse,_ " and Gabriel came up next to Jesse, crossing his arms with a set expression coming over his face. " _I pledged that I would help. And that is what I'm going to do._ "

Jesse looked around the group, a sadder expression coming over her face. The screen switched to show Soren with his hand on Lukas's shoulder, Gabriel and Petra standing together and looking at one another faintly awkwardly, Olivia supporting Ellegaard as the redstone engineer stood up to show them off, Axel standing next to Magnus, and Ivor standing a little ways behind all of them.

Reuben oinked and nudged the spider hybrid's leg, and she smiled faintly and reached down to rub his head, before looking back up at her friends. " _Stay safe,_ " she said quietly, " _all of you. Take care of yourselves._ "

There was a long silence where everyone nodded, before Petra let out a little sigh, walked forward, and pulled Jesse into a hug. Slowly, the rest of the group crowded around, Olivia wrapping her arms around both with general ease, Lukas huddling near Petra a bit, Axel actually lifting the small group off of the ground by a few inches, Reuben butting his head into the impromptu group hug, Magnus placing a hand on Ellegaard's shoulder and guiding her into the hug himself, Gabriel tentatively putting his hand on Petra's back, and Soren let his head drop onto Gabriel's shoulder. Ivor stood at arms' length away from Jesse, before Jesse's hand reached out, grabbed his hand, and tugged him into the hug.

The real-participants of the hug all glanced at each other, before a soft, almost sad smile came over their faces, and they turned back to the screen.

Unbeknownst to them, Hadrian and Mevia exchanged an odd look before turning back to the screen themselves.

Finally, Jesse hopped up onto a horse, Ivor climbing up after Soren onto another one, Lukas perching on another one as well, Gabriel climbing back onto the horse from earlier, and Olivia bleeped into sight on her own horse. Axel and Magnus retreated a few steps, as Jesse pulled Reuben onto the saddle behind her and Petra and Ellegaard retreated into a cave.

Ellegaard took some blocks and started blocking up the cave entrance, while Magnus retreated and Ivor, Soren, and Gabriel started out. The hybrids were left all staring at each other with a sad look.

" _Well... I guess this is goodbye,_ " Petra said, quietly.

Jesse shook her head, glancing away. " _I- um- I don't- like goodbyes,_ " she said quietly, and rather awkwardly.

" _So then what should we call this?"_ Axel asked, after glancing at Petra with a confused look.

The spider hybrid shrugged a bit, uncomfortably. " _I guess it's a... see you later, alligator?_ "

Axel raised his eyebrow. " _See you later... alligator?_ "

Jesse was quiet for a moment, before she took a shaky breath and finished, " _In a while, crocodile._ " With that, she touched her heels to the horse's sides and turned it around, trotting away after Ivor and Soren. Axel turned around and followed Magnus after a few seconds, and Petra stepped back behind the stone wall Ellegaard had just put up, with a small hole to peek out of.

After a minute or two, Jesse turned around in the saddle, watching the whole scene grow smaller, and smaller, before they turned a corner and it was lost from sight. With a heavy sigh, she turned back around again, letting her eyes drift shut.

Dan glanced at Stampy, whose eyes were shiny. Actually, several members of the audience's eyes were looking distinctly watery. "Are you crying, Stampy?" he asked, arching his eyebrow.

"Nooo... I've just got something in my eye."

"What would that be?"

"... tears."

Jesse, whose own eyes were a bit watery, let out a laugh upon hearing that.

The scene faded to show the group trotting through a forest of oak and birch trees, rain drizzling down from the sky. Jesse was carving a scratch on the saddle leather, presumably to mark the first day. After a moment's pause, she pulled out the journal and flipped it open, leaning over to keep the book from getting wet. Gabriel's voice spoke over the screen.

" _The children are rather shy around the scientists, but the moment we enter the room... well..._ " Gabriel paused before continuing, " _let's just say they become extremely enthusiastic. Anyhow, Ivor has started coming weekly (I'm fairly certain Ellegaard had something to do with it) and Jesse looks very happy to read a potion book with him. Sometimes he extracts some of her venom for multiple purposes. The Potions of Poisons that he makes with her venom are easily the strongest we've ever seen. ~ Gabriel._ "

The voiceover's... uh... voice changed to Ivor's. " _I don't really mind coming around. It's nice to see Jesse every week... and I think she's happy to see me. If her jumping on me every single time we come in is any indication._ "

Lukas stifled a laugh. Jesse poked him.

" _Well, lately we've done little IQ tests for them, more as a joke than anything. They... actually have surprisingly high IQs, ignoring the total seclusion that they have from the outside world."_ He paused as well. " _Perhaps that's not entirely accurate. The children do have one small window to the real world, apparently, and that would be us. ~ Ivor._ "

"Awwwww," Lizzie joked. Ivor huffed and looked away, feeling his face become rather hot. Harper stifled a laugh as well.

The sun and moon rose and fell a few times in a sort of patterned succession, before it slowed down sometime while the moon was up. Jesse had the journal out again and was reading it. Soren's voice came on over the screen.

" _We had a... bit of mishap today. The children were in a rather bad mood today... though that may be due to the fact that they had several tests done on them the day before. Actually, I have to wonder what the tests entail, seeing as the children are always in a terrible mood for three days after one of them come up... anyway, back on topic, to cut a very, very, VERY long story short, we had quite a time trying to clean up, what with the smashed glass all over the floor, the scorch marks, the claw marks, the burning cobwebs, and Magnus's clothes catching on fire._ "

The audience were all fighting laughs or grins at this point as Soren paused. He picked a moment later, " _Oh, and the random blocks of dirt and leaves all over the room. You should've seen Ellegaard's hair afterwards! ~ Soren._ "

Ellegaard's hand automatically went to her hair as, coincidentally, her voice came onscreen.

" _I think the children have trouble controlling their powers when they use it past the point which they're used to using it, because Petra set a good deal of the lab on fire by accident this morning-_ "

Jace accidentally let a loud snort escape his mouth. Petra looked at him for a long moment, before she poked him and went back to watching the screen.

" _I'm glad Olivia managed to build a wall high enough to keep the flames and the smoke suppressed while the scientists went to go put it out. Otherwise, we had a... relatively uneventful day. ~ Ellegaard._ "

Jesse raised her eyebrow. "Yes, that's... quite uneventful."

Onscreen, Jesse looked up from the journal. " _Are we there yet?_ " she asked.

" _Almost,_ " Ivor responded.

The sun and moon rose and fell again three more times, before on the last time it came back onto the sun rising over a desert filled with cacti and sand. Jesse looked over at Ivor. " _Are we there yet?_ " she repeated.

He glanced over at her, looking vaguely irritated. " _Not much longer now._ "

Jesse sighed and pulled the journal out of her pocket, flipping it open and trapping the page open. Magnus's voice came onscreen.

" _Soren thinks we should head after the Ender Dragon now. Or, well, soon. Okay, two or three months. We've mentioned it to the kids that we're going in a few months, and, ya know what? They all wanted to come with us! Even Jesse and Lukas, who are not exactly the most violent of the hybrids (that would be Petra and Axel)-_ "

Olivia snorted. Axel put the girl into a gentle headlock and noogied her, making the dark-skinned girl yelp in surprise. Although, admittedly, she did sound rather amused about the whole thing.

" _\- seemed really curious about the whole thing._ " A short pause. " _I have no idea how to tell them they can't come. ~ Magnus._ "

Gabriel's voice came onscreen a few seconds after Magnus's stopped. " _Petra and Jesse are actually getting VERY good at sword fighting. Ivor couldn't come today, but I think he's been teaching Jesse some tricks, because she's not half bad. She actually managed to stay in the fight with me for longer than three minutes before I knocked her over. She didn't seem too upset about me knocking her down, though. She just asked Petra if she wanted to spar, and five minutes later they were swordfighting. It's a wonder how well these different mobs get along. Even Axel and Lukas are more amicable around each other now. Although they do still occasionally hiss at one another._ "

Jesse giggled. Lukas poked Jesse's cheek.

The landscape changed again, moon and sun rising and falling as, presumably, another two days passed. Several trees that looked like giant spikes rose out of the ground around them, seeming to spear the sky with their frozen leaves.

"That's... actually, that's really beautiful," Jesse breathed, looking interested.

Ellegaard nodded, crossing her arms with a small smile. "Yes, those are frozen trees. You must be in a frozen tree forest. That's a... rather rare biome."

"I thought you said they were 'almost' there," Em said, looking bored out of her skull.

Ivor just grumbled and didn't say anything.

Onscreen, Jesse looked over her shoulder. Immediately she whipped around, slapping a hand over her mouth as she tried to restrain her giggles at the sight of Ivor leaning on Soren's back, fast asleep. The builder shot Ivor an irritated look and elbowed him, making the man bolt upright and nearly topple off the horse.

Ivor and Soren felt their cheeks flame red and carefully avoided looking at each other as most of the audience started giggling.

 _"Uh, Ivor, are we there yet?_ " Jesse asked, carefully covering her grin with her hand.

" _Nearly,_ " he replied, shooting Soren an irritated glance.

Onscreen, Jesse glanced at Lukas, who had a hand over his own mouth as well and was sniggering. Grinning and carefully trying not to crack up, Jesse pulled out the journal again and flipped it open, scanning the pages rapidly until she could find the part where she'd left off. Ivor's voice picked up onscreen, over the scene of Ivor shooting Soren an annoyed look and the builder telling him off.

" _I brought my work to the lab today. Jesse helped me, actually, brewing some Potions of Healing. And two of Speed and one of Strength. For someone as young as she is, she's surprisingly good at it."_

Real Jesse pumped her fists in the air, to the audience's amusement. " _I'm not sure if it's because she reads the potion books I bring her so often, or maybe if one of the scientists practice with her, but she's had almost no mishaps._ "

There was a pause. " _Well, except at one point when she accidentally spilled some Blaze powder and gunpowder into the same beaker and nearly blew the whole thing to smithereens._ ~ _Ivor._ "

Jesse let out a little laugh onscreen.

" _There's only a few weeks until we have to fight the Ender Dragon... or well, until the schedule we've s..._ " The voice trailed off. Jesse blinked onscreen, the screen switching to show that half the page was filled with scribbled cross-outs. Jesse scanned the page until she found actual words, and Soren's voice picked back up, " _We told the children that after defeating the Ender Dragon, we may not be able to visit them for a while. They got a bit sad, but then we promised that after the whole thing dies down, we WILL come visit, just not as often. That cheered them up. They got even more cheered up when I gave them some chocolate... though I gave Lukas a fish. Chocolate's like poison to cats and dogs,_ apparently." A short pause. _"Not that Lukas really cares; he eats it anyway. And then he's violently sick for the whole night, since he's half ocelot."_ Another pause. " _It's a good thing Jesse has those Potions of Healing on hand. ~ Soren._ "

Petra patted a wincing Lukas on the back.

The sun and moon rose and fell again, three more times. Jesse looked over at Ivor, raising her eyebrow. " _Are we nearly there yet?_ " she asked, sounding more tired than anything.

Ivor simply let out a sigh. " _No,_ " he said flatly, not bothering to try to tell her that they were 'almost there'.

The audience dissolved into giggles.

Lukas snorted onscreen, making Jesse's lips twitched as she pulled out the journal again as she very deliberately tried to keep from laughing, her friends all attempting to hide their own grins.

It wasn't really working, though.

" _There's only one week left until we go fight the Ender Dragon. The children have started asking, on literally twelve occasions, if they could come. I think Petra has been bugging Gabriel, and I've seen Jesse asking Ivor. I'm pretty sure I've seen Lukas bugging Soren about it, too. We can't let them come with us, unfortunately, for a multitude of reasons._ " A short pause, before Ellegaard sighed. " _What are we supposed to tell them? ~ Ellegaard."_

Magnus picked up a moment later.

" _I'm fairly certain that Ivor and Jesse have been brewing potions as their activity. Only those two can chat without stopping and still not screw up a potion massively."_ He snorted a moment later. " _And only Jesse can mix an incredibly complicated potion in less than ten minutes without stopping chatting once and without screwing up one bit. Her multi-tasking skills are amazing. I wish I could multi-task too. It'd make griefing soooo much easier. ~ Magnus._ "

Onscreen-Jesse snorted at this, before Gabriel started speaking.

" _I'm writing this as fast as I can, seeing as I have to leave this off and quickly get to bed._ _We're going to face the Ender Dragon tomorrow. We stopped at the lab today for the last time for... well, a while. The children all wished us luck, before we split up into our usual pairs and they wished us all the best of luck separately."_ A soft laugh. " _Petra told me to come back safe and alive or else she'd bring me back to life to kick me._ "

Jace cracked up, his laughter not stopping even when Petra playfully smacked him, a faint pink tint to her cheeks and a scowl blazing on her face.

The rest of the audience was doing their best to smother their giggles. She turned a withering glare onto them. They remained cheerfully unwithered, so she dropped the glare.

" _So, they've wished us the best of luck. ... Now, to see if that luck will help us any. ~ Gabriel._ "

Jesse put the journal back into her pocket onscreen, letting out a sigh and absentmindedly patting Reuben, the pig letting out a happy sound as the screen faded to black.

"Ohhhh thank Notch," Em groaned. "That was getting so boring."

Stampy grinned at the comment. "You're worse than Jesse with her 'are we there yet'."

"Are we there yet?" Jesse asked, grinning.

* * *

 **A/N: (laughs) I tried.**

 **RQTC: Anyone heard of Bendy and the Ink Machine? It's... somehow terrifying. xD**

 **LunarStarsMoon: (laughs) / Yay :3 / Hehehe xD / And... no spoilers xD**

 **the indecisive brid: Hehehe xD And thank you.**

 **Emily The Avenger: (laughs) / Yaaaayyy :3 / Teehee xD**

 **Guest: No spoilers :3 / And yes. Yes he is xD**

 **Darkbeast Dend: Sure, it's okay to call someone by a name they don't like. / Hi, Sam!**

 **NinaNaranja: (laughs) / She's like the kind of person who doesn't like nicknames much xD / Cool, thanks!**

 **SofiaTheWriter88: (grins) No spoilers.**

 **Kaos Ruin: Haha I know right?**

 **Beli0304: I'm glad to hear you liked it :3 / Yay! / (cracks up)**

 **AquaK13: Agreed xD A bit too far for now / Yay! And thank you!**

 **RapidSammi: Sure! Just PM me a new thing and I will teach you my mysterious ways xD Well, I'll try. I suck at teaching. xD xD**

 **Rabbits rule: (laughs) / I found a way to include both Jetra and Lukesse in a story. Lord help me xD / ... uhh I dunno. / Random! fjd;aj xD**

 **potato guest: It's actually possible; if there is going to be a Season 2 they probably won't make it until late 2017-2018, so I'm still holding out for it xD**

 **NoItsBecky: I CALLED IT. I KNEW IT WAS BECAUSE YOU DIDN'T LIKE THE SHIPS xD xD xD / Yep xD**

 **rebekahtpe: (thumbs-up) / Haha yeah xD / Ahhh. Yep. xD / Uh... wallet?**

 **S4SH4L4SH4theGaMeR101: Pretty much, yeah xD / And... no spoilers xD**

 **J.M.M: Dude, it's not creepy in the least xD**

 **DynamiteHunter6: Oh. I didn't know that. xD**

 **x.X. A.L. X.x**


	62. One Potato, Two Potato

The screen faded back in on the group riding through a swamp, around midday or early morning, most of them looking bored, half-asleep, or hungry.

" _My rear end is profoundly sore,_ " Gabriel sighed, breaking the bored silence.

Lukas nodded in agreement, running a hand through his hair and wincing as his fingers snagged his ears again. " _I feel like we've been riding for forever,_ " he conceded. Reuben let out an agreeing oink.

Real-Lukas grinned and rubbed Reuben's head.

" _I'm telling you,_ " Soren was saying angrily onscreen, " _we CANNOT go to the Far Lands!_ "

Lukas raised his eyebrow at him. " _Bit late for that now, isn't it?_ " he replied. Jesse stifled a laugh.

"Wait- the _Far Lands?!_ " Ellegaard sat upright, dragging Magnus with her. "Is this the first time this was mentioned, or did I miss something?" She was not the only one to have this rather startled reaction; Gill and Maya looked as if someone had just snapped them out of sleepwalking, and Petra's eyes had widened.

" _They're not just the edge of our world, but the limits of our comprehension!_ " Soren continued, flailing his arms wildly from where he was sitting on the horse, very nearly smacking Ivor in the face.

" _Oh, please,_ " Ivor rolled his dark blue eyes at the ginger. " _The Far Lands are a happy accident. Nature's way of keeping things interesting._ "

Gabriel raised his eyebrow and looked at Ivor. "Uh, Ivor, I don't particularly _like_ to disagree with you, but... I'm going to have to disagree with you on that."

Jesse 'coughed'.

" _No, no!_ " And Soren shook his unruly head so furiously he nearly hit Ivor in the face again, " _they are perilous and unpredictable! Strange sounds, floating points, they are not to be toyed with!_ "

Jesse glanced at Soren. " _They don't sound that bad to me."_

Ivor grinned at Soren. " _See?_ Jesse _thinks the Far Lands are cool._ "

"You sound like a seven-year-old bragging to another one about being right about something," Jesse said musingly.

Stampy made a very odd sound that sounded like a mixture of a laugh, a sneeze, and a cough. In the end, he nearly choked. Dan thumped him on the back, hiding a grin himself at the slightly offended expression now on Ivor's face.

Onscreen-Soren rolled his eyes. " _Well, she WOULD- no offense, Jesse,_ " he added quickly, twisting around to look at Jesse.

She shrugged. " _None taken._ "

Soren turned back to Ivor. " _The Far Lands lie at the very edge of all things. Where logic gives way to chaos. They're a dangerous place to visit. And a_ ridiculous _place to construct a laboratory!_ "

Ivor just chuckled at the ginger a bit. " _Just wait until you see it._ "

"Should we be worried about his sanity now, Mevia?" Hadrian asked, turning to the cyan-haired woman next to him. "Because... I'm worried about his sanity now."

"I am as well, Hadrian," Mevia replied, glancing at Ivor with a faintly disturbed look. Neither of them had actually _been_ to the Far Lands, but... judging by some of the group's reactions, and the description Soren had given earlier...

" _Do you two never stop arguing?_ " Olivia snapped at last, sounding irritated now.

" _Yeah. They're kind of like an old married couple,_ " Jesse remarked teasingly.

At this, Soren choked, and Ivor fell off the armchair.

Real-Jesse had been holding back her giggles, but at seeing their reactions she simply burst out laughing, falling over backwards and accidentally hauling Lukas with her. The blonde seemed a bit preoccupied with laughing so hard that tears were practically streaming down his cheeks at this little comment.

Not that the rest of the audience was doing much better. Petra had a hand clamped over her mouth, where she was trying to repress an irrepressible grin, and Jace was cackling with laughter so hard that he sounded like a witch. Olivia had her face back in Axel's shoulder, the burly boy doubled over with his arm resting on the coffee table and his face hidden in his arm. Reuben was making a snorting sound that sounded remarkably like laughter, Benedict seemed to be laughing, and even Winslow seemed to be sniggering at this. Gill and Maya were both _howling_ with laughter, and even Aiden was fighting to repress a grin. Magnus and Gabriel were in stitches, and Ellegaard was nearly in tears from how hard she was laughing.

It was with a massive amount of self-control that Isa was keeping a straight face, but Reginald's grin was plastered across his face, and Milo had literally dived over the back of the couch to try to hide his laughter. Cassie had this silly grin on her face, Stampy was making that odd choking/sneezing/laughing sound again, Dan was making the stupidest face to try to hide his amusement, Lizzie had her head in her hands, Stacy had tears rolling down her cheeks, and Sparklez had essentially fallen off the couch. Harper had a pillow up to her face, where she was very obviously giggling at this. Em and the gladiators were all laughing openly, while Nell had this broad grin on her face. Otto had an extremely amused look on his face, while Hadrian and Mevia were basically cracking up.

Soren and Ivor glanced at each other, a red-hot blush covering their faces, before looking away again.

Soren and Ivor turned bright red onscreen and turned back to gape at Jesse. Lukas snorted a bit, ears pricking up in amusement.

" _I don't know. I'm too hungry to care,_ " Gabriel sighed, leaning back a bit.

" _Yeah,_ " Lukas agreed, his amusement fading, " _I'm starving._ "

" _When was the last time we ate anything?_ " Olivia mused. " _Last time I remember actually eating was about two weeks ago, in that dirt hut. And Jesse didn't actually eat anything._ "

As if to prove the dark-skinned girl's point, Jesse's stomach practically roared.

"Your stomach has very convenient timing," Harper pointed out after she'd stopped cracking up..

"Indeed."

" _Yeah, we're all pretty hungry,_ " and Jesse made a face at her stomach. " _Maybe we should stop for a bit. There has to be something in this swamp that's edible._ "

" _This isn't the time,"_ Soren responded almost scoldingly, " _swamps are too dangerous. You never know what's lurking around-_ " He was interrupted by a rather loud sound. His head snapped around, looking spooked. " _What was that?_ "

" _My stomach,_ " Gabriel grumbled.

Jesse quickly got off her horse, helping Reuben down. " _Okay, let's just- take a quick break. Maybe find some food,_ " she said quickly, running a hand through her hair and wincing as her hair caught in some knots. Everyone hopped off their horses as well, looking supremely relieved about it.

" _We mustn't linger long,_ " Ivor spoke, " _the Far Lands are just beyond this swamp._ "

Jesse nodded and wandered off into the swamp. After a moment, she went over to a tree and picked a potato that was growing out of the base of the trunk. " _Okay, potato, you're coming with me._ " She paused. " _Aaannnnd I'm talking to a potato. I have no idea why. Unless I'm going crazy._ " Jesse leaned over to look at Reuben. " _Am I going crazy, Reuben?_ "

Reuben shook his head with a little squeal.

"You're probably just sleep-deprived. Sleeping on a horse is _extremely_ uncomfortable," Ivor mused. "You end up with all of these weird aches and pangs and you have no idea where they came from."

Satisfied by this answer from the pig, Jesse kept walking, before leaning down and scooping up another one. " _Two potatoes are better than one. Especially when you're hungry,_ " she added, grinning at Reuben. The pig grinned back.

Real-Jesse grinned and rubbed Reuben's head, fondling his ears. Reuben let out a little grumble of pleasure.

" _Gotcha, potato,_ " and Jesse picked another potato out of the ground. A tiny smile came over her face, and she tilted her head sideways. " _Ahh, I remember Soren used to bring snacks for us. I think I tended to like whenever he brought anything to do with potatoes._ " A short pause. " _I dunno why, though."_

Jace snorted. Jesse smacked him.

Onscreen, Jesse blinked as she looked up again. _"Oh-_ " and she quickly trotted over a distance and leaned down again. " _One potato, two potato, three potato, four,_ " she hummed mildly as she plucked it out of the ground.

"Are you singing about potatoes?" Lizzie asked, sounding and looking way too amused about this. Jesse shrugged at the pink-haired girl, an innocent smile on her face. "Maaayyybe."

" _Hey, check out what I found!_ " Jesse called as she went back over to her friends and waving one of the potatoes about.

Olivia arched her eyebrow. She looked thoroughly unimpressed. " _A potato._ "

Jesse shrugged. " _It's food. Beggars can't be choosers."_

" _Good point._ "

Jesse pulled out all four of the potatoes, and then looked up, before pulling out her sword, quickly cutting all of the potatoes in half, and handing each of them a half. There was one extra half, which Jesse looked at and then gave it to Gabriel, quickly putting her half in her mouth and biting down to avoid dropping it. Through the potato in her mouth, she managed, " _I'm gun' go see if I cen find an'thing elf."_

"Why'd you hand the potato over to Gabriel?" Sparklez wondered.

" _You guys cen defide who gets the last potato,_ " Jesse finished.

"Oh."

Soren gave her a thumbs' up and resumed eating his potato as she trotted off. Ivor followed after Jesse. The spider hybrid hastily ate the rest of it as he asked, " _How are you doing?_ "

" _Not bad,_ " Jesse replied with a shrug, before spotting something. It looked like a small house.

"What is that?" Harper asked when she noticed Ivor sucking in a sudden breath.

"A witch's hut. We should get out of here fast before the witch notices us and comes after us," Ivor said quietly.

Onscreen, Jesse approached the house, Ivor seeming more reluctant about it. " _It's a witch's hut. We should stay clear of it. Nothing good ever happens when witches are involved,_ " he whispered to Jesse.

Jesse pointed at something, looking interested. " _Hey, there's a cake!_ " she whispered, following Ivor's lead. The screen switched to show a cake cooling on the windowsill. " _That'd be enough to feed everyone!_ "

Ivor shook his head. " _It's not worth it, Jesse. Witches hate trespassers._ "

Jesse weighed the options, tilting her head slightly and pressing her lips together, before looking back at Ivor. " _Let's get out of here._ "

Real-Ivor let out a sigh of relief.

" _Good idea._ " And the two of them started to tiptoe away as quickly as humanly possible. However, Ivor was checking over his shoulder rather than watching his step. And that was why, a few seconds later, his foot descended right on a branch.

"Uh-oh," Soren said slowly.

The snap of the branch rang out through the swamp with a ringing _crack,_ almost reminiscent of a gunshot. Ivor and Jesse looked down, then up at each other. Jesse's eyes slid over sideways, and she gasped softly, but didn't turn her head. " _Hey, Ivor... who's that?_ " she asked, almost conversationally.

Ivor's head turned slowly, glacially. The screen switched to show the witch turning around to stare directly at the two of them, Ivor and Jesse frozen in place.

"Double uh-oh," Magnus said quietly for once.

For one, frozen moment, the witch was staring at Jesse and Ivor and Jesse and Ivor were staring at the witch, and none of them were moving a muscle.

And then they were running.

They bolted into the clearing, the rest of the group looking around at them as they raced in. " _Did you find any more food?_ " Olivia asked, looking a bit confused.

" _No- well, sort of, but that doesn't matter. There's a witch here! We saw her creeping through the swamp, and-!_ "

A red bottle went soaring over Jesse's shoulder, narrowly missing her cheek, and smashed on the ground, sending red swirls and red potion splashing all over the ground. The whole group recoiled in shock.

"Triple uh-oh," Ellegaard said, sounding breathless now.

" _And... she's here,_ " Jesse finished, every set of her arms crossing in an agitated fashion.

* * *

 **A/N: Potatoes~ xD**

 **RQTC: Should MCSM have a Season 2? Why or why not?**

 **It depends, actually... I'll explain what I mean if enough people want to know xD**

 **AquaK13: (laughs) / (laughs) Haha, probably. / Look it up; it's... frightening xD**

 **J.M.M.: (grins)**

 **Meow Shadow: (laughs) / Thank you! And yes, I prefer casual writing, it takes me less time to write a casual chappie xD / Look it up, I ain't spoiling anything.**

 **Rabbits rule: Uhh I dunno. Purple Guy from FNAF? / Sure :3 / (pokes Jess) / Nope. / Uhhh... okay xD**

 **Emily The Avenger: (laughs) / YAY YOU GOT THE 'reference' xD / Aww, lucky. / Nooo don't die xD**

 **Kaos Ruin: Haha, nope xD**

 **NinaNaranja: No, it's a game. / (laughs) / I'm glad to hear that!**

 **Beli0304: (grins) / You should look it up, it's terrifying xD**

 **NoItsBecky: (grins) Yep xD / Haha, pretty much. xD**

 **RapidSammi: I know, right? / (laughs) Glad to hear that, Sammi-kun.**

 **sailor. mikuchan: I added that in at the last minute xD**

 **DynamiteHunter6: I've gotten everything from Lukas to Jesse to Gabriel. I have no idea why xD Nice :3 Did ya know I'm on Quotev as well?**

 **LunarStarsMoon: (laughs) / You should look it up**

 **FireBallin17: (grins)**

 **rebekahtpe: (grins) / Nope, just actual Hybrid. There's gonna be- ... actually, I'm not spoiling anything. / Uh, fly. xD**

 **S4SH4L4SH4theGaMeR101: (laughs)**

 **Darkbeast Dend: (shrugs) Cool.**

 **mEEplePeoPLe: (shrugs) No promises. I'm tryin' xD**

 **x.X. A.L. X.x**


	63. The Wicked Glitch of the West

Jesse whipped out her sword as Olivia bleeped out of sight. She reappeared right behind the witch and made a grabbing motion. The witch pivoted on the spot and hurled a potion at the Enderman hybrid. Olivia teleported away in the nick of time- a potion bottle soared right through the spot where her head had been. The spider hybrid was already charging forward as Olivia reappeared again. " _Watch out for her potions!_ " Olivia warned her.

"I'm not sure she needs you to tell her that, Olivia," Em drawled, but it was obvious that it was mainly out of nerves. Olivia shot her a glare before fixing her gaze back onto the screen, twisting her hands together anxiously.

Jesse flung herself forward rapidly until she was on all eights, ducking under the potion bottle, before whipping back upright and lashing out at the witch. She flicked her blade and hit the witch directly in the chest, knocking her backwards before vanishing in a puff of smoke.

Soren let out a low sigh of relief.

"Don't you dare jinx it, Soren," Petra said warningly, turning from where she was now leaning into Jace to glare at the ginger Architect.

"I'm not jinxing it!"

Onscreen, Jesse did the same, sheathing her sword. " _See ya later, you nasty old hag,_ " she told the spot where the witch had vanished, before an arrow suddenly impaled the ground mere centimeters from her feet.

"You jinxed it!" Petra yelled at Soren. The ginger squirmed away from her, attempting not to look alarmed at the fact that the red-haired girl was yelling at him angrily.

He failed miserably.

"I'm _sorry,_ I'm _sorry!_ " he yelped, throwing his hands up in surrender.

Jesse let out a yelp as she leaped back, jerking her head up. The screen switched to show an army of skeletons firing arrows at them rapidly. The group lunged out of the way and dodged behind a makeshift wall to avoid getting impaled by the waves of arrows.

Suddenly, a loud series of neighs rang out in the air, and Jesse looked up. The screen changed to show the horses galloping away in fear.

"Of course," Maya sighed, touching her temples and looking as though she had a headache.

Another wicked cackle rang out, and a second witch stepped into place among the skeletons. Onscreen, Soren let out a soft sound of alarm, stepping back hastily. " _Oh dear. Witches and skeletons... that's a deadly combination. Her potions, and their arrows..._ " His eyes widened as he trailed off. " _We're all gonna die._ "

" _We have to distract them!_ " Jesse leaned around the wall before whipping back, an arrow barely missing her nose. " _Then we'd be free to run to the Far Lands!_ "

Olivia shook her head a bit, her eyes also wide. " _Yeah, okay, but how are we gonna do that?_ "

"An excellent question. Don't you think, Mevia?" Hadrian asked, glancing at the cyan-haired woman.

"Indeed it is, Hadrian," Mevia replied, eyes fixated on the screen.

Nell raised her eyebrow at them, but then returned to the screen. "Brah, this is, like, more exciting than the Games," she said, leaning over so that only Em could hear it. Em nodded in agreement but didn't actually say anything.

Onscreen, Ivor made an irritated sound in the back of his throat. The whole group turned to look at the man. " _The rest of you, go!_ " he snapped, " _I'll hold them off._ "

Several audience members turned round to stare at Ivor in surprise. The black-haired man arched his eyebrow at the group after a moment of this, making them all turn back to the screen, Jesse carefully hiding a warm smile and Harper doing the same.

" _What?! Ivor, no!_ " Soren protested, almost standing up. A moment later he ducked back down as another arrow went whizzing over his head.

" _There's no time to argue about this!_ " Ivor snapped back at him as he prepared to duck out from behind the makeshift wall, " _just head for the corner of the Glitch Wall!_ "

"The _what_ wall?!" Jesse exclaimed, eyes widening, inadvertently speaking in unison with her onscreen self.

"Jinx!" Clutch joked.

Ivor didn't respond, dashing out from behind the wall at the witch. " _Hey, you witch!_ " he barked, reaching into his pocket, " _you're not the only one who can throw a potion!_ " And not slowing down, he whipped a potion out of his pocket and chucked it full-force at a skeleton and scoring a direct hit, glass spraying everywhere and killing it upon impact.

He waved his arms at them to draw their attention before chucking another potion and dashing off, arrows and potions following him.

The screen panned back over to Jesse, who whipped around to see the rest of the group staring after Ivor with wide eyes. Making an annoyed sound in the back of her throat, she scooped Reuben up and jerked her head at Soren. " _Run!_ "

Soren took the hint and bolted, leading the way to the Glitch Wall... whatever _that_ was. Lukas dropped to all fours and ran after him, Jesse dropping to all sixes- one pair of arms was engaged in hugging Reuben tightly to her- and scuttled after them at top speed. Olivia seized Gabriel's shoulder and bleeped out of sight a moment later.

The screen faded to black.

Jesse slumped into Lukas, letting out a long breath she hadn't even realized she'd been holding. "The Glitch Wall," she panted out, eyes wide. "What in the name of _heaven_ is the _Glitch_ Wall?"

Ivor gestured at the screen. "I'm sure you'll see in a moment."

The screen came back onto the group running, no longer in the swamp. Jesse finally came to a stop, coming back to a standing position slowly and setting Reuben down. " _Guys, I think we lost them for-_ " She froze, eyes travelling upwards and her mouth falling open slightly in surprise. "... _WOW._ "

" _I take your wow,_ " Lukas said, coming up next to her, his own blue-green eyes wide, " _and raise it to a_ woooow. _"_

The screen switched to show a massive wall made up of stone, dirt, cobblestone, grass, and who knows what else. There were twisting tunnels, holes, floating islands. Waterfalls cascaded down the sides from random holes, and the _height_ of the wall. The actual _height._ Jesse kept looking up, but the massive wall rose so high that it eventually disappeared into the foggy clouds above them.

"Holy _Notch,"_ Isa breathed, "that's... amazing."

" _That_ is awesome," Axel said, nodding at the screen with a grin slowly coming across his face.

Gabriel shook his head, giving the group a small, wry smile. "It's even more impressive in person and up close."

"The Far Lands," Lukas breathed, sitting forward and inadvertently dragging Jesse with him, "I'd always wondered what it looked like."

" _It's like we're at the edge of the world!_ " Olivia gasped, coming up on Jesse's other side, the three hybrids gaping up at the massive wall.

" _Actually, we seem to be at the corner of it,_ " Soren remarked, before turning to the rest of the group, " _welcome to the Far Lands, my friends._ "

" _Is this the 'Glitch Wall' Ivor mentioned?_ " Jesse asked, inclining her head at the impressive wall.

Soren nodded at her. " _Yes. It's the... safest entrance to the Far Lands,_ " he said, after a moment's thought. He started leading them towards the wall.

Olivia sighed, rubbing her head. " _I wish we'd had something else to eat,_ " she mumbled, " _it'd make facing the wall of insanity a bit easier._ "

" _At least Jesse found those potatoes,_ " Lukas pointed out.

" _That might be the saddest sentence ever uttered._ "

Jesse covered her mouth onscreen, eyes sparkling with amusement. She was silent for a moment, presumably to stop laughing, before saying in a voice that you could practically _hear_ the smile in, " _Actually, I think the saddest sentence ever uttered was, 'He needs some milk.'_ "

This prompted a round of giggling from both the audience, and the other two hybrids in the group, since they appeared to be the only two actually listening to that part of the conversation. Ivor and Aiden both appeared to be carefully hiding grins, and Jesse in particular buried her head in Lukas's shoulder. The blonde looked at her, before patting her on the head and making her whine a bit playfully.

" _Quite a sight, isn't it?_ " Soren hummed aimlessly after a few moments, looking up at the wall, " _stretching skywards, in all its glory... like a monument to chaos itself._ "

Jesse tilted her head at him. " _Have you been here before?_ " she asked him, as the six of them started clumping together for defense.

Soren shrugged a bit at Jesse. " _Well, not_ here _specifically. But we_ have _been to the Far Lands. The Order traveled far and wide in its heyday._ "

" _Incredible,_ " Gabriel said, looking around them with wide eyes.

Olivia nodded, watching rain fall sporadically through holes in the wall. " _You can say that again._ "

" _Incredible._ "

"I didn't- you know what, forget it," Olivia muttered, rolling her eyes with amusement tugging at the corners of her lips. Magnus sniggered, and Gabriel gave the dark-skinned girl a sheepish grin.

Onscreen, Olivia rolled her eyes, an expression much like Real-Olivia's expression posing itself on her face. " _My bad. I should've seen that coming._ "

" _How can Ivor_ live _here?_ " Jesse mused, touching the corner of her lips. " _I mean, it's one thing if it were Boom Town, or to build a wool world inside the End, but to live_ here..."

Soren shook his head at Jesse a bit. " _Oh, I doubt he_ lives _here. Most likely he just comes here for his most secretive research. Whatever Ivor's hiding here, it must be incredibly well-guarded._ "

Jesse arched her eyebrow at him, crossing most of her arms and was silent for a moment. " _Well, that certainly helped me feel more optimistic._ "

Several members of the audience snorted at that.

"You'll be _fine,_ " Ivor said dismissively. "... probably."

Lukas blinked and twisted to look at Ivor, raising his eyebrow. "Was... was that meant to be _comforting,_ or...?"

The group approached one of the lower caves, redstone, torches, and... other various objects placed seemingly at random.

Soren hummed a bit. " _This way, I suspect._ "

Lukas sighed, making the rest of the group look at the ocelot hybrid curiously, " _I'd feel better about this if Axel and Petra were here._ "

"Aww, I'm sure we miss you too, Lukas," Petra grinned, reaching over Jace and Jesse to muss up the blonde's hair, Lukas halfheartedly batting at her hand to move it away from his hair. Axel looked pleasantly surprised that Lukas was missing him.

" _I know what you mean,"_ Olivia sighed in agreement, rubbing her head and messing up her dark curly hair a bit as she stared at the ground.

Reuben let out a sad, agreeing whine, looking down at the ground. Jesse paused, nodding a bit herself, before grabbing Olivia's hand. Olivia turned to look at Jesse as the spider hybrid reached out and grabbed Lukas's hand, and then grinned down at Reuben. " _Well, c'mon then!_ " she said cheerfully.

The other two slowly grinned back at her, before the group walked into the cave, Soren leading the way and being closely followed by Gabriel.

The screen faded to black with the three hybrid's hands remaining firmly intertwined.

"N'awww, you love us," Olivia teased, reaching over and poking Jesse's cheek.

Jesse slumped into Lukas to try to avoid the girl's finger, pouting a bit. "Yes, yes, okay, I love you guys. Now that we've established that fact, please avoid poking me," Jesse whined playfully.

There was a bit of laughter at this, before they all turned back to the screen.

* * *

 **A/N: Hey, guys! Apologies for the lack of updates. Um, they might get slower again, because, um... my grandma died on Thursday, and I'm going to go attend her funeral. So I might not be able to update for a while; although I'll try to get as many chapters as I can out before Friday (that's when I'm leaving to attend the funeral). So... yeah. Sorry.**

 **Since only two people wanted to know what I meant by 'it depends' last chapter, I'm not going to explain it.**

 **RQTC: I don't really have one this time...**

 **the indecisive bird: Yeah, that'd be nice. :3 / Indeed they do.**

 **AquaK13: Haha, I know the feeling. / Yeah, that'd be interesting. We'll just have to see, I guess. / Hehe xD**

 **Emily The Avenger: (laughs) / I have too many favorite animated movies, so too bad for me xD / Well, you technically wouldn't. You could just say 'this is my version of Season 2, it's not canon.' / Not necessarily. (shrugs) First one.**

 **LunarStarsMoon: (grins) Glad to hear you find it so funny. / Haha, same here.**

 **Rabbits rule: Me too, actually xD / Ohhh. Falling asleep in class isn't that bad. I know half of my school does that in math (our math teachers are SO BORING.) / Thanks :3 / Oh. (looks down) ... okay... / (smiles) / Seriously, you'd be a good writer if you decided to use these ideas.**

 **AmberRaptor: (blinks) / Haha, yes, we should avenge Reuben.**

 **Darkbeast Dend: (nods) / Uhh... is it safe to tell your age on the Internet? I told mine in a more roundabout way (although everyone knows now, but whatever)**

 **MissyMattingly: Reasons are very good reasons indeed xD**

 **S4SH4L4SH4theGaMeR101: Honestly, I have no opinion on ships in canon. If that's a thing they wanna put in, I'd be okay with it, but if it's not, that's alright too.**

 **NinaNaranja: (laughs) / I don't know if they'll kill off a character. I'll still play it if they do, but unless it has a storyline purpose (for example, Ellegaard's death and Reuben's), it'll just bug me endlessly. / Uhh... I dunno. GirlOfMyOwnWorld? (I would guess me, but that's really conceited xD)**

 **DynamiteHunter6: I am a Lukesse fan, but it's fine. Honestly, while there are a lot of Lukesse moments the way I play the game, I don't want it actually in the game. Maybe hints of it is fine, but an actual canonical ship would probably spoil the game for me a bit; since this game is an adventure game (specifically an adventure game) and a romance would just distract from a more adventure-based storyline.**

 **Slayer88: (shrugs) I'm good with it either way.**

 **rebekahtpe: Agreed. / I know, right? / I would, but since you're one of the only two who wants me to, I'm not gonna... xD / Hehehe xD / I forgot the actual episodes, so I'll have to get back to you on that.**

 **LegoGirl794: (nods in agreement)**

 **RapidSammi: (grins) Glad ya liked it. / True xD / Witch googly actually sounds really, really adorable for some reason. I have no idea why. xD**

 **J.M.M.: It's not that it was funny. It just made me smile. And I honestly forgot as well xD**

 **sailor. mikuchan: (shrugs) I'm not sure if I need ships or not. I just need a second season. xD / I'm not sure if that's confirmed. Time'll tell, I guess.**

 **Beli0304: That's true. :3 / Since you're the only other person to want me to explain, I'm not gonna xD**

 **x.X. A.L. X.x**


	64. An A-MAZE-ing Maze

The screen faded back in just as Olivia spoke, " _Is... this a maze?_ "

Jesse put her hands on her hips, staring at something the viewers couldn't see, before giving a nod. The screen switched to show her from the back. " _Looks like it_ ," she spoke mildly.

The screen zoomed out to show them standing in front of maze that looked as though it spread for miles, and miles, and _miles._ Crumbling stone walls with creepers and vines creeping over any available surface loomed ahead of them, with a small pond next to the entrance, various flowers, saplings, and mushrooms littering the ground around it.

"A maze?" Olivia repeated, eyes widening. "A maze? I don't think we have time to blunder our way through a _maze!_ That thing's eating up the world as we speak!" She probably would've continued ranting, but right about then Soren started speaking onscreen, and she abruptly cut herself off.

" _If Ivor used the Command Block to build this, it could hold unspeakable peril,_ " Soren mused, touching his fingers to his mouth thoughtfully.

Jesse's eyebrow went up. It was a behavioral quirk that, now that the audience thought about it, Jesse seemed to share with Ivor. " _So..._ "

" _Maybe we shouldn't wander into the world's hardest maze without a guide?_ " Lukas finished the sentence, looking from the maze to Soren.

Soren sighed and rubbed his temples, looking as though he had a rather acute headache. " _Yeeeaaaahhh... no. I'm not about to walk into a maze in which we have no idea what we're getting into. Let's look around for another way around or something, and if all else fails, we'll just head in. ... hopefully it won't come to that,_ " she added, sending the maze another askew glance.

Olivia threw her arms into the air, nearly hitting Gabriel by accident. " _Best decision we've made all day._ "

Lukas, Soren, Olivia, and Gabriel split apart from her, examining the walls and slowly venturing along the length of the wall. Jesse perched her lower arms on her hips and examined the vines creeping over the walls. She gave one of them a slight tug, and when it didn't snap upon her insistently tugging it, she released it and gave it an appraising look. " _Hm. The others might be able to climb these,_ " Jesse hummed.

Soren's voice suddenly rang out in the air. " _Everyone, en garde!_ " he shouted.

Everyone turned to see zombies lurching towards them.

Petra groaned and let her head thump against the coffee table a bit. "Of _course._ "

" _I think I may have said this before at some point, but... oh, snapcrackers,_ " Olivia groaned.

Jesse touched her lip thoughtfully, as the zombies slowly started splitting up and heading for each of the members of the group. She surveyed the situation in front of her, before giving her head a shake. " _There's no way we can fight them all off. Climb the vines!_ " she yelled.

The other members of the group immediately did as she asked, scrambling to start climbing the vines. Olivia simply blinked out of sight and reappeared in a spray of sparks on the top of the wall, staggering a bit but quickly regaining her balance. Jesse slammed all six of her palms against the wall and scrambled up, legs quickly leaving the ground and helping to propel her up the wall, before she quickly scrambled to the top, peeking over the edge at the zombies bumping stupidly into the wall below.

The screen switched to show Soren looking down at the zombies as well. " _Well,_ " the ginger panted, sounding as if he was out of breath, " _that worked, I suppose._ "

" _In a way,_ " Olivia replied, raising her long arm and pointing at something the audience couldn't see. Soren turned to see what she was pointing at, wincing upon realizing what the problem was. Lukas slapped a palm to his face and muttered something rather uncomplimentary under his breath.

On the other side of a rather large chasm, Jesse raised one of her arms and waved.

"You've _got_ to be joking," Petra groaned. "Why is Jesse always the one who ends up by herself?"

"Jesse, you've got to have the worst luck of all time," Ellegaard muttered, shaking her head disbelievingly.

Jesse let out a sigh and shook her head as well. "I'm... starting to get that impression."

The spider hybrid looked around onscreen. " _Um... let's just split up,_ " she sighed after a moment, sounding irritated. " _We'll cover more ground that way. Just head for..._ " Jesse paused, before rising onto her tiptoes and pointing what looked like a house in a little spotlight, " _thhhat house, right over there._ "

Soren turned to see what she was looking at, before turning back, nodding, and then trotting along the top of the wall. The rest of the group shared a reluctant look with each other, before starting to move along their length of wall.

Jesse watched them go. " _Sure hope they don't get lost._ " She let out a sigh and looked down at her portion of wall. " _Sure hope_ I _don't get lost._ "

She started walking along the wall, passing several bats, some small waterfalls, and a few torches placed strategically along the wall. At one point, she spotted her friends on the ground, although they didn't spot her.

"Oh, hey, there we are!" Olivia exclaimed. "We must've fallen off the wall or something at one point."

Jesse came to a gap. She paused, looking at the gap, measuring the distance, before slowly dropping to all eights. Tensing all of her muscles and backing up a step, she proceeded to rush forward, leap off the edge, and land right on the wall opposite her. She slipped and nearly skidded right off, but managed to catch her balance.

From that point on, she got much closer to the little house much more quickly, jumping over gaps that she was able to make it over and backtracking when coming to one she couldn't.

At one point, she slowed to a stop near a waterfall. A fond smile came over her face. " _I met Reuben at a waterfall just like this,_ " she said softly, looking at the clear, blue water. " _I hope he's okay._ "

Reuben let out a happy squeal and butted his head into Jesse's hand insistently. Jesse smiled down at him and started fondling his ears, to the pig's delight.

"You two got close super fast," Jace teased, poking Reuben gently and making the pig give him a jokingly lofty look, if a pig could in fact look jokingly lofty.

"I've never had a pet before," Jesse said softly, continuing to fondle his ears.

Reuben gave Jesse a jokingly offended look. She let out a soft laugh and shook her head. "Sorry. Friend. I should say friend, not pet _._ " She paused for a moment, a softer expression coming over her face, and a blanker one entering her eyes. "I never want to lose a friend," she spoke quietly.

Unbeknownst to her, Jace and Lukas automatically exchanged a bemused glance upon hearing that.

Upon returning their attention back to the screen, Jesse had just trotted past a floating island, when suddenly a spider crawled onto the wall in front of her, although it looked more curious than anything else. Jesse started back, before uttering out a hiss.

The spider hesitated, before tentatively creeping towards Jesse, a more suspicious gleam entering the spider's eye.

"Er... why does the spider look suspicious of Jesse?" Dan spoke slowly, slowly raising his eyebrow. "Please tell me that it's just my imagination telling me that that spider looks suspicious of Jesse."

"I didn't even know spiders could look suspiciously at someone," Lizzie grumbled in answer.

Onscreen, Jesse slowly wrapped her fingers around the hilt of her sword, and tentatively started to draw it.

The sword made a metallic scrape as it scraped on the sheathe, and the spider suddenly lunged. The audience all let out a yell in surprise as Onscreen-Jesse let out a shout. Whipping out the sword automatically, she brought it up and then down in a smooth, instinctive action. However, just as the spider vanished in a puff of smoke, Jesse's gold sword that she'd gotten from Petra back in Ivor's basement ages ago decided that now was the perfect time to break into pieces and vanish in a puff of smoke.

"You've _got_ to be kidding me," Maya groaned.

"At least she still-"

"Don't jinx it," Lukas, Petra, Jesse, and Jace chorused, interrupting Axel mid-sentence.

Jesse sighed and looked at her empty hand. " _Of course. Juuuust peachy,"_ she sighed tiredly, before shaking herself out of it and trotting along the wall. " _Goodness, the top of the maze is probably just as complicated as the inside of the maze,_ " she mumbled to herself as she looked around, before glancing down at said inside.

Her eyes widened as she spotted Olivia and Reuben trotting through the maze. " _Olivia?_ " she called down to the Enderman hybrid, but the Enderman hybrid must not have heard her, because she just kept going.

"She must've gotten separated from the rest of the group at one point," Gabriel mused thoughtfully.

Jesse watched the spot where Olivia had disappeared around a corner for a moment, before straightening back up and looking back around. She'd barely looked around before she suddenly did a double-take, head whipping back around with her eyes widening. She let out an angry hiss and slapped her hand to her forehead.

The screen switched to show a witch standing on the wall in front of her, blocking the way.

"Are you _serious?_ " Em groaned.

Otto shook his head. "Jesse, you have the worst luck on the planet."

Onscreen, Jesse whipped out her bow and started firing arrows, but she had to waste some of them on shattering the potion bottles that came soaring right at her, and some of them missed.

Ducking under one last potion, she fired another arrow that DID make contact with the witch, and knocked her back a bit. But it wasn't enough to knock the witch off the wall. And Jesse was all out of arrows.

Lukas's arm tightened around Jesse.

Axel winced and glanced at Jesse. "Uhh, you're probably dead, dude."

"I'm fully aware of that," Jesse sighed, her voice muffled from where it was buried in her hands.

Onscreen, Jesse let out a low groan. " _You've_ got _to be kidding me,_ " she muttered. She gave the bow in her hands a momentary glance, before ducking under another potion and charging straight at the witch. Flicking the bow into one of her lower arms, she tensed her knees before jumping straight over the witch, doing a flip in midair so she was facing the witch.

Before the witch could turn around, Jesse threw the bow around the witch and heaved back. The bowstring drew taut as it caught the witch, making the woman stumble backwards, and Jesse thrashed her backwards, knocking the witch even further back.

The limbs of the bow were hopelessly twisted, but Jesse raised the bow one last time and slammed it straight into the witch just as she hag stood up, sending the witch flying off the wall with the bow cracking and puffing into smoke in her hands right as she did so. The witch followed the spider and vanished in a puff of smoke.

"Oh. Never mind. You're good," and Axel reached over and clapped Jesse on the back, nearly knocking her into the coffee table again.

"That was awesome!" Nell exclaimed.

"That was also improvised," Jesse pointed out, but she still looked rather pleased at the compliment.

Jesse looked up from where she'd knocked the witch off the wall to see that there was a strange machine with a chest and a crafting table nearby.

"Hey, that's my flying machine!" Ellegaard exclaimed, her eyes widening. "Or, well, a recreation of it at least."

"Oh no!" Soren groaned, clapping a hand over his eyes. "I'll never forget that thing."

Magnus cackled, an evil grin spreading over his face. "Oh yes!" he replied, looking far too pleased at the upset look on Soren's face.

Crawling down the wall, she approached the machine, looking at it curiously and trying to figure out what in the name of heaven this thing did, before spotting something else.

Ivor's lab (presumably that's what the small house was) wasn't terribly far away.

I mean, save for the fact that it was over a gaping chasm.

"You're _kidding,_ " Petra groaned. "Please tell me that the 'flying machine' can get them across this gaping chasm."

Ellegaard shook her head. "If they can finish it. It's not finished. It won't fly until it's finished."

"Of course. That's great."

"I feel like you're more upset about this turn of events than _I_ am, Petra," Jesse said, turning to look at the redhead with an amused look.

Jesse let out a loud groan and put her head in her hands again. " _Can't saving the world be_ easier?"

* * *

 **A/N: (laughs)** **Having an extra hour of Computer Graphics gave me time to churn out another chapter, so enjoy :3**

 **RQTC: Night or day?**

 **Night. At least then the SUN'S NOT SHININ' RIGHT INTO MY DARN EYES.**

 **MissyMattingly: Thanks...**

 **SofiaTheWriter88: Thanks. (smiles a bit)**

 **Emily The Avenger: (nods) Thanks, Emily. / But yeah, that was fun :3**

 **x.X. A.L. X.x**


	65. Motivation and Phobias

Jesse hummed after a second or two, looking the machine up and down appraisingly. " _Hmm. Redstone blocks, some pistons... wonder what this thing's supposed to be?_ "

" _Hello? Anyone?_ "

Jesse immediately turned at the sound of the familiar voice, eyes widening. " _Olivia?_ " she called out in the direction it'd come from.

Sure enough, Olivia turned the corner, Reuben trotting along at her feet. Olivia's eyes lit up, and the Enderman hybrid teleported over to Jesse and enveloped the much-shorter female in a hug. " _Oh man, am I glad to see you! I thought Reuben and I'd be lost in there_ forever!"

"Oh, good, Olivia's there," Gill spoke up, "she should be able to help you figure this thing out."

Real-Olivia's lips twisted together doubtfully. Jesse and Axel were the only two to notice.

Onscreen, Jesse returned the hug happily, before releasing her taller friend with a grin on her face. " _It's good to see you, too._ " Kneeling down, she went ahead and fondled her little pink pig's ears.

Olivia's grin faded as she looked back at the maze, before saying quietly, " _This maze... we don't have time for this. I mean, the clock's ticking... yet here we are, stuck in this elaborate puzzle._ "

" _I know,_ " Jesse nodded in agreement, before adding, " _I mean, I_ like _puzzles, but... I know when the time is that we can_ do _them._ " Olivia chuckled a bit at that. Jesse grinned, before her smile faded and she looked back at the maze herself. " _And we really need to figure out what happened to the others._ "

" _I wonder if they found a way over this pit,_ " Olivia mused thoughtfully.

The two girls turned in unison to look at the huge, gaping chasm, remaining silent. It was almost as if they were paying tribute to it, in a way. " _I think it goes down forever,_ " Olivia spoke up, at last.

"It... actually, it probably does," Ivor said thoughtfully, tapping his lip.

Jesse looked over at the machine next to her. " _What about this thing? Could it get us across?_ "

Olivia looked over at the machine as well, crossing her arms and staring at it thoughtfully. " _Hmmmnnnn... it's some kind of flying barge._ " She pressed one hand to the side of the machine, carefully examining it. " _It would probably get us to the other side... but it's in pretty bad shape. And it's really complicated._ "

"I'm sure you'll be able to work it out, Olivia," Petra said casually. "You're pretty much one of the smartest people I know."

Olivia gave Petra a rather weak smile. "Thanks, Petra... but that doesn't really fix the fact that I might not be able to figure this thing out."

" _You can fix it though, right?_ " Jesse asked, tilting her head at Olivia.

Olivia's lips twisted together, and she ran one hand through her hair. " _I don't know. I think it's out of my league. I wish I'd had more time to study with Ellegaard. She could probably have fixed this right up._ "

"Considering I built it, probably," Ellegaard pointed out, but her lips twitched and made it clear that she was joking. Instead of cheering Real-Olivia up, which was probably the intention, Olivia just slumped a bit tiredly.

" _I'm sure you'll be able to figure it out,_ " Jesse said cheerfully, smiling up at the dark-haired girl. " _You're one of the smartest people I know. I'll help you._ "

Olivia stared at the machine, then at Jesse, a hopeless sort of look entering her eyes. " _How can you help me when I don't even know where to start?_ " she asked, sounding hollow. " _This layout doesn't even make_ sense. _I mean, what was Ivor thinking?"_ There was a pause, before she slumped over a bit, staring at the flying machine hollowly. " _Or maybe it's just me._ "

Jesse arched her eyebrow at Olivia, although only slightly. " _You studied with Ellegaard at the age of five or six. And, like I just said, you're one of the smartest people I know. You can definitely do this._ "

" _How are_ we _supposed to do this if the Order can't?!_ " Olivia snapped, making Jesse automatically recoil a step. " _They're the Order of the Stone, Jesse, the_ Order of the Stone, _do you-?_ " The dark-skinned girl sighed and threw her hands into the air as she turned back to the chasm, Jesse watching her friend in quiet bewilderment. " _Soren and Ivor are always at each other's throats. Ellegaard and Magnus argue all the time. Ellegaard nearly_ died. _The 'greatest warrior of all time' can't remember his own_ name. _How are we supposed to_ do _this?_ " Olivia repeated, hopelessness entering her voice. " _We're_ nobody."

Jesse simply shook her head once. " _All I know is, the world is depending on us._ "

Olivia crossed her arms and turned away. " _Then maybe the world is trouble, Jesse!_ " she snapped again, glaring at the chasm as if she wanted to throw something into it. " _They defeated a dragon, Jesse! Can you even name_ one thing _that we did correctly?_ "

Jesse walked around so that she was meeting Olivia's eyes, craning her neck back to make eye-contact with the girl. " _Well, we reunited the Order of the Stone, didn't we? You got Ellegaard. Axel and I got Magnus. We both played a part with Soren._ "

Olivia blinked at Jesse, considering this, before slowly nodding, her glare softening. " _Yeah... I guess that's true._ "

Jesse looked expectantly at the Enderman hybrid, putting one hand on her hip. Olivia paused. Jesse waited. Olivia paused. Jesse waited. Finally, Olivia shook her head and rolled her eyes, a soft laugh emitting from her mouth. " _Agh. Alright. I'll give it one more try._ "

She turned back to the machine.

Lukas patted Jesse on the head. "You're inspirational," he teased her kindheartedly.

She rolled her eyes at him very maturely, but she was still grinning.

Jesse waited as Olivia examined the machine, before her eyes widened. " _Wait a minute..._ wait a minute... _I think I see what he was trying to do here!_ "

"See?" Stampy spoke up, making the audience look at him, "you ought to have more confidence in yourself."

Olivia blinked, before turning back to the screen with a slow smile spreading over her features.

" _See? Told you you'd figure it out!_ " Jesse beamed at Olivia, who grinned back gratefully. Standing up, she handed the spider hybrid a piston, rattling off, " _Jesse, take this piston, craft a sticky piston, and then place it on the other side of the barge, along with a redstone block._ "

Jesse nodded, grinning at Olivia. " _Got it._ "

She trotted over to the chest, Reuben tagging along behind her, before setting the piston down carefully and rummaging through the chest. " _Hm... a slime ball... and some redstone dust. Oh, and a flint and steel. Huh,_ " she mumbled, each arm pulling out one of the aforementioned items, juggling the items slightly to avoid dropping them, before heading over to the crafting table.

Her hands quickly placed down the necessary ingredients, crafting a sticky piston and then a redstone block in rapid succession. She lifted both items off the table, looking between them with a grin. " _Alright, we're done with that!_ "

She headed back to the machine, Olivia kneeling next to the machine and doing some work on her own side. Heading over to the other side, Jesse placed the redstone block in place, before pausing. " _Mmm... alright, let's try it right here._ " She pushed the piston into place, just as Olivia called out, " _Done!_ "

The redstone lit up, beginning to emit a soft, red glow.

" _Hey, we did it!_ " Olivia exclaimed, giving Jesse a high-five from where she was still kneeling next to the barge.

" _We did!_ " Jesse agreed cheerfully.

Olivia paused before shooting Jesse a grateful smile. " _Oh, and, Jesse... thanks for everything you said earlier. It really helped._ "

Real-Olivia shot Jesse a grateful look herself. Jesse spotted it and gave the dark-skinned girl a small smile.

Onscreen, Jesse gave a small nod and set her hand on her friend's shoulder. " _Hey, no problem._ "

The two of them stood there for a moment, before the moment was suddenly shattered by a shout of, " _It must be this way!_ "

" _Gabriel?_ " Olivia asked, standing up and sounding bemused.

" _Run!_ "

Jesse's eyes widened. " _Lukas!_ "

Not even a full second later, Soren, Gabriel and Lukas skidded around a corner, followed immediately by a large horde of zombies. Reuben let out a terrified squeal.

"Good thing they finished the barge in time," Otto muttered under his breath, although it was still clearly audible to several members of the audience around him.

Harper nodded mutely in agreement.

" _Everyone, get on! Onto the barge!_ " Jesse yelled, pointing at the machine. Olivia bleeped herself into sight on one side. Soren, Lukas and Gabriel scrambled into the barge as well, and Jesse literally scooped Reuben up and tossed him aboard before seizing the flint and steel from earlier and clicking them together. The pistons started to move, and the barge slowly started moving forward.

"Wait- Jesse, you have to get on!" Maya gasped.

"Logic would demand that, yes," Ivor murmured, arching his eyebrow at Maya.

Jesse looked over her shoulder to see the zombies practically arm's length behind her. The spider hybrid tensed her knees before springing into the air. She seemed to hover in place for a moment, before her hands slapped into the edge of the boat. One slipped off, but the other managed to get a good grip, leaving Jesse literally dangling by one hand over the bottomless abyss.

"Pull her up, pull her up!" Jace chanted, nearly dragging Petra forward with him in a hot excitement.

Lukas gasped. " _Oh sheesh,_ " and he quickly leaned down and grabbed one of Jesse's free hands. Her feet kicked furiously until they found purchase on the side of the machine, and she managed to scramble into the boat before she could fall in.

Nell let out a little "whew".

Looking back, they watched as a zombie stupidly walked straight into the abyss.

"Well, at least that wasn't one of you," Reginald said, in an attempt to be optimistic.

" _Well, at least that wasn't one of us,_ " Lukas panted, sounding relieved.

"Hey, I just said that."

Lukas's tail was up in the air, and it was rather bushy now, quivering from where it was ramrod straight. Jesse patted him absentmindedly, leaning over the edge to check the abyss, before sitting back with a gasp of relief. " _Yeah,_ " she agreed. " _That was- that was close._ " A short pause as the whole group tried to catch their breath. " _Is everyone okay?_ "

Soren's eyes fixed on the lab, his hands tight on the rim of the boat. He was staying perfectly rigid. His mouth opened slightly, barely opening wide enough to utter the words that came out of his mouth next. " _For the moment,_ " he said, still not removing his eyes from the lab ahead.

Magnus sniggered. Soren sent him a withering glare.

Magnus managed to survive without being too terribly withered.

" _Wait,_ " Gabriel spoke up suddenly, " _I remember something._ "

The Order immediately all perked up. The group on the machine seemed to have the same reaction, swivelling to face the man immediately. Gabriel continued, " _Didn't Ellegaard build a machine like this once?_ "

Soren nodded, barely inclining his head to do so, hands still tight on the boat edge. " _Once, in the Nether,_ " he uttered.

Gabriel paused, tilting his head. " _Hmm..._ " His still-discolored eyes widened. " _And you were terrified of flying on it!_ "

" _What?_ " Soren laughed nervously at that, hands tightening on the boat edge. " _Stuff and nonsense!_ "

"Are you scared of heights, Soren?" Jesse asked, a dawning sense of realization coming over her.

"No," Soren said immediately.

"Yes," Magnus corrected, grinning wickedly at the architect.

"No I'm not."

"He's petrified."

"Perhaps a bit frightened of them."

"He's terrified of them."

"I'm not _terrified-_!"

"He thinks it's hiding under his bed-"

"That thing isn't even going to _fit_ under my bed-"

"And when he's peacefully asleep-"

Ellegaard gently smacked him on the back of the head, grinning easily at the Rogue. "Magnus, let's watch the episode before teasing Soren about his fear of heights, shall we?" she teased.

Soren spluttered as Magnus grinned wickedly at her. "If you insist."

" _No, no, I'm positive!_ " Gabriel insisted, the two men seemingly oblivious to the silent giggling fit the three hybrids were starting to have in their boat. " _You spent the entire ride quivering in terror!_ "

Jesse managed to eke out through her laughter, " _Soren-_ " A repressed snort here. " _Is that true?_ "

" _No, of course not-!_ " He was cut off as the barge rocked a bit, making his head snap back forward and his hands tighten even more on the boat edge. His knuckles were starting to turn white.

Magnus snorted.

" _Well..._ " Gabriel chuckled slightly. " _I might be mistaken._ "

" _I liked you better when you had amnesia._ "

The screen faded to black.

Soren glared at Gabriel and Ellegaard jokingly. "I thought you were better than that, both of you. I know Magnus would stoop to such low levels, but I never imagined you two would."

"Oh, we would. No doubt about it," Gabriel replied instantly, grinning.

Magnus chimed in, beaming. "We have plenty of that stuff to blackmail you with."

A mischievous grin was spreading over Soren's face, eyes sparkling with pure mischief. "Oh really? Well what about that time when you nearly blew the kitchen to smithereens because there was a rat in the corner?"

"I thought we agreed never to speak of that again-"

Ivor chimed in, a faint smile on his face. "No, we didn't agree that. You agreed that," the man pointed out.

Gabriel pointed at Ivor, carefully disguising his laughter as coughing. "What he said," he said, through his soft fits of coughing.

Jesse carefully hid a grin behind her hand, and Jace developed an amusement in the black screen, the corners of his lips twitching.

* * *

 **A/N: Hehehe x3**

 **No RQTC this chappie :3**

 **LunarStarsMoons: (laughs) Yep, that was awesome to write. I love being silly. xD / True xD And yeah, that's true. xD xD xD But in her timeline, she doesn't have friends.**

 **MissyMattingly: (thumbs up)**

 **Emily The Avenger: Yeah, agreed :3 / (laughs) Reasons indeed. / Yes, I have actually! / ... awwww, thanks!**

 **AmberRaptor: Haha, true. / Indeed x3**

 **AquaK13: Yep :3 / Thanks. / Haha xD**

 **Meow Shadow: Indeed it is xD / Ahhh. I'll fix it... if I remember... / (looks at the ceiling) No spoilers.**

 **LittleAngelbun: (pumps fists)**

 **NoItsBecky: Thanks, Becky :)**

 **Beli0304: (laughs) Glad to hear that! / (nods) Alright, got it.**

 **Raven: Thanks... :3**

 **sailor. mikuchan: (thumbs up)**

 **RapidSammi: Thanks :3 / (laughs with yo) / Ahh, that's a good point.**

 **Rabbits rule: (nods) Cool. / (nods quietly) / Cool! And haha, Kylik xD / Coolio. / Alrighty, cool.**

 **S4SH4L4SH4theGaMeR101: (thumbs up) Glad to know :3**

 **rebekahtpe: (laughs) That's a good point, yes. / Yep, pretty much xD / Er, it's this pair of pajamas my grandma gave me last time I visited...**

 **the indecisive bird: Thanks. :) / It's best for me to try to distract myself, but it's hard to do it. So that's why I keep trying to turn chapters out. / But noon is during the day xD**

 **idon'tlikecheese: (thumbs up)**

 **Darkbeast Dend: Not really. It's the author's choice to decide if they want to update things, or if they simply can't update. / (nods)**

 **J.M.M.: I dunno. xD I don't really watch YouTube much.**

 **DynamiteHunter6: Pretty close, yes. :/ / Nice :3**

 **EthanDaCabbage: (laughs) Nice, dude.**

 **mEEplePeoPLe: (laughs) True. / (hums) Eh. I have too many ideas already lined up, so I might never actually get to it, haha. xD**

 **x.X. A.L. X.x**


	66. So Many Books

The screen faded back in on the group staring around the room. Gabriel in particular was pretty much gawking at his surroundings. " _So many books..._ " he murmured after a moment. The screen zoomed out to show that the room was illuminated by sporadically placed lamps and beautifully glowing blue ores. Potion bottles, empty and full, littered the tops of the shelves that housed hundreds, if not _thousands_ , of books.

Jesse looked around at the group. " _Let's just... fan out, and search for the enchanting book,_ " she spoke, all of them splitting up to search through the books practically before she'd finished the statement.

The black-haired girl started walking through the shelves, before slowing to a stop next to Lukas, who happened to be nearest to her. " _Having any luck?_ " she asked.

Lukas shook his head and made a face that made Real-Jesse grin. Real-Lukas poked her. " _Not really. ... been thinking about a lot of stuff, actually._ "

Jesse tilted her head with a frown, all six of her arms crossing. " _What kind of stuff?_ "

Lukas gestured vaguely. " _Us being hybrids. Gabriel. The Ocelots. People getting amnesia and Wither Sickness..._ " He paused, before quickly amending, " _I mean, don't get me wrong. I'm glad I came with you. But I'm just... I'm just scared for everyone._ "

Jesse reached out and squeezed Lukas's shoulder. " _Hey, you're a good friend, Lukas. The fact that you're always thinking about others... it says a lot about you,_ " she said, giving him a sincere smile.

Real-Lukas gave Jesse a smile. She patted him on the knee with a smile and returned her attention to the screen.

Onscreen, Lukas gave the black-haired girl a small grin. " _Well, I like my friends. I guess that's why we're friends in the first place._ "

" _Either that,_ " Jesse teased, " _or you like the fact that they say nice things about you._ "

Maya 'coughed' a bit.

Lukas laughed at that as well. Jesse reached up and patted him on the head, making the ocelot hybrid shut his eyes and let his ears twitch as he purred for a second, before opening them back up and looking at the shelves from where he was still letting Jesse pat his head. " _Ivor, though... I think some of his only friends were books._ "

"There's nothing wrong with books," Ivor muttered.

" _I guess being alone for ten years gives you a lot of time to read,_ " Jesse agreed with a soft shrug.

Lukas shook his head. " _Tell me about it. 'How to Train Your Slime',_ " he began reading off the book titles, "' _The Various Uses of Mooshroom Stew', 'Potionology..._ '" He paused, eyes widening. " _'Volume Twenty-Four'_?!"

Real Jesse snapped her fingers, making the audience look at her. "Ohhh, so that's how he knows so much about potions."

Ivor shrugged when everyone glanced at him.

" _Well,_ " Onscreen-Jesse frowned thoughtfully, " _none of them look like the enchanting book._ "

Lukas nodded at this and turned back to the books as Jesse wandered away again. She glanced at the shelf next to her as she walked along. " _Hmm. 'A Brief History of Cubism'... 'Crafting for Noobs, Revised'... 'A Collector's Guide to Precious Gems'..._ " Jesse looked over at Olivia, who she'd ended up standing next to. " _Any luck, Liv?"_

"Would Ivor stick the most powerful enchanting book in the world near 'Crafting For Noobs'?" Dan asked curiously.

"Maybe, to throw people off the trail or somethin'. I know _I_ wouldn't have the patience to read _all_ of those book titles," Slab said, giving a shrug.

Clutch, Facemeat, Hadrian, and Mevia twisted to look at him. Slab blinked back, confused about this attention that he was now getting. "What?"

"Uhh... Nothing," Facemeat said, looking at the ceiling.

"Just... didn't know you could read," Mevia hummed mildly, turning away.

Several members of the audience 'coughed' at that. Jesse turned back to the screen to hide the silly grin that was starting to twitch over her lips, and therefore missed the scowl Slab sent in Mevia's direction.

Petra cleared her throat, getting back to Dan's question. "Er... well, that's the only room we're seeing. So unless there's a secret door in there or something, it's gotta be there."

Olivia shook her head as well. " _Not really._ " She placed her hands on her hips. " _Ivor has too many books. And there're too few of us looking. How did we all get split up like this? I feel like we're spreading ourselves too thin. That first night, that we all spent together? That was... fun. Almost._ "

A thoughtful look came over Jesse's face. "Hmm. It _was_ kinda fun. We should do it again." She paused, before amending, "well, not that we've actually _done_ it yet, but you get my point."

"If you get rid of the stress, and the fact that Axel and Lukas kinda started fighting..." Sparklez shrugged after a couple seconds. "Yeah, I guess that would be pretty cool."

"Let's discuss this after we finish watching the episode," Stacy said almost dismissively, "we can hammer out the details then."

Gabriel nodded. "Yes, I'm sure that'll be more convenient than scrambling around and trying to think of all of this while trying to watch the episode," he said helpfully.

" _Well, at least Lukas is still here,_ " Jesse sighed a bit, glancing over at the blonde ocelot hybrid. He was still perusing the bookshelves. " _For a minute back at the cave, I thought he was going to leave, too._ "

" _Glad you talked him out of it,_ " Olivia agreed. " _He's smart. I like having him around._ "

"Oh." Lukas smiled at Olivia from where he was sitting with his arms around Jesse's shoulders. "Uh, thanks, Olivia."

" _And,_ " Jesse leaned in a bit, dropping her voice conspiratorially, " _he has excellent hair._ "

Both girls chuckled a bit as they glanced over at Lukas again. He was totally oblivious to the fact that they were watching him. Or, well, seemingly so... it was impossible to tell if Lukas was paying attention to this or not.

Lukas blinked, before looking at Jesse, his face turning faintly pink. "Uhh... thanks," he repeated, although a faint, silly grin was spreading over his face.

Aiden shared an amused glance with Cassie.

Jesse twisted to look at Lukas, making a big show of staring at his hair. "... yeah, good point," she said at last, reaching up and ruffling his blonde hair before turning back to the episode, trying to hide her now rather pink cheeks and valiantly ignoring the silent giggle fits that many members of the audience were now having.

Jace and Petra also made a big show of looking at Lukas's hair. "Well, she's not wrong," Petra said at last, moving her hand so that one hand rested on her hip.

Jace pouted a bit at Petra and poked her before turning back to the screen with a mock-angry huff. Lukas's lips twitched as he glanced at the mocha-haired boy sitting next to Petra; the ridiculous pouty face he had on, his short stature, and the exaggerated angry stance he currently was using all combined to make Jace look like a young child having a tantrum.

" _He- pff,_ " and Olivia recovered from the small giggling fit she'd been sent into, " _he does have good hair, doesn't he?_ "

Jesse nodded sagely. " _See? This is_ before moving on through the books, lips twitching as if she were repressing a grin. " _Um, 'How I Learned to Stop Worrying and Love Mining'... 'The Unabridged Redstone Encyclopedia'..._ "

Ellegaard blinked and looked over at Ivor. "You still have that? I thought you said you didn't like using redstone."

Ivor stared at the screen silently for a moment. A sly smile slowly crept over his mouth. "You'd be surprised how often I used that book over the last several years, actually."

" _'Zombies and Pigs, an Intimate Memoir'... hm. None of these have much to do enchanting._ " Jesse looked up to see Soren, who was staring at the shelves with crossed arms and a scowl. " _Any luck yet?_ "

Soren scoffed. " _In THIS mess?! It's as though Ivor learned nothing from my lectures on methodological organization!_ "

"Methodo-what?" Axel asked, brow wrinkling in confusion.

Ivor developed an acute interest in the episode, effectively ignoring the look he knew Soren was now sending him. Probably his left eyebrow went up by a half-inch and the right one went down by the same amount. He snuck a glance at Soren to confirm that the look was on his face, before developing his acute interest in the episode again.

" _If only he hadn't gotten lost in that confounded swamp. Coming here was his idea!_ " Soren finished onscreen with an angry huff.

Jesse frowned up at the wall of books. " _Well, there has to be SOME way to find the book._ "

" _There's neither rhyme nor reason to how these books are stored!_ " Soren complained, " _finding anything in here is impossible!_ "

Jesse shrugged, all six of her arms reaching out and grabbing books off the shelves. Giving them a quick glance, she replaced them in the place she'd found them before glancing up at Soren. " _Tedious, perhaps. Impossible? Absolutely not._ "

The ginger architect sent Jesse a long look, before letting out an annoyed sigh. " _Fine. I will continue this monotonous search. But I reserve the right to grumble about it._ "

Jesse shook her head and patted him on the shoulder. " _Believe me, I want to grumble about it too,_ " she agreed emphatically, making Soren crack a reluctant grin.

She let her hand slide off his shoulder and kept walking through the laboratory, before coming to an area with a fireplace. She arched her eyebrow and put her lower sets of arms on her hips. " _Reuben, what are you doing?_ " she asked.

The screen switched to show Reuben sitting extremely close to the fireplace. He gave the black-haired girl a squeal.

Jesse reached out and came over to him, leaning over and fondling his ears. " _Well you're gonna be cooked,_ " she told him, but it was obvious from the warm look on her face that she really wasn't that mad about it. Carefully, while he was still butting his head into her hand, her lower arms scooped up the pig and shifted him a few more feet away. " _I've told you. Stay. Away. From fire."_ She paused before adding, " _and-or-lava._ "

Hadrian let out a loud snort. Real-Reuben gave the white-haired man an angry snort, making Hadrian look at the small pig appraisingly. It was almost as though Reuben had just understood what his snort meant.

Reuben let out a soft oink onscreen and butted his head into her legs. Jesse looked around the room, before pausing and approaching the side of the fireplace. On the side was a hole, with a trail of redstone leading somewhere inside.

"Yep. There's a secret door," Isa said immediately.

Milo's eyes widened a bit. "Fascinating," he breathed.

" _Alright... I'm sure I can find something to power this circuit up,_ " Jesse said resolutely, setting her hands on her hips, as she looked around. Spotting a piece of cobblestone, she snagged it. " _Or maybe I can craft a lever or something. Worth a shot._ "

Continuing to move through the crowded laboratory, she paused when she saw Gabriel carefully examining a wall of potions. He looked over at her when she came up to him. " _This Ivor character... I recall that he knew something about potions. Could one of these stop the Wither monsters?_ "

Jesse's lips twisted, and she crossed her arms. " _No. There was only one potion that really had ANY chance of powering down the Command Block. And..._ " she looked back at him as her lower arms started to sort through the books, eyes flickering back to the shelves as she began multitasking, " _we lost that about two weeks ago._ "

Gabriel hesitated, turning to stare back at the potions. " _I recall that... Ivor was better with potions than people. And he... he..._ " For a moment, he seemed to recall something else, before he let out an irritated huff. " _That's all. Besides the whole Ivor-being-a-jerk thing._ "

Magnus snorted. Ivor pointedly ignored this.

Jesse coughed and turned to look at Gabriel onscreen. " _He's not THAT bad. When you really got to know him he was..."_ She paused, a thoughtful look coming into her eyes. " _Well, he had a nice sarcastic sense of humor. He was kind... sort of. In his own way. And I think he thought of the friends he_ did _have as... family. Like you,_ " and her voice trailed off thoughtfully.

Gabriel simply frowned and turned back to the shelves. " _Potion of blindness... potion of dullness... Potion of nausea... none of these will help me._ " He paused, before asking, softly, " _Jesse, am I going to be all_ _right?_ "

The faintly amused mood immediately sobered up. Gabriel's faint smile faded as he lowered his head to stare at his hands.

 _"Or... is this just who I am now? Always struggling to remember what I was... what I'm supposed to be..._ "

Jesse clapped him on the back, making Gabriel jump a bit in surprise. " _You're gonna be just fine!_ " she exclaimed. " _You're Gabriel the Warrior!_ "

Gabriel gave the girl a small smile. " _Thank you, Jesse. Your confidence in me is stronger than any potion._ " He paused. " _Except perhaps a potion of confidence... I wonder if Ivor has one of those,_ " and he turned back to the shelf musingly.

The mood immediately perked back up, Stampy poorly disguising his laugh as a cough.

Onscreen, Jesse let out an amused laugh and retreated, looking around the room some more. Her smile faded after a moment as she stared at some books blankly for a moment. "... _I do mean it, though,_ " she said to the books at last, keeping her voice low. " _I'll do anything to make sure these guys are okay._ " She snuck a glance at the rest of the group, before moving away through the shelves again.

" _Even if I have to die to do it._ "

Everyone's head jerked around to stare at Real-Jesse, who had developed an incredibly acute interest in the episode. After a minute of silence, Lukas tightened his arm around the black-haired girl, but didn't say anything as the rest of the audience slowly went back to watching the screen.

For some reason, that last part had seemed ominously like foreshadowing.

* * *

 **A/N: Sort of is, but... sort of... isn't? ... eh.**

 **RQTC: Who wants to hear some exciting news (not the news below)?**

 **Anyway, hello everyone! Sorry about not updating for, like, a week... some of the people I PM know that that's because I was attending a funeral for the past week, so I was scrambling around trying to catch up on missed homework over the weekend. Updates will still be slower but that's just because it's slower!**

 **By the way when HCM is over, I'll also begin to work on stories on Quotev, Wattpad, and Deviantart (all of them are on my Quotev journal, you can read the descriptions there if I don't transfer them over here). If you have a Quotev account, please head over and vote on it! And if you don't, er... PM me the vote or shoot me an email at 'arizaluca127 (a) gmail . com' (the (a) thing is an 'at' symbol). :3 The top four wins will be posted on all of the sites that I write on!**

 **And oh, crap, I forgot I need to write a (late) birthday oneshot for TheRealRedGaming... SHITE I'LL GET TO IT LATER**

 **Emily The Avenger: (laughs) True. / Glad to hear it! / FRIENDSHIP!**

 **AquaK13: (laughs) Yep. / Hahaha xD Yeah now I can see that too. Thanks a lot for that mental image, now I'll be grinning like an idiot all throughout Chemistry xD**

 **SofiaTheWriter88: (grins)**

 **Beli0304: Haha, yep xD**

 **the indecisive bird: By day I mean the moment the sun rises to the moment it begins to set. From night I mean after it begins to set (I know, I know, that's dusk, but I'm overgeneralizing here) until the moment the sun begins to rise. xD**

 **LunarStarsMoons: (laughs) / (wink wink)**

 **S4SH4L4SH4theGaMeR101: (grins) / Haha thanks dude**

 **RebekahTPE: Yeah :/ / (laughs) Awww poor Jaune xD / Hahaha maybe I will x3 / A bunch of MCSM fanfictions and a couple of Harry Potter ones.**

 **Rabbits rule: (laughs) So do I, don't worry. / Thanks! / Yeah :/**

 **LittleAngelbun: (wiggles eyebrows) Mayyyyybe.**

 **DynamiteHunter6: Yaayyyy! / Oh. Errr xD**

 **Darkbeast Dend: (shrugs) Hey, it's your decision bro. Wait for another two or three years and then see if you still want to. / No, not dead. Been attending a funeral :/**

 **MissyMattingly: If it's written by Spacelady2012 (or something like that), it's fine they already got my permission :3**

 **NinaNaranja: (laughs) Don't worry, Ferris Wheels worry me. Something about the way the carts swing... / Thank you!**

 **Ishani6's friend: 1. Lukesse, 2. Harvor, 3. Magnugaard, 4. Aidesse (don't judge) 5. Misa(?)**

 **DynamiteHunter6: Done! :3**

 **J.M.M.: (laughs) Haha, no worries.**

 **x.X. A.L. X.x.**


	67. Treasured Memories and Secret Passages

Jesse wandered over to a chest and started poking through it. " _Hmm..._ _wooden planks. Those'll come in handy,_ " and she pulled out the two blocks.

"Oh, there you go. You can make that lever now," Sparklez said, pointing at the screen.

Jesse grinned onscreen as she headed over to a nearby crafting table. " _Alrighty, let's get crafting. First some sticks..._ " She put down the two blocks, the two wooden planks shivering together into four sticks. " _'Kay, got the sticks..._ " She now took the cobblestone and stuck it under one of the sticks. The whole thing shivered together before compacting into a lever.

Heading back over to the hole with the redstone, she popped it into place. The redstone started glowing, indicating that the circuit was completed. " _Hey, there we go, like it was made for it._ " She paused, a funny smile coming over her face. " _Actually, I suppose it_ was _made for it."_ She reached out and flipped the lever.

Pistons fired, the lava in the fireplace slowly disappeared, and the back of the fireplace slowly descended into the ground, revealing a staircase leading down into darkness.

Ivor hummed. "You know, I expected you to find that a lot slower. Good job."

The others crowded around, staring down the long staircase for a moment. Lukas finally crossed his arms and tilted his head, ears flicking slightly. " _Why would you build a secret passageway in a house nobody visits?_ " he wondered.

Jesse shrugged at him in return. " _More like why_ wouldn't _you. Secret passageways are cool._ "

" _Good point._ "

"I wonder if there are secret passageways in this house," Ellegaard mused, narrowing her eyes at the screen.

Cassie's lips twisted together thoughtfully. "Hmm... well, there was that hidden library. And that, uh, 'Redstone Heaven' place hidden in the basement. For all we know, there might be."

"Let's spend some time exploring this place after the episode," Isa suggested, shifting from where she was perched on the sofa- her back was starting to smart from sitting in the same position for the longest time. "After all, it's not like the note said we have a time limit to watch all of them."

"That sounds like a sound idea," Otto agreed.

"So then, after the episode, we'll take a break and just explore this place for a bit," Soren spoke up, looking around at the audience to confirm what he was saying. When there were a lot of affirming sounds, they all turned back to the screen.

Onscreen, Jesse, Soren, and Reuben started walking down the staircase, slowly, looking around. There was a sudden, loud, clicking sound, and Soren and Jesse both looked down in perfect sync to see that the ginger architect was standing on a tripwire.

"Crap," Dan vocalized what many members of the audience were now thinking.

Soren and Jesse looked back up at each other, panic in their eyes, before they whipped back around.

The walls slammed shut behind them, the screen showing Lukas skidding to a stop as he nearly ran straight into the walls. The sound of something disengaging, and he jumped back as the lava started flowing again.

" _Is everyone okay?_ " Jesse shouted through the wall.

" _Why_ ," Em exclaimed, looking over at Jesse and spreading her arms out expansively (nearly smacking Nell in the face by accident), "do you keep getting _separated_ from everybody?"

Axel leaned over Olivia, Petra, and Jace to pat Jesse on the shoulder. "I'm starting to think you have the worst luck of all time."

"I don't think you're the only one there, Axel."

The screen switched back to show Olivia toggling the lever back and forth. " _We're fine, but the lever isn't working anymore!_ " she called through the wall, trying the lever one last time as if to confirm it wasn't going to work.

Of course, it didn't.

Jesse turned from the wall to give Soren a confused look. He shrugged helplessly.

She turned back to the wall. " _Stay there- we'll head down and see what we can find!_ " she called through the wall. That said, she and the builder turned around and started walking down into the darkness, Reuben trotting down beside the spider hybrid and the architect. The screen went black.

"At least Jesse's not by herself this time," Stampy said, in an attempt to stay positive.

"True. But I wonder what else is down there?" Petra leaned over Jace to see Ivor, making the mocha-haired boy whine a bit playfully. "I highly doubt that it's just 'craft a lever and stick it in the hole' easy."

"Of course it isn't," Ivor said dismissively, "but since Soren's with her, it'll be easy."

"Good!" Jesse declared, turning back to the screen.

The screen faded back in to show Jesse and Soren coming into a brightly lit room from the staircase, Soren's eyes widening. Jesse simply blinked, looking around her. " _Whoa,_ " she said, looking around her. " _What IS all this?_ "

Soren shook his head, a slow grin coming over his face. " _Incredible! He's gathered them all in one place!_ "

The screen switched to show the room from Jesse and Soren's backs, a long red carpet with pedestals on the sides. Items rested atop each of the pedestals. " _Gathered... what exactly?_ "

The Order all gasped simultaneously.

"Is that...?" Ellegaard said slowly, turning to look at Ivor.

A faint smile came over his mouth, although he didn't turn to look at her. "It is."

There was a short pause, before Magnus let out a soft laugh and shook his head a bit. "Honestly, I kinda expected him to sell 'em or something."

"Sell what? What's all this stuff?" Maya asked, sitting up from where she was essentially perched in Gill's lap.

At the head of the room was a large black object shaped like an egg. On the left side, there were some luminous white drops and a strange, ice-looking block. On the right, a blue shard and a brightly glowing block.

Soren turned to Jesse, his eyes also brightly glowing. " _These, my dear,_ " he spoke to Jesse, " _are the treasures of the Order of the Stone! The stories I could tell about these dusty old things._ " A sad little smile formed on his face as he went up to the black egg, staring at it.

"Why does _Ivor_ have the Order's treasures?" Sparklez wondered, glancing over at the Order.

Real-Soren's nostalgic smile faded. "It's... complicated," he said after a moment, returning his attention to the screen.

Jesse tilted her head to one side as she glanced around, a perplexed frown forming on her face. " _I... don't see the enchanting book, though. Maybe through the doors?_ " She pointed at a set of iron doors at the end of the room.

Soren trotted over and gave them a yank. He turned back to Jesse with a shake of his head. " _Locked. Of course._ "

" _Well, there's gotta be a way to open it,_ " Jesse murmured.

"I bet all of you six iron that this is a puzzle," Axel spoke, pointing at the screen to illustrate his point.

"I don't think anyone's taking that bet, Axel."

Onscreen, Jesse looked around the room again before trotting over to the white drops and giving them a cursory glance. She leaned closer, eyes narrowing, before they widened. " _H-hey, I think Ivor taught me about these!_ " she exclaimed, " _aren't these Ghast tears? He said they're super hard to get._ "

" _You don't know the half of it. It was our first official mission as the Order of the Stone. We fought those Ghasts for hours... and the tears were our reward,_ " Soren said with an amused chuckle.

Gabriel crossed his arms with a nod. "Yes, I remember that. Didn't we upset several Pigmen while we were at it?"

"No, _Soren_ upset several Pigmen. We had nothing to do with that," Ivor chimed in, seemingly despite himself.

"Yeah, he's the one who knocked that fireball at them," Magnus pointed out, pointing jokingly at Soren.

"Yes, because when a Ghast is shooting fireballs at you, you have time to figure out how you're going to aim where you hit those fireballs-" Soren began to argue back.

Ellegaard elbowed him in the ribs to make the builder be quiet, making him let out a very unmanly squeak and wince a bit, giving the redstone engineer a playful glare.

Onscreen, Jesse blinked at the tears again, before reaching out.

" _What are you doing?_ " Soren asked, sounding faintly alarmed.

Jesse reached out, taking ahold of the Ghast tears carefully, a puzzled look coming over her face. " _They're... sitting on some sort of pressure plate,_ " she replied, very delicately lifting them off said pressure plate. Besides the pressure plate clicking as it unpressed, nothing much happened.

"Oh. Good eye, Jesse," and Petra reached out and clapped Jesse on the back, nearly knocking her into the table again.

The black-haired girl gave a nod as she quickly backed away from the coffee table. "Thanks, Petra," she said, sounding slightly out of breath from basically having the breath knocked out of her.

Onscreen, Jesse traipsed over to the glowing block next, frowning at it a bit. " _Why does Ivor have all the treasures of the Order of the Stone, by the way?_ " she asked the glowing block, refusing to meet Soren's eyes.

"There we go," Sparklez mumbled.

" _Did he... steal them?_ " She said the last two words as quickly as possible, almost as if spitting a nasty taste off of her tongue.

" _No, no!_ " Soren quickly shook his head, and Jesse sagged slightly in relief. " _We... we let him keep them, after we split up._ "

Jesse looked around the room momentarily, before tilting her head at Soren. " _Why?_ "

" _It's a long story, Jesse._ " Soren glanced away from the dark-haired girl awkwardly, a strange look coming over his face. One might've even called it guilt.

Jesse looked back at the glowing block, before back at Soren, who was still looking away from her awkwardly. " _Is this a Sea Lantern?_ " she asked after a few more moments of silence, pointing at the glowing block and abruptly changing the subject.

Soren nodded, looking relieved for the way out she'd just provided him. " _Yes. The very one the Order built, all those years ago. We were so green back then... looks just as bright as it was the day we crafted it._ "

"Yeah, I remember that thing," Magnus said musingly. "I mean, we nearly died getting the stuff to make it, but, you know."

Ellegaard rolled her eyes at him with a huff.

Axel and Olivia exchanged raised eyebrows and a small grin.

Petra leaned over to whisper something to Lukas. Lukas listened, before nodding. "You're on."

Onscreen, Jesse reached out and carefully lifted that as well, another pressure plate giving a loud click as she raised it off gingerly, before placing it in her pocket and then going over to the blue crystalline shards with an interested look. " _These are Prismarine crystals. You can... only get them underwater, right?_ " And she glanced at Soren for confirmation.

" _Precisely! We nearly ran out of oxygen getting these._ " He paused and then chuckled nostalgically. " _Ellegaard had to use a spare bucket to grab a couple extra breaths._ "

"Like I said," Magnus smirked at the audience, "nearly died."

" _We used most of them to craft the Sea Lantern. This is what was left._ "

" _Cool,_ " and Jesse reached out and took the crystals carefully, releasing yet another pressure plate, " _Prismarine is such a cool word."_

Real-Jesse hummed, tilting her head. "Actually, I think it might be a bit of a play on words as well."

"How so?" She wasn't the only one that was surprised when _Aiden_ was one of the people asking her this question, the other being Lukas. The two former friends exchanged a glance with one another.

"'Marine' means water," Jesse said obliviously, not noticing the byplay between the two, "and 'prism' is like a crystal. So putting that together, it's like saying that the 'Prismarine' shards are 'water crystals'."

There was a long pause where everyone tried to digest this, before Mevia let out a humming sound. "Hm. Not a bad observation."

Onscreen, Jesse was now standing next to the ice block, giving it a gentle poke before glancing at Soren. " _Where'd this packed ice come from?_ " she asked.

" _We brought it back from the Ice Plain Spikes biome,_ " Soren replied. " _It was colder there than anywhere we'd ever been. But Magnus slipped so many times, our laughter kept us warm._ "

Soren, Gabriel, Ellegaard, and even _Ivor_ sniggered at this. Magnus glared at them, trying to not let them spot the pink tint coming over his face. "It wasn't _that_ funny."

"You're right," Ellegaard said soothingly, giving him a pat on the back. He relaxed a bit, and had just turned back to the episode when she finished, grinning at him, "It was even funnier."

Jesse couldn't stifle the small explosion of laughter that had been building up in her throat in time. Magnus gave her the stink eye. She gracefully ignored it, Lukas biting his lip and trying not to burst out laughing himself.

" _After that, we knew we were ready to face the Ender Dragon._ "

Jesse let out a soft laugh, a strange, musing look coming over her face. She paused for a minute, before turning back to the block of packed ice and taking hold of it. She fumbled it for a moment, which was slightly distracting but not enough to distract the audience from hearing the _click_ of the pressure plate as it came back up. " _Ahh- it's slippery,_ " she said, hastily putting it into her pocket before she could drop it. Regaining her composure, she walked up to the big black egg, looking at it steadily. It was easily as tall as Jesse's waist. And it probably weighed more than she did, too, both here _and_ onscreen.

Lukas frowned at Jesse a bit, the frown going unnoticed by the black-haired girl. Now that he thought about it, this Jesse was surprisingly light, considering her age. Although, perhaps it wasn't such a surprise... she looked incredibly thin. Enough that he had to wonder how much she _actually_ weighed, and maybe what her body mass index was.

" _Is this the actual Ender Dragon egg?_ " Jesse asked Soren, looking from him to the egg.

Soren looked at it, a sad look coming over his face. " _Yes. The only thing that remains of our last adventure together._ "

She paused, giving it a long look along with the ginger builder next to her, before reaching out and taking ahold of it carefully. " _Well, we can't forget it._ " And she lifted the egg.

Two things happened nearly simultaneously- the pressure plate released, and ten hoppers appeared. Five on the floor, and five on the ceiling above the ones on the floor. Her brow contracted curiously as she carefully stowed the Ender Dragon egg away. " _Huh._ "

" _Why was Ivor hiding a hopper in his basement?_ " Soren pondered, furrowing his brow at said hoppers.

Jesse didn't answer, staring at the hoppers. They were definitely hooked up to some redstone circuitry that looked _fairly_ complicated.

"I'm starting to get what you meant when you said that you used this book quite often," Ellegaard mumbled, arching her eyebrow at Ivor. (Not that she was actually able to pull it _off_ properly, the other eyebrow moved with it, but that's not my point.)

"I don't think I would've been able to accomplish half the things I did without your sarcastic little notes in the margins," Ivor replied, still watching the screen intently. Only Harper noticed the ghost of a smile that was forming on his face.

Ellegaard rubbed the back of her head sheepishly, an odd grin coming over her face. "Ah... well-"

Jesse withdrew the Ghast Tears onscreen, drawing her attention, and trotted over to the first hopper, which was simply labeled '1'. She gently placed them inside. " _Alright, this goes here..._ " She then moved over to the last one and carefully set the Ender Dragon egg inside, being supremely careful not to drop it. " _That's two._ "

Packed ice went into number four, which Jesse actually nearly fumbled and dropped.

"Oh-!" Stampy blinked, eyes widening. "I see what he's doing!"

He wasn't the only one to have a slight epiphany, Jesse and Olivia had both straightened up, Ellegaard's eyes had widened, and Harper and Cassie were both nodding with a rather impressed look. Isa had a thoughtful expression on her face as she nodded slightly.

Everyone else looked almost completely lost.

Onscreen, Jesse popped the prismarine crystals into the second hopper, before setting the Sea Lantern into the third hopper.

The five items were sucked into the hoppers, and the iron doors flew open with a bang, making Reuben let out a squeal in surprise.

Soren looked around at Jesse, looking startled. " _You solved it? But how did you know what order to put them in? There were one-hundred and twenty possible combinations!_ "

Jesse blinked at him, looking faintly startled. " _I'm... not going to ask how you knew that. But, to answer the question..._ " A warm smile came over her face as she crossed her arms, all six of them locking together over her torso. " _Your stories gave me the answer._ "

Maya mumbled, so softly under her breath that Gill had to lean over to hear it (and she was pretty much _sitting in his lap_ ), "That's so sweet..."

He smirked slightly in agreement and patted her on the back.

Soren's gaze softened as he looked at Jesse. " _Nice work, Jesse. You know, I often give Ivor a hard time... but for all his complaining, his time in the Order clearly meant a great deal to him."_

"It meant a great deal to all of us," Gabriel said quietly, glancing at his friends. "It's... a shame that it turned out the way it did."

The King of Boom Town watched the screen before letting out a sigh. "Yeah..."

Ellegaard reached out and squeezed his hand.

Onscreen, Jesse placed her lowest set of hands on her hips, green eyes sparkling as she smiled a bit. " _Well, c'mon. Let's go find that enchanting book, shall we?_ "

And with that, they walked through the iron doors.

* * *

 **A/N: Ummm! Holy crap, wasn't expecting this chapter to be as long as it was to write... I hope it turned out okay!**

 **RQTC: Did anyone notice Mevia's being _nice_ this chapter?**

 **Also, note to everyone who's talking about how it's technically not foreshadowing... (grins) I wasn't quite referring to what you're thinking of...**

 **Oh. Right. News. Nearly forgot about that. xD**

 **Ummm, please go vote on the poll on my FFN profile, the one on my Quotev (if you, in fact, have an account), and the one here: poal . me / afbrzm (just get rid of the spaces).**

 **This is your chance to get the story you REALLY want, so vote on all of them if you can! Also, PLEASE READ ALL OF THE STORY DESCRIPTIONS BEFORE CHOOSING ONE. Don't just charge straight into choosing.**

 **Also be aware this is mainly for me to just know what your preferences. Don't be surprised if I choose one that happens to not be in the majority x3**

 **Responses to commenters!**

 **S4SH4L4SH4theGaMeR101: Haha yep xD / Okay! / Go vote on the polls above, dude! (points) x3 / Haha, Writer's Block has never been a problem for me.**

 **the indecisive bird: (grins) Uh, no, actually. It was sort of foreshadowing in a different way. Hence why I was like 'sort of?'**

 **Emily The Avenger: (laughs) I would like to see Soren and Ivor's library, actually. I love reading, so they'd have so much reading material for me.**

 **NoItsBecky: (grins) That's not what I was foreshadowing...**

 **Beli0304: It's not that exciting, now that I think about it xD**

 **LunarStarsMoons: (grins a bit)**

 **AquaK13: (grins slowly) Oh, but that's not what I was foreshadowing... / I also have an Archive of Our Own account xD**

 **Darkbeast Dend: He really doesn't, you should see how many we have in our house. I think half of the house is made up of books. Seriously xD**

 **MissyMattingly: (thumbs up) Hey, it's cool. Thanks for being concerned about it :3**

 **Meow Shadow: Yeah, I'll finish it. It'll just be a while. :) / (laughs)**

 **Kaos Ruin: (grins)**

 **Rabbits rule: (laughs) / Yes. Without a doubt. (I would die to protect my friends.) / Er... I dunno? / (laughs) Cool, dude.**

 **RebekahTPE: Actually, kinda counting on it xD / That wasn't what I was foreshadowing (grins) / Er, Magnugaard I guess.**

 **RapidSammi: Welp, good luck! / (laughs) Not what I was foreshadowing, dude. / Hm. Cool, might check it out :3**

 **sailor . mikuchan: (grins)**

 **NinaNaranja: Vote on the polls, please x3 / Cool, thanks :3**

 **RWBYSTRQ: Alrighty, cool!**

 **x.X. A.L. X.x**


	68. The Ender Dragon

The screen changed to show them walking into another room. Soren's mouth fell open, eyes widening to the size of tea saucers. " _By the stars!_ " he breathed in shock, " _the Ender Dragon!_ "

The screen changed yet again to show a purple-tinted room. Inside this room was a huge replica of the Ender Dragon made out of obsidian, glowing redstone lamps making up each eye, and behind the dragon, there was no wall, but an extension into what seemed to be a replica of the End. In the center of the room had four obsidian towers with banners and buttons on them, objects decorating the banners. Lit redstone lamps glowed cheerfully on the top of each pillar, and more redstone travelled down the backs.

"Woooaaaaah," Nell said, dragging out the 'o', "that is _seriously_ radical, dude!"

Ivor raised an eyebrow at Nell slightly, a faint smile coming over his face. "Er, thank you."

"No probs, brah."

Jesse's mouth also hung open as she followed Soren into the room. " _Wow!"_ she breathed, looking around the room in wonder, " _wow, wow, wow!_ _I'd always wondered what this looked like._ "

She admired the landscape for another minute, before trotting over to the four pillars. She tilted her head as she surveyed them- a green banner with TNT emblazoned across it, yellow with a loaded bow, red with a piece of redstone dust, and blue with a diamond sword on it. " _Soren, what's this?_ " she asked him.

The ginger architect turned around from where he'd been admiring the Ender Dragon replica to look at the spider hybrid, before turning back to the replica of the dragon and setting his hands on his hips. " _It appears to be a homage to our battle with the Ender Dragon. Despite his anger, Ivor never stopped being fond of us. He was a big part of our team. He knew his days in the Order were his finest._ "

Real-Ivor's gaze was a strange mix between hard and soft. He finally spoke up, in a voice that sounded very different from the one he usually used, "Yes. They were."

Gabriel snuck a glance at Ivor. His dark blue eyes were narrowed, and his mouth was set into a thin line as he stared at the screen, resolutely avoiding everyone's eyes.

Onscreen, Jesse stared at Soren, a sad sort of expression coming over her face. " _So... why did he quit?_ " she asked, mostly to herself, crossing all of her arms in confusion.

Soren's expression grew more somber, and he glanced away from Jesse awkwardly. " _It's a long story,_ " he uttered in reply.

Jesse waited for the architect to elaborate, but Soren didn't.

Lukas coughed slightly, making Jesse look over at him. He blushed a bit when he noticed her looking at him. "Ahaha- sorry. It's just getting kind of awkward."

Onscreen, Soren just kept looking away awkwardly, so finally, Jesse subtly changed the subject. " _So... how_ did _you beat the Ender Dragon, anyway?_ "

Soren glanced at Jesse out of the corner of his eye. A strange, tiny smile snuck over his face, before he began, " _If you'd only been there... it was a fight for the ages._ "

"Sure it was," Ivor muttered softly, almost under his breath, voice regaining its usual asperity. Harper was the only one to catch it.

" _You might remember, but we spent weeks preparing for our greatest battle ever,_ " Soren continued. The screen changed from the homage of the End to the _real_ End, with towering obsidian structures and a strange, purple sky. Large, violet crystals hovered atop some of these obsidian structures, and the Ender Dragon flew about, giving off a deafening roar that made most of the audience wince and clamp their hands over their ears.

"Holy crap, that's awesome!" Axel exclaimed, eyes lighting up.

The screen switched to show the Order appearing out of thin air, landing on the ground. Soren had a loaded bow and arrow in his hands, Gabriel wielding his diamond sword and Ivor flicking out a potion to his left, and Magnus with a block of TNT and Ellegaard pulling some TNT out of her pocket to his right.

"That was even more awesome!" Nell exclaimed, grinning at the Order. Ivor just looked away, narrowing his eyes at the screen, and the Order gave her smiles.

" _But even so, the Ender Dragon was stronger than even I had imagined._ " The dragon flew around, a pink beam of light momentarily connecting it to one of the purple crystals, before disconnecting and joining with another one. Soren watched as the dragon soared over his head. " _I realized that it was drawing energy from the Ender Crystals, and that the crystals had to be destroyed._ "

Soren dodged past an Enderman and lifted his still-loaded bow, firing it. The arrow soared in a perfect arc at one of the crystals, shattering through it with a single hit. " _I hit the first with a perfectly placed arrow._ "

" _The second,_ " Soren dashed towards Magnus, the King of Boom Town throwing a block of TNT at Soren's feet. Soren tensed his knees and leaped, the TNT's explosion launching him even higher into the air. " _By launching myself on a shockwave of Magnus's TNT._ " He landed atop one of the obsidian spires, driving his sword straight into this crystal and shattering it. Magnus could be seen on the ground, grinning and pumping his fists in the air.

" _Using only my strength and my wiles-_ " Onscreen, the screen switched back to Jesse, who gave her eyes a slight roll, but she was still listening with rapt attention, eyes sparkling with amusement as Soren continued, the screen switching back to show the dragon plunging straight at Soren, " _I steered the dragon towards the third crystal. Ellegaard got that one, though-_ " And the screen switched to show Ellegaard setting down a redstone torch and looking up. Thousands of arrows peppered the dragon's side, shattering the third crystal in the process. " _She made a redstone machine that destroyed the crystal._ " The dragon swooped past, Ellegaard throwing her hands into the air in excitement.

Soren's eyes hardened as he steered violently to one side, quickly getting up and wobbling slightly as he tried to keep his balance. The dragon plowed straight into the last crystal and broke it into a billion pieces, just in time for him to leap off and do a parkour roll onto the ground. " _I flew the dragon directly towards the final crystal, and it flew straight into it. Only then-_ " Gabriel leaped into the air, raising the sword with his eyes hardening- " _Did Gabriel deliver his famous final blow._ "

Gabriel brought the sword down right on the dragon's neck. The beast's skin started cracking, purple light spilling through, before an explosion of purple light eclipsed the screen momentarily. When the light faded, the dragon was gone.

"That was _amazing!_ " Olivia exclaimed, nearly bouncing in place and making Axel bounce in place with her. "I didn't know Soren _rode_ the Ender Dragon!"

Petra grinned. "All I really knew was that they destroyed the Ender Crystals so they could kill the Ender Dragon... but that was pretty awesome."

"Does it get the Petra stamp of approval?" Jace joked from where he was sitting next to her, a wide grin spreading over his face.

Honestly, he deserved that poke in the ribs he got from the redhead.

Ivor had a hard look on his face, staring at the screen in a venomous glare. He had never looked more angry during the watching of the episode, except maybe for the time in the first episode where he'd been screaming about Axel taking his potion.

" _We became heroes, and eventually, legends,_ " Soren said onscreen as the scene faded from the Order celebrating to Jesse standing in front of Jesse, staring at Soren with this almost _wondering_ expression. " _The greatest the world has ever known._ "

" _Wow,_ " Jesse said, eyes wide, " _that..._ wow. _You guys did all of that?_ "

Soren nodded, grinning at the spider hybrid widely. " _Indeed we did. They didn't call us the Order of the Stone for nothing,_ " he replied.

Jesse nodded and moved away, her arms a whirl of activity. The lowest two were tapping their fingers on her thighs, the middle set were crossed and drumming their fingers on her arm, and the topmost set was crossed over her chest, her knuckles at her mouth thoughtfully.

"Wow. That's... wow," Cassie blinked at the screen, "that looks incredibly dizzying. You must _really_ be in thought, then."

Onscreen, Jesse paused, before looking up at the replica of the Ender Dragon. The screen panned up to the Ender Dragon, where there was a lever on the back of its head.

"Ohh, cool," Lizzie said, sounding impressed. "I didn't even spot that."

Jesse raised her topmost arm, before giving her wrist a good flick and shooting a strand of silk at her target. It smacked into the dragon's back. Another good flick of the wrist, and the spider hybrid went flying. She whipped around in midair, back hitting the... well, back of the Ender Dragon, before doing a flip and landing neatly on her feet.

"Holy crap," Dan said, making the black-haired girl look over at him as a wry grin came over his face, "you got good at that real quick."

The girl smiled back at him, fondling Reuben's ears absentmindedly as she brushed a stray strand of hair out of her face. "Heh, thanks."

The same look that had formed on Lukas's face back when Gill had burned his hands posed itself back on Lukas's face, his lips pressing into a bit of a line. Petra spotted this, and elbowed him with a slight smirk. "A bit green with envy, aren't we?" she asked him, teasingly but extremely quietly. Jace heard the jibe and snorted, grin forming on his face.

Lukas glanced at Petra and opened his mouth to deny it, before pausing. He stayed in that position for another moment before mumbling "Shut up" in embarrassment and turning back to the screen as Jesse turned back around to the screen, completely oblivious to that little scene that had just happened.

Onscreen, Jesse kicked the lever, and glanced over at the set of iron doors on the other end of the room. A _thunk_ rang out from behind the iron doors that were immediately in the room, but those doors hadn't budged one centimeter.

" _Okay, so I opened something_ beyond _the first set of doors,_ " Jesse murmured, jumping down from the replica and doing a quick parkour roll at the bottom, " _so now to find the thing that opens up the first set of doors it... self..._ "

She paused, glancing at the four pillars. Approaching them more closely, she surveyed the buttons above each banner with some more interest, before trotting over to the yellow bannered one and hitting that button first. The redstone lamp winked out as she did so.

"Oh, I see what he did here," Stacy said suddenly, making several members of the audience jump- they'd kind of forgotten she even existed.

Onscreen, Jesse trotted over to the green banner and hit the button above that one as well. She then trotted over to the red banner, hitting that button, before going up to the blue banner and touching that button. The last redstone lamp above the pillar winked out, and the iron doors sprang open rapidly, nearly hitting Reuben in the face. The little pink pig leaped back with an alarmed squeal.

"Oh gosh! I'm sorry, Reuben," Jesse addressed said pink pig, apologetically fondling Reuben's ears some more, " _totally_ didn't mean to do that."

He nudged her hand with his nose. Jace grinned and rubbed Reuben's head as well, making the pig grumble with pleasure. "Aww, he forgives you."

"Aw, thanks, buddy," she said, grinning down at the pig. Reuben grinned back.

" _Oh Notch! You okay there, Reuben?_ " Jesse exclaimed, hurrying over to the pig. He squealed affirmatively, and Jesse let out a low sigh of relief, reaching down and fondling his ears some more. " _That's good. I wouldn't want you getting hurt._ "

" _Bravo! You did it!_ " Soren congratulated the dark-haired girl with a grin. She grinned right back, and the two of them walked into the next room, a rather relieved sigh coming out of Jesse's lungs at the sight of a glowing book sitting on a quartz block.

Otto let out a musing hum. "Compared to the Atlas... it's very lackluster," he said to his cohorts quietly, being careful to keep his voice low. Hadrian and Mevia nodded in reply to that.

" _There's the book!_ " Jesse exclaimed, stepping towards it.

Behind her, Reuben let out a confused oink, staring at something past the enchanting book. Jesse glanced at Reuben questioningly, before back at the book, and then lifting her gaze.

Gasps erupted around the room, eyes widening in shock. Onscreen, Jesse had a similar reaction, automatically stepping back as her hands flew up to her mouth in shock, her green and red eyes widening in confusion.

Because right there, in front of them, floating on their own respective quartz blocks, were the Ender Crystals.

The real ones.

* * *

 **A/N: Oooh, the Order's in trouble next chapter~**

 **RQTC: Is anyone else both excited for and dreading a _certain moment_ in Episode 4 like I am? **

**Probably not... only I know exactly what I have planned for that _certain moment._**

 **Mel: (laughs) I have that problem too. Actually, everyone does- Ivor and Jesse don't though. Maybe they practiced it or something. xD / Thank you!**

 **S4SH4L4SH4theGaMeR101: Heehee (grins evilly) Yes he is x3 / No, they just can't fit in the same armchair without her sitting on his lap. (But you should still ship it, lol)**

 **Emily The Avenger: I'm glad to hear it cheered you up! But I'm sorry to hear that your friend was in the hospital. (I am glad that she's okay, though!) / I'm glad to hear that as well! Although I kinda doubt Different Outcomes made you happy, haha. / (smiles mysteriously)**

 **the indecisive bird: (laughs) / Ahh, cool! It's not summaries from the entire game, though- it's kinda... hmmm, how to explain it? Kinda like a Vocaloid AU, except with MCSM characters. / Read it again, you might spot it this time x3 / You just realized? xD**

 **LunarStarsMoons: I know, right? It's a small miracle! / Hehehe xD**

 **AquaK13: Well, I mean, he was beating her, do you really think he's going to properly nourish her after that? / Sorry, Aqua's friend x3 / Haha, yep! (winks) We'll see how her personality is over the course of the story, shall we? / Can do, friend!**

 **Darkbeast Dend: You wanna play board games, Herobrine? xD Ahh, that sucks. / Writers block is basically meaning that you don't have any ideas, so you can't write stories.**

 **RebekahTPE: Well, if you took him on that bet, technically you'd have to bet the opposite... xD / ... necklaces? I don't wear jewelry, so...**

 **sailor. mikuchan: Well look again, friend (hey that rhymed xD)**

 **Kaos Ruin: (grins) You know, maybe!**

 **NinaNaranja: (laughs) True, true. / I know, right? So hyped x3 At this rate, this story's gonna have like double the amount of reviews Hybrid had, and that went up to 1k, so xD**

 **CrystalTearsofFaith: (laughs) I know, right? And glad to see you're back!**

 **x.X. A.L. X.x**


	69. Truth and Lie

" _S... Soren...?_ " Jesse asked slowly, eyes wide with shock, " _aren't those... the Ender Crystals?_ " She turned slowly to face the architect, " _the real ones?_ "

Soren was staring at the crystals as well, expression filled with near _horror._ " _No... it can't be... not here. Not after all this time!_ "

Jesse looked at Soren, concern and desperation playing in her eyes. " _Soren, what are the Ender Crystals doing in the Far Lands?_ " the spider hybrid asked slowly, as if trying to make sense of the whole muddled-up situation.

"Wait- but- how-?" Lukas was gasping, shaking his head almost nonstop in confusion to try to make things clearer. Olivia was shaking her head as well, before hollowly saying-

"This doesn't make any sense."

Em looked totally bewildered, and the gladiators looked as though they were suffering from some sort of _extremely_ acute headache. The three Sky City citizens were gaping soundlessly at the screen. Nell was just looking from the screen to the actual Order, and Cassie was gaping open-mouthed at it. Hadrian and Mevia had both actually _straightened up_ to watch, while Otto's eyes were wide. Harper was glancing from Ivor to the Order in such rapid succession that it was a wonder she wasn't dizzy by now. The YouTubers all had varying reactions, Sparklez looking comically shocked while Stampy's jaw was practically hitting the ground and Dan and Stacy were gawking at the screen. Lizzie just simply looked stunned.

" _He_ kept _them._ " It was almost as though Jesse hadn't asked her question, as Soren took a step closer to the violet crystals, still staring at them. " _The fool actually_ kept _them! He looked me in the eye and swore-_ " He whirled back around to Jesse, looking her dead in the eye, " _he swore that he'd destroy them._ "

" _But they_ were _destroyed!_ " Jesse protested, even as a worried, strange expression came over her face. She stared at Soren, taking one step back, almost as though she weren't sure if the man in front of her was trustworthy anymore. " _R... right? Soren, you said these crystals were the key to destroying the Ender Dragon..._ " She paused, eyes widening as a thought occurred to her. " _You... you_ did _kill the Ender Dragon..."_ A long pause as she stared at Soren and Soren stared back. "... _right?_ "

The last word- barely at the volume of a whisper- hadn't even fully exited the girl's mouth as Soren looked from the spider hybrid to the crystals, panic written clear as day across his face. " _Jesse- this- this isn't what it looks like! Our story- our story is mostly- mostly true, I swear it!_ "

"Mostly?!" Maya exclaimed, whipping around to the Order so fast that her neck nearly cracked. " _Mostly?!_ "

"You guys lied-" Jace sputtered, looking perfectly stunned, "about something other than Ivor?!"

"Yes." Ivor turned his venomous glare from the screen to his former friends, eyes going even colder. "They did."

The Order all exchanged extremely, extremely guilty glances.

Onscreen, Jesse took another step back, a whirlwind of emotions flashing through her eyes and over her face. Anger, worry, sorrow, confusion, betrayal... before it finally settled onto something that looked like a mix of determination... and resignation. " _... so what really happened then?_ " she asked, voice barely audible, " _if you didn't destroy the Ender Crystals..._ "

Soren stuttered slightly. " _I- I can't, we swore- we swore never to speak of it-_ "

" _Soren._ "

Soren's protests faded away at the sight of the sad-eyed girl, standing there, waiting patiently as if she was demanding an explanation.

But in that time- the one they were watching so intently on the screen- she was also the girl whose friends who'd been almost _abandoned_ after the battle. The girl who'd waited and waited and waited for days and weeks and years to see them again, even if she hadn't known she'd been waiting.

The girl who, frankly, out of any person in the whole world, deserved the honest truth from the Order.

" _I'm afraid,_ " Soren finally began, turning around and pressing his hands to the tops of the quartz stands, " _I'm afraid I haven't been entirely honest with you. We... we_ did _defeat the Ender Dragon. But it wasn't exactly as I said."_ He paused. Jesse waited.

" _... we got rid of it. But we... we didn't kill it, per se._ " He looked over his shoulder at Jesse. " _We didn't even fight it._ " He turned back to the Ender Crystals, squeezing his eyes shut. " _I didn't even try._ "

"That- that doesn't even make _sense!_ " Aiden spluttered, looking confused.

"Spit it out already!" Petra snapped at Soren.

" _So what did you do to it?_ " Jesse asked with a confused shake of her head.

Soren whirled around, eyes narrowed in a glare and voice rising in volume. " _I didn't do anything!"_ he nearly _snapped_ at her, " _we used the Command Block on it!_ "

Lukas's eyes widened. "You _what?!_ You did _what_ to it?!" he nearly shouted, making Jesse flinch from where he'd accidentally just shouted in her ear.

Onscreen, Jesse's eyes widened as well, arms dropping to her sides in shock. She stood there for a moment or two, mouth opening and closing like a fish out of water, before shaking her head rigorously for a moment and then _exploding_ , " ** _You used the Command Block to defeat the Ender Dragon?!_** "

Several members of the audience glanced at Real-Jesse's face to see a similar sort of surprise reflected there- most of them hadn't even been aware that Jesse could even _raise her voice_ at someone in this way.

Soren's angry face melted into an ashamed one. Ashamed and guilty. " _I'm afraid so._ "

He'd barely finished the statement when Jesse was talking again, so fast that she was nearly stumbling over her words. " _How could you_ do _this? We- even when we didn't_ remember _you, we looked up to you. You guys were our heroes- you were like our role models and- you've been lying to_ everyone _this whole time?!_ " Despite the hurt tone in her voice, it had dropped back to a whisper again.

"That's..." Olivia shook her head, turning to the Order.

"Did you even _go_ on any of those adventures?" Maya snapped at the Order, voice icy cold.

"Of course we did!" Soren exclaimed, head snapping around to face the brunette, "you heard what I said about Magnus slipping in the Ice Spikes Biome, and- and about Ellegaard using a spare bucket to grab the Prismarine crystals! We didn't use it all of the time, just... most of the time."

"So..." Real-Jesse spoke up, looking more confused and shocked than anything else, "you... cheated?"

Ellegaard sighed and looked away. "... yeah. We did."

The people in the room who didn't know who the Order was were still shocked, but to the people who _did_ know the Order it was as if their entire world had just been flipped upside down and spun six ways to Saturday.

After a moment, Jesse just shook her head. "How...?" She looked simply dumbstruck, as if she had no idea what to say. She'd only met them recently, but she'd trusted them... maybe even started looking up to them.

Gabriel let out a sigh and shook his head, gesturing at the screen. "I think Soren's about to explain."

" _Understand,_ " Soren said quietly, " _when I found that blasted block, we were nobodies. But with its help, we became stronger. Faster._ " The screen went into a closeup on Soren's face. " _We could do so much more._ " It moved away to show that they were back in the End. Just like the previous time, the Order dropped out of nowhere and ran forward, the dragon roaring furiously.

" _But the more we used it... the more we came to depend on it._ " The dragon swooped down and slammed its tail right into Magnus, knocking the King of Boom Town onto his back and slamming right into Ellegaard, bowling them both over. Gabriel rushed over to help, but the dragon spewed fire at him and the warrior dove under the first blast of fire but got hit with the second. He crashed to the ground next to them, grabbing at his burned shoulder with a silent cry of pain. " _I knew it was only so long before someone would find out._ "

Ivor tried to run forward as well, but an Enderman teleported into his way and slammed one of its long, black arms straight into Ivor, making the man flinch as it let out a silent death scream. It hit him again, this time hard enough to make his blue eyes glaze over and for the potionologist to crash to the ground next to Gabriel, looking as though he were in extreme pain.

The dragon swooped around one last time, over Soren's head, as the ginger architect pulled out the Command Block. Wheeling around, the dragon plunged at the four Order members, crouched on the ground. They cringed away-

Just as Soren charged forward, raising the Command Block high into the air. The dragon vanished in a huge puff of smoke, moments before the purple flames pouring from its mouth could kill the group. " _So I concocted a plan._ " The Order slowly turned around to see their leader, Soren standing there with the Command Block in his hands, a sorry look on his face. " _I would use the Command Block to blink the Ender Dragon out of existence..._ "

The screen changed to show the Order standing in front of a cheering crowd. Gabriel was fist-pumping the air, Magnus was grinning, Ellegaard was smiling and waving, Ivor was slowly clapping his hands while glaring at Soren... and Soren was just standing there, the saddest, most distant look any of the audience members had ever seen fixed on his face. " _Securing our status as legends..._ " The screen faded to Soren standing in front of Jesse, lit by the Ender Crystals, the same expression on his face. " _Forever._ "

Jesse just stared at Soren wordlessly, a hurt sort of look still fixed on her face. But she didn't even look angry.

Just hurt.

" _So you finally admit it._ "

Both of them turned to see Ivor, Lukas, Olivia, and Gabriel coming up behind them, Ivor's arms crossed angrily.

Olivia shook her head onscreen, eyes wide. " _Soren... how could you?_ " she whispered, staring at the architect in shock.

Soren's eyes weren't on Olivia, though. They were fixed in a venomous glare on the man who'd started this whole mess. " _Ivor._ "

" _How long have you guys been standing there?_ " Jesse asked them, tilting her head slightly at them.

Lukas directed a hurt look at his mentor, making the ginger architect wince and shift a bit. " _Long enough that we heard the whole thing._ "

Gabriel was frowning, looking almost... disappointed. " _So we're liars?_ " he asked, slowly. " _All of us?_ "

" _Yeah,_ " Lukas said softly. " _I think you are._ "

" _You didn't think you could keep it a secret forever, did you?_ " Ivor snapped, walking towards Soren, dark blue eyes narrowed in a glare right at him. " _The truth hurts, doesn't it?_ "

Soren blinked once. " _But Ivor... why?_ "

" _Is this why you left the Order?_ " Jesse asked the black-haired man, frowning as she looked between Soren and Ivor. " _Because Soren lied?_ "

" _Because they all did!_ " Ivor near- _snarled_ , making both onscreen-Jesse and real-Jesse flinch back a bit. " _Soren, Gabriel, Magnus, Ellegaard- they all agreed to keep this a secret!_ "

Gabriel's brow furrowed. " _How conniving of us,_ " he said, although he mostly seemed to be talking to himself.

 _"And you!_ " Soren accused, walking forward so that he was standing in front of Ivor, " _you agreed to stay quiet, too! In exchange for all our treasures!_ "

"Ahhh, there we go," Jace mumbled, snapping his fingers a bit, still looking faintly shocked, "that explains that bit."

Onscreen, Olivia gasped, looking from Soren to Ivor.

Ivor only shrugged a bit. " _I technically have never spoken a word,_ " he replied simply, " _Jesse discovered the truth all on her own._ "

" _So this whole thing,_ " Lukas spoke up, tail twitching everywhere and ears flicking sharply, " _the Wither you unleashed- that was just to teach the Order a lesson!?_ "

"A very poor one," Lukas muttered, so that only Jesse could hear him. She shot him a glance that made him abate.

" _To teach the whole world a lesson!_ " Ivor snapped back at Lukas, " _to show you who the Order really are! Liars. Cowards. And now,_ " he turned to stare at Soren with a glare that could've burned a hole through iron, " _they know._ "

Soren's glare turned into a sadder look. " _Yes._ " He let out a long breath. " _I suppose they do._ "

There was a long pause where Olivia, Lukas, and Gabriel were looking from Soren to Ivor back to Soren again as the two former friends practically stared each other down, Ivor near- _glowering_ at Soren while Soren just looked at him.

Jesse broke it up, stepping between them and spreading her arms out. " _Okay,_ " she spoke up firmly, stepping between them, " _look, it doesn't matter how this started-_ or _who started it. We just have to finish it. We need to destroy that Command Block. Like, now._ "

Soren let out yet another sigh. " _Jesse's right. Destroying the Command Block is the only thing that really matters right now._ "

A short silence, before Ivor went over to the enchanting book and shut it, cutting off the flow of strange words and characters flitting off the pages of the book, before lifting it off the quartz pedestal. " _How ironic that the best thing the Command Block gave us was the very means to destroy it,_ " he mused quietly, the faint glow of the book making his dark blue eyes gleam strangely. " _I've had this book for years. Never thought I'd actually have to use it._ "

"I guess that also explains why you'd keep it way out in the middle of nowhere," Olivia said musingly. "Not just to keep people from stealing it or whatever, but... also just because you didn't really think you needed it."

Ivor shrugged noncommittally when several members of the audience glanced at him.

" _C'mon, Jesse,_ " he looked over at the spider hybrid, " _I'll show you how to use it._ "

"It's not that complicated, don't worry, Jesse," Petra said to Jesse reassuringly, reaching over Jace to clap her on the back. This time, Lukas _did_ notice the slight tightening of the muscles in Jesse's face as she barely managed to keep from flinching or visibly wincing. It had been too subtle for him to spot before that. Now he was definitely starting to wonder...

Onscreen, Jesse carefully took the book that he was holding out to her, holding it gingerly, as if it were almost some sort of nuclear bomb that would explode with the first violent movement.

" _Ivor,_ " Soren spoke up in a soft voice, eyes fixated on the floor, " _I'm... sorry. About everything._ "

"Yes," Soren said softly, turning to look at Ivor. "I... I really am sorry."

Ivor stared at Soren for a moment, before looking back at the screen, murmuring something that nobody could quite catch. Harper wasn't sure, but she was fairly certain that he'd just said, _I'm sorry too._

Onscreen, Ivor just looked at Soren for the longest time, before his eyes softened a bit. " _I'm sorry too... but I suppose it doesn't really matter now,_ " the man finally spoke, sounding uncharacteristically gentle for once.

The screen faded to black.

* * *

 **A/N: Holy wow, this got intense to write. I'm getting so darn excited, seriously. I'm getting all tingly inside :3**

 **RQTC: Have you voted on that poll yet (the one I listed in a previous chapter and the one on my profile)? C'mon, I need votes... it's gonna be a while until I get to it but until then I still need votes to see what people want (pleading eyes)**

 **Kaos Ruin: (laughs)**

 **pensuka: Haha, yeah, pretty much.**

 **LunarStarsMoons: (grins) / Uhh, c-calm down 0-0 / Hehehe**

 **Emily The Avenger: Yeah, I thought it sounded way cooler. :3 / (shrugs) I don't know what I would do either. xD**

 **AquaK13: (laughs) Yeah, don't worry- Jesse's probably gonna be found out pretty soon.**

 **RebekahTPE: I am both supremely excited... and also have a knot the size of Kentucky in my stomach. xD / Noo, he'd be more excited about finding evidence of the Old Builders tbh xD**

 **the indecisive bird: (laughs) Well, glad to see ya like how it's goin' so far :3**

 **J.M.M.: Sure, what kind of description?**

 **sailor . mikuchan: (laughs)**

 **Mewgirl Anna: Yeah, but I didn't want to attract too much attention to it, since it's not the most important part of the story (although it is a significant part of it, yes.) And thank you! That's an interesting idea, but I'm not sure if I'll actually do it. It's funny, I update super fast because I just really WANT to update, not because people pressure me xD**

 **Darkbeast Dend: Lego. I don't really care much about Transformers, no offense (sweatdrop)**

 **NinaNaranja: Consider it expected xD / Oh don't worry, that happened to me to xD / Thanks, and here you go! (tosses update to you)**

 **SofiatheWriter88: Yep :3 / Haha, yeah. Giving cliffhangers is awesome. Receiving them... eh. / Thank you! I'm glad to see so many people like my stories, even though I'm still learning how to write stories like this and I'm not extremely good at it yet.**

 **RapidSammi: (laughs) Yep. / (pats you on the back, grinning) Good to have ya back, Sammi-kun.**

 **x.X. A.L. X.x**


	70. Enchanted Armor

The screen changed to show Ivor, Jesse, and Reuben making their way through yet _another_ set of iron doors. " _Grab some ingredients and craft a weapon. I'll show you how to enchant it,_ " Ivor told Jesse. The screen switched to show the room they were walking into, lava-lamps resting on the floor and illuminating a room with brightly colored sets of armor behind a crafting table, an anvil, and a chest.

"Where... _is_ that room?" Olivia mused, eyes narrowing at the screen. "I don't think we saw any more doors..."

"My lab holds many secrets," Ivor replied simply, and that was that.

" _Cool!_ " and Jesse grinned at Ivor cheerfully, before walking forward. She opened the chest and rummaged around inside it. " _Ooh, diamonds, score!_ " she exclaimed, eyes lighting up as she took out four of the turquoise gems. She gave them an amused look and picked one out of the four that she'd taken, sticking it in her pocket. " _I'll be sure to save at least one for Petra,_ " she added.

Jace grinned and patted Petra on the back. She elbowed him with a grin.

Onscreen, Jesse trotted over to the crafting table, before stopping in front of it and contemplating it silently.

"Craft a sword!" Petra called out suddenly, making Jesse and Jace jump a bit in surprise as she nearly shouted in their ears.

"No, no, go for an axe!" Axel exclaimed, Gill echoing the sentiment a second late, "it'll look so cool!"

"The pickaxe is more efficient for destroying the Command Block! Craft a pickaxe!" Olivia exclaimed, Maya nodding and echoing the sentiment herself.

"Actually," Ivor broke in, "the Command Block enchantment is so strong that literally anything could be used to destroy the Command Block, even if it was a hoe."

"Oh, please don't craft a hoe," Lukas groaned. "Or a shovel."

"Why not a hoe?" Jace asked him, looking at him. "Actually, hoes are pretty useful. Sharpen the hoe, and you've kinda got like a one-sided pickaxe. Not to mention, if you're in the wild and starving, you can either hunt or make some sort of garden. You've got a weaponized hoe, so both are good options." He paused thoughtfully for a moment. "For that matter, shovels are pretty useful, too. No one looks twice at someone holding a shovel. Also! The edges are kinda sharp, so I can both chop at you with a sharpened shovel edge, or I can bludgeon you."

Everyone looked at Jace.

"What? I'm just being practical!"

Finally, onscreen-Jesse made her decision. Jesse placed a stick in the bottom middle slot, before slotting in two diamonds above it. The ingredients shivered together into a sword, Jesse smiling as she lifted it off the crafting table.

Petra fist-pumped the air. "Yes!"

Jesse gave the diamond sword a careful wave. " _I've never had a diamond weapon before!_ " she said cheerfully.

Ivor smiled at the black-haired spider hybrid's excitement, dark blue eyes practically glowing with faint amusement. " _Just wait until you enchant it,_ " he replied, gesturing at the anvil.

Jesse set the sword down on the anvil carefully, before taking the enchanting book and carefully placing it next to the sword. The two of them merged together, before the sword was infused with a bright light. Wincing, Jesse stepped back and shielded her eyes for a moment, as did many of the members of the audience.

When the light faded, the sword's blade had a miasmic blade, glowing red, green, blue, purple... much like the Command Block itself, actually. The crosspiece glowed gold, and the hilt was a gleaming silver, as the sword hovered in the air a bit above the anvil, waiting for Jesse to pick it up.

"Wooaaaaah," Jesse breathed, leaning forward in interest while Lukas looked at her. Her green eyes were actually _sparkling_ a bit in interest. _Sparkling,_ I tell you. "That's really beautiful... oddly enough for a tool of destruction."

Onscreen, Jesse carefully took the sword, giving it a casual twirl, but at the same time being careful not to chop off one of her arms by accident or anything. " _Behold!_ " she joked, giving the sword a wave in the air, " _my enchanted diamond sword!_ "

Behind her, Reuben was hopping up and down in excitement and squealing.

"Aww, he likes it too," Jace grinned, fondling his pig's ears... well... fondly.

"Aww," and Jesse reached out and fondled Reuben's ears as well, making Reuben let out a happy squeal and grin. "Thanks for the approval, Reuben."

"That is so _awesome!_ " Axel cheered, throwing his arms in the air.

Nell grinned and bounced in place on the couch in agreement.

Petra gave a nod herself, shaking her head once or twice in amusement. "Okay, that is the coolest thing I've ever seen."

" _Yes, that should do the job nicely,_ " Ivor agreed, resting his hand on Jesse's shoulder and making the girl grin at him. He paused for a moment, before beginning tentatively, " _You know, I had... a lot of free time,_ " he said at last, making Jesse twist around to look at him. " _So I designed some armor specifically for you hybrids._ "

" _And_ you get new armor too?! Awesome!" Maya gasped, giving Jesse a grin. The black-haired girl smiled back cheerfully.

"Whoooa, seriously?" Petra was grinning. Jace elbowed the redhead next to him, grinning at her as well.

"You didn't strike me as the type of person to like clothing, Peets."

Petra's eyebrow went up, before she let her eyelids droop and leaned forward so that her mouth was right next to Jace's ear, a strange smile spreading over her face. "Well, a girl has to look her best, doesn't she?" she pretty much _purred_ seductively into his ear.

Jace's face turned bright red, while Lukas just gave Petra an appraising look, his own face turning red. Axel had turned to stare at Petra in surprise, while most of the other males were now _staring_ at Petra with this hot, red, embarrassed blush spreading over their face. Most of the girls were gaping at Petra as well. No one had expected that the tomboy could even _fake_ that sort of behavior.

Petra pulled back, smirking broadly. Jace just continued to sit there, blinking rapidly with his face flushed bright red.

He flopped onto his back silently, still bright red.

Jesse leaned back to get a good look at his face, her own cheeks tinted pink from that, before sitting forward and giving Petra a look. "I think you broke him."

Onscreen, Jesse let the arm holding her sword drop as she stared at Ivor. Reuben let out a surprised squeal as well.

Ivor went over to a chest in the corner and started rummaging through it, Jesse coming up behind him with a curious look. " _Well, I mean, I didn't have your sizes... and I never had the chance to go back and see you, after... well, you know,_ " and Ivor paused in his rummaging through the chest, before resuming it. " _So I simply went wit the sizes I usually make armor with. They... should fit, now that you're older._ "

Straightening up, Ivor held out a jet-black suit of armor with six sleeves and jet-black gloves to accompany it. A red hourglass was emblazoned on the back, and the front was embellished with simple red designs that were reminiscent of a spiderweb. The boots were black as well, except for the red bottoms, and the leggings were plain black.

Otto let out a whistle, nodding slightly as he examined the armor himself. "Nice design."

Jesse stared at the armor, mouth slightly open, before her eyes flickered up to Ivor. " _You should become a clothing designer._ "

Several people in the room snorted. Onscreen, Ivor did the same, handing the armor over to Jesse.

Jesse grinned and took the armor. The screen changed to show Jesse yanking the gloves up to her elbows, before jumping neatly into the boots. One of her lower, gloved arms grabbed the sword again and twirled it, and the screen zoomed out to show Jesse sheathing her sword on her back, the black armor's red designs almost glowing in the dim light.

"That's _so awesome!_ " Nell and Axel accidentally chorused at the screen. Jesse grinned at Ivor.

"You seriously should be a clothing designer."

Soren stifled a laugh at this, while Ivor rolled his eyes, being supremely careful to hide the grin on his face.

Lukas was staring at the screen, blinking rapidly. Jace, having recovered from the blushing from now, grinned and elbowed Lukas in the ribs. "Like what ya see?" he asked, careful to keep his voice low.

"Shut up," Lukas grumbled at the same volume, his cheeks flushed bright red now.

Jesse tapped her midriff, before looking up at Ivor, raising her eyebrow with a grin. " _Okay, I was half-joking before, but now I'm kinda serious- you'd make a killing if you were a clothing designer._ "

This prompted a small round of laughter from the audience, Ellegaard wiggling her eyebrows playfully at Ivor. He ignored the redstone engineer.

Ivor rolled his eyes and ruffled the girl's hair, making her swat him off with a giggle. " _I think I'll just stick with potion-making, thank you very much. I have some for the others, too._ "

Jesse recovered from her giggling and put one hand on her hip, drawing the sword again and surveying it. Her gaze softened, and she gave Ivor a warm smile. " _... thanks, Ivor._ "

Ivor returned the smile with another nod, and the two of them exited the room. The screen changed to show Jesse walking through another set of doors, back into the room with the Ender crystals. The waiting group looked up at Jesse, Olivia's eyes widening. " _Nice sword. And nice armor!_ "she exclaimed, straightening up.

" _Ivor should be a clothing designer,_ " Jesse replied simply, with such a blank face that the audience was _positive_ that on the inside, she was doubled over with laughter.

Ivor ignored the joke and held out two other suits of armor. " _I have some for you, too,_ " he told the other two hybrids.

" _Oh, nice!_ " and Olivia took hers, while Lukas took his.

The screen changed to show Olivia dressed in all black like Jesse, except her armor was covered in simple purple designs that looked like sparkles, glowing in the dim light of the Ender Crystals. She kept on the green beanie with goggles, though, so besides that and the chestplate, every part of her armor was a simple black design. It was definitely what would be more of a stealth design.

Olivia blinked when she felt something drip on her shoulder. She twisted to see that there was a small spot of red on her otherwise white t-shirt. "Huh?" She looked up- and blushed. "Er, Axel, your nose is..." She trailed off, before gesturing at Axel.

Axel blinked at her, before his own face flooded bright red and he clapped his hands to his face.

Petra raised her eyebrow at Lukas. He returned the raised eyebrow silently.

Lukas wore a set of gold armor, except the shoulderpads and the leggings were dark gray chain mail. Of course, his tail was still exposed, and flicked around neatly. The chestplate had dark gray and black sort of 'spots' emblazoned on it. His boots were also gold, and the gloves were as well, except the fingertips were exposed. He also had a pair of gray goggles on his head, except the lenses seemed a bit more of a green tint than Olivia's.

Lukas flexed his hands experimentally, before a set of claws shot out of his fingers and made him jump. " _Ah!_ " He looked up to see Jesse blinking at him, and rubbed his head awkwardly. " _Ahaha, sorry. Still don't have that under control._ "

"You guys look _awesome!_ " Lizzie cheered, grinning at the three hybrids. They grinned right back at her.

" _I see what you mean, Ivor would be rich if he was a clothing designer,_ " Lukas remarked, twisting and turning to look at himself.

Olivia looked pleased about hers, too. " _Yeah, this is really well made,_ " she agreed, giving Lukas a grin. He returned it, adjusting the goggles momentarily.

Jesse grinned at the two other hybrids as Gabriel and Soren came up to them. " _Let's get back to Soren's fortress and see how the Witherstorms are doing against those Endermen._ "

Ivor pulled out some potions as he approached the group as well. Jesse looked carefully at them, before she clapped her hands and her eyes lit up as she looked up at the former Order member. " _Ah, these are potions of teleportation!_ "

He nodded, a small smile on his face. " _Very good, Jesse,_ " he praised the spider hybrid, making her perk up, " _I'm glad to see you remember some of the things that I taught you._ " He passed the bottles around, waiting until all of them had a bottle of their own, all of their eyes meeting as they stood there in a circle, facing one another.

Lukas took a deep breath. " _Well, let's go,_ " he stated at last, and with that the whole group uncorked their respective bottle and tipped it back, gulping down the potion.

For a few seconds, nothing happened. Then, the whole group began to glow, Jesse looking down at her hands momentarily as if to check herself.

And then they vanished from the lab.

The screen blacked out again.

Lukas's pleased grin from a moment before had faded. "Do you think any of us are going to die?" he asked quietly, accidentally echoing the question he'd asked Jesse way back after the first episode. "I mean, Ellegaard nearly _did_ die, and that was with _one_ Witherstorm."

"Even if one of us _does_ die, it's only in this alternate path- it doesn't mean that we'll die in our time," Jace pointed out, although his own face had twisted into a worried expression.

Petra was quiet for a moment, frowning uncomfortably. Jesse spoke up softly, "Still... I don't want to see any of my friends die."

* * *

 **A/N: Special thanks to 'the indecisive bird' for the reasonings about why you should make a hoe (and partially for the reasons to make a shovel)!**

 **And I died laughing while writing that bit where Petra was just acting super sexy because of how ridiculous it was xD**

 **HOLY WOW WE ARE AT 70 CHAPTERS WITH OVER 22,000 VIEWS AND OVER 900 REVIEWS!**

 **GUYS WE MIGHT SERIOUSLY BEAT HYBRID WITH THIS STORY!**

 **RQTC: Does this chappie seem a bit short?**

 **RWBYSTRQ: Haha, I'm glad to hear that!**

 **LunarStarsMoons: (grins) / Aww, thanks! / Hehe xD**

 **AquaK13: (laughs) Same when I see a chapter of one of my favorite fanfictions. / (looks at the ceiling) / Hehe, yeah xD / No spoilers :3 / 'Eyy no problem!**

 **S4SH4L4SH4theGaMeR101: (taps the side of my nose) Very astute :3 / Haha xD**

 **NinaNaranja: Yep, that's the right one :3 / Haha sure xD**

 **RebekahTPE: I know, right? Soo excited x3 / Haha yeah xD / Cool, thanks :3 / Is it really? It didn't make me feels (blinks) / Chocolate bracelet, because CHOCOLATE IS AWESOME.**

 **ChloSky: No spoilers, friend :3**

 **J.M.M: (shrugs) Yeaaahhh... I dunno either xD Sorry.**

 **CrystalTearsofFaith: (cracks up) Oh yeah! Sorry, I didn't spot it. / Thank you for being one of the people who got me there!**

 **Beli0304: Yeee, thanks :3 / (laughs) I know, right?**

 **SofiaTheWriter88: Oh, trust me, Sofia, things are gonna get waaaaaaay more intense (evil grin)**

 **Darkbeast Dend: Minecraft Story Mode by a huge margin.**

 **Rabbits rule: (laughs) / Why not? / Thanks, Aboun! I... think. xD / I'm weird too, so am I in trouble as well?**

 **Emily The Avenger: (laughs) I'm going to assume that means you like it?**

 **x.X. A.L. X.x**


	71. Return to the Fortress

The screen faded back in as the group literally appeared on the edge of a cliff, Lukas staggering and nearly falling over. Probably from the sensation of teleporting, honestly. Reuben let out an alarmed oink as he spotted something over Jesse's shoulder, and Jesse glanced at her pig before turning around to look in the direction her little pink pig was staring in, her own eyes widening in shock.

The screen changed to show that the entire top of Soren's mountain had vanished, and the Witherstorms were bigger than ever before. They'd also blasted a wide space in front of the mountain. The main Witherstorm that they could see was so big that it made the old Witherstorm look like a baby in comparison.

" _Wow_ ," Lukas breathed, eyes as wide as golf balls.

Cassie frowned. "Where are the Endermen? I don't see any."

Gabriel frowned at the sky. " _Shouldn't the Endermen have destroyed the Witherstorm by now?_ " he wondered, staring at the Witherstorms in confusion, " _or... am I just confused again?_ "

"No, he's definitely right," Ellegaard muttered, eyes narrowing at the screen. "Considering the time it took for the group to get to the Far Lands, the Witherstorms should at least be _half_ destroyed."

Onscreen, Ivor was shaking his head almost before Gabriel had finished speaking, his own confused look beginning to form on his face. " _No, it's not just you,_ " he replied after a moment, " _something's wrong._ "

" _Jesse!_ " The black-haired spider hybrid had barely turned around when she was nearly plowed into the ground by Axel's enthusiastic greeting hug, letting out an involuntary gasp as her eyes bugged out.

Axel gave Real-Jesse a sheepish grin. She grinned and patted him on the back.

" _Hi, Axel,_ " Jesse squeaked.

He let go of her rapidly, practically dropping her to the floor, nodding as he surveyed her outfit, then Olivia's, then Lukas's. " _Nice freaking armor, by the way,_ " he complimented with a small smile.

Ivor reached into his pocket and yanked out another set. " _You get some too,"_ he replied, holding it out. Axel let out a rather loud, happy gasp, before grabbing the armor. The screen changed to show the rest of the group, Olivia glancing at Jesse and the two girls exchanging a grin and a roll of the eyes, while Lukas just covered his mouth and chuckled. Gabriel just blinked, while Soren smirked in amusement and Ivor rolled his eyes with a grin as well.

The screen switched to show that Axel was wearing a solid green chestplate with black gloves, with a sort of... fishbowl thing as a helmet. The boots and the bottom part of the pants were mottled green, the mottled green fading a ways up the body.

Olivia grinned and patted Real-Axel on the back. "Nice armor yourself," she told him. He beamed at her, making the dark-skinned girl turn back to the screen to hide the broad grin coming over her face.

" _Nice armor yourself, Axel,_ " Jesse told Axel onscreen, giving him a grin.

"Hey, I just said that."

He grinned back, before the screen switched to show Jesse's face growing more serious. " _Do you still have the amulet?_ " she asked.

Axel pulled it out of his pocket, his own face growing more solemn. " _Safe and sound. That's not the problem._ "

"Oh, there's a _problem._ Of course there is," Em sighed, kneading her forehead. Nell patted Em on the shoulder sympathetically.

Jesse paused, staring at Axel unsurely for a moment, before slowing asking, " _What is?_ "

" _The Endermen... they're not angry enough. I mean, some are-_ " Jesse looked up. The screen switched to show, like, five Endermen ripping blocks off of the Witherstorm, " _but most of them are just standing around and moving blocks. You know, being Endermen._ "

Cassie muttered something that did not bear repeating.

" _Blast!_ " Soren hissed onscreen, gritting his teeth in irritation.

"I get the feeling you want to use a stronger term," Jace told the architect. Soren's lips twitched unwillingly.

" _They've done a pretty good job of keeping the main Witherstorm busy,_ " Axel continued, glancing over his shoulder as if he were expecting a tractor beam to suck them all up in the next minute. " _But one of the smaller ones started attacking us. Magnus ran off to fight that thing, all by himself!_ "

"You're WHAT?!" Ellegaard nearly shouted, shooting upright and whipping around to stare at Magnus, "what in the name of Notch are you _thinking?!_ That's got to be the _dumbest_ thing I've ever seen you do!"

Magnus simply raised his eyebrow at the redstone engineer.

"What?!" she demanded, after a moment's pause.

"Didn't know you cared so much," he replied after a moment, a faint smirk sneaking its way across his face.

She smacked him and flopped back onto the couch, expression twisted into an angry one, being careful to hide the smile threatening to make its way over her face.

Onscreen, Soren's eyes widened. " _WHAT?!_ " he almost shouted, making the audience flinch back a bit, " _he did_ what?! _"_

Ivor's eyes widened as well. " _He's fighting a Witherstorm_ by himself?!" he exclaimed, sounding both exasperated and shocked.

Gabriel stepped forward, making everyone look at the warrior. " _If a fellow member of the Order of the... of the..."_ An unsure expression came over his face. " _Uhm..._ "

" _Order of the Stone,_ " Jesse gently prompted the frowning Gabriel.

He nodded his thanks. " _Is out there fighting... then I belong out there, too._ "

"Oh no," Soren moaned. "Gabriel, what are you-?"

" _Wait, you're not about to do what I think you're about to do, are you-_ Gabriel!" Ivor snapped as Gabriel charged forward, running down the hill into the crowd of Endermen. Ivor whipped around to see the rest of the group, shaking his head. " _Oh, Notch, I'm not letting that_ idiot _get himself killed! Gabriel, get back here!_ " And he raced after his amnesiac friend.

"Is he a tsundere?" Jesse whispered into Lukas's ear curiously.

Lukas barely managed to swallow his giggles. "Uhh, maybe?" he whispered back, a huge grin spreading over his face.

"Aww, you do care," Gabriel teased, grinning at Ivor.

Ivor glowered at him, before- to everyone's surprise- his scowl turned into a sadder sort of look. "Of course I do." He turned back to the screen, effectively turning his back to the rest of the Order. "I never _stopped_ caring."

Gabriel blinked at Ivor, before glancing at the others, a more sentimental look seeming to come over his face.

Onscreen, Soren bit his lip, looking as though he were in agony from the decisions he had to make, before rushing after both of them. " _Both of you, come back! Without the Command Block, none of us stand a chance! ... and yet, I'm joining you all. I have no idea why._ " His voice was lost a moment later in the chaos.

"Thanks, Soren," Magnus said, clapping the ginger on the back.

Soren sat there for a moment, blinking, before replying, calmly, "Ow."

Axel glanced at his friends. " _Why do they need the Command Block?_ " he asked.

" _The Order of the Stone are frauds,_ " Jesse responded promptly but simply, " _all of them._ "

Axel's eyes widened, and he looked as though he were about to fairly _explode_ with curiosity, when Olivia interrupted, " _It's a long story- one that we_ don't have time for. _"_ And she gave him a significant look.

The creeper hybrid deflated with a pout. " _Fine._ "

"Stop looking like a kicked puppy when you pout!" Olivia exclaimed, smacking Axel on the shoulder and making the burly male blink at her. "It's too adorable!"

Axel blinked at Olivia a few more times. She blinked back and then seemed to realize what she'd just said, her face beginning to turn bright pink in embarrassment.

She decided to turn back to the screen and resolutely ignore the giggles now emitting from the audience.

" _We'll tell you later,_ " Jesse said quickly, before she blinked and looked up at Axel, an anxious sort of look coming over her face. " _By the way, you guys didn't check on Petra and Ellegaard, right?_ "

Axel shook his head. " _No, we came straight back here._ "

Lukas's ears drooped slightly. " _They're still in that cave... I hope they'll be alright,_ " he said, in a quieter, more subdued voice.

Real-Jesse drooped a bit as well, anxiety in her eyes. "Yeah..." she said, softly.

Petra reached over and clapped Jesse on the back, making the muscles in her face momentarily tighten again as she repressed a wince. Lukas's brow furrowed a bit in concern, but Jesse didn't notice since Petra started talking. "I'm sure we're both fine," the redhead said dismissively, "just kill the darn thing already."

" _They will be,_ " onscreen-Jesse told Lukas bracingly, " _as long as we destroy the Command Block. We just... need to find a way for me to use this,_ " and she flicked out the enchanted sword.

Axel's eyes widened admiringly. " _WHOA. That is, without question, the coolest thing I've ever seen!"_ he exclaimed, a big grin spreading over his face.

" _C'mon, let's go kick some Command Block butt!_ " Jesse said, fist tightening on her sword and green-and-red eyes hardening.

The rest of the group nodded, eyes shining with determination. Jesse turned around, the screen cutting to show them all landing in the crater that the Witherstorm created, before running towards Soren's fortress.

The screen changed again to show the group running through what used to be the main door to Soren's fortress, before it opened up into a vast landscape of stone, bedrock, dirt, and Endermen. Thousands and _thousands_ of Endermen were milling around in the bedrock and stone and dirt, just moving blocks around aimlessly. Large parts of the hallway were being torn away, soaring straight over their heads at the Witherstorm.

Soren frowned but said nothing.

" _We need to get the Endermen to focus and attack the Witherstorms, if we have any chance of getting to the Command Block,_ " Olivia spoke, crossing her arms and looking around at the crowd of Endermen. The screen gave them a closeup of the main Witherstorm, Endermen teleporting around and tearing blocks right off of it.

" _Can Endermen focus?_ " Axel mused to himself.

"Too bad Soren ran off... he might've had an idea," Ellegaard murmured.

Soren shook his head. "I somewhat doubt that. I've studied Endermen extensively... but this situation never happened while I was studying them."

"Obviously," Stacy responded, shooting the architect a faintly annoyed look.

" _Olivia, can't you just ask the Endermen to attack the Witherstorm? Like, I dunno, an Endergeneral or something?_ " Lukas suggested to the Enderman hybrid.

Olivia paused, before shaking her head, making disappointed looks come over everyone's faces. " _Endermen don't take orders from anyone, not even other Endermen. The one person who they DO take orders from technically doesn't even exist- it's just a kid's story. I could ask them, but they're probably just going to ignore me, so even then that'd be a risky endeavor."_

" _So that's a no go,_ " Axel summed up.

" _Pretty much,_ " Olivia nodded.

"Damn," Magnus muttered under his breath, although it was still clearly audible to some of the groups around him and made them glance at him.

Jesse frowned and looked around at the Endermen worriedly. A tractor beam was roving around the area, sucking up blocks... and Endermen...

Her eyes widened, and an image flashed over the screen- Olivia charging forward to grab Gabriel out of the tractor beam, but then stopping full in her tracks. She started shaking, a strange screech emitting from her throat as her eyes widened in horror.

"Oh!" Maya exclaimed, eyes widening. "I see what Jesse's thinking!"

"Literally," Gill grinned at her.

She poked him.

As if on cue, as the image flashed back out of sight, another tractor beam shifted and landed right on one of the Endermen. The Enderman's head snapped up to face the Witherstorm, jaw unhinging as it screeched with rage, teleporting up in a flash of black. It appeared on the massive cloud that was the Witherstorm and began to rip blocks off of it.

" _The tractor beam!_ " the four hybrids chorused, all of them whipping around to stare at each other, eyes widening.

" _That's it, make them chase you into the tractor beam!_ " Olivia shouted, all of the hybrids dispersing into the crowd of Endermen.

Jesse paused, before shaking her head with a sigh as she charged into the crowd of Endermen herself. " _Why in the world must saving the world be so darn_ stressful?" she groaned.

* * *

 **A/N: Does this chapter seem a bit short to you as well?**

 **RQTC: Oh wow... I just realized we're only FOUR chapters away from _that moment_.**

 **You're not going to believe what I've got in store (grins). What do you think I've got planned?**

 **Emily The Avenger: (laughs) Yeah, I was dying while writing that.**

 **S4SH4L4SH4theGaMeR101: (laughs) Yeah, this chapter might be the silliest one I've written yet xD**

 **RapidSammi: (laughs) She was just acting sexy. In other words, I have no idea, I'm the farthest from sexy you can imagine xD / This was one of my favorite chapters to write, I was just laughing silently the whole time.**

 **LunarStarsMoons: (laughs) So am I, don't worry xD / I'm surprisingly excited for all of them. Even _that moment,_ but that's only because of what I've got planned. / My favorite episode... hm. I think that would actually be Episode 5, it made me laugh a lot xD**

 **Guest: Yep xD**

 **sailor. mikuchan: Yeah, I just got that idea randomly and I couldn't stop laughing while I wrote it. I literally had to stop writing several times so I could get over my giggles. / Oh dear xD**

 **Kaos Ruin: Yep. (deep breath) Both excited for and dreading it. Can a person feel like that?**

 **Darkbeast Dend: Okay :3 / Hehe yes he should xD / I have never watched Transformers xD**

 **NinaNaranja: You ain't the only one xD / Aww, thank you! / Alright, thanks :3**

 **J.M.M: Oh, you said 'Vocaloid? Going to need some description on that'. I didn't know what you meant by that, so hence why I asked. xD**

 **x.X. A.L. X.x**


	72. Ticking Off the Endermen

Jesse skidded to a halt in front of an Enderman, and proceeded to do something that she'd never done before and probably would never do again, with maybe the exception of Olivia. She looked it dead in the eye.

The Enderman screeched in rage, Jesse whirling around and making eye contact with several more of the monsters, making a circle of them surround her until she was surrounded by the tall monsters.

One of the long black arms swung at her, but Jesse flung herself onto her back just in time for it to sail harmlessly over her head. Doing a quick flip so she was on all eights, she immediately tore out of the circle just as the tractor beam swung over to land right on the crowd of Endermen, sucking up six of the monsters in one go.

Stampy was bouncing anxiously in his seat and chanting " _panicpanicpanicpanicpanic"_ under his breath, which probably didn't make Real-Jesse feel any better, the girl having her head turned to the side so that she was watching the screen out of the corner of her eye. Most of the audience had taken to doing the same- either that or covering their eyes except for the slightest slit.

The spider hybrid scuttled away from another tractor beam that started chasing her, sucking up multiple of the tall monsters at once, before whipping to her feet and snatching a stone block out of another Enderman's arms. " _How do you like that?!_ " she shouted at it, probably to enrage the Enderman.

It definitely worked. The Enderman started _screaming_ with rage, a tractor beam landing on it right as Jesse darted off to the side and continued making her way through the horde of Endermen, waving her arms and yelling as loud as she could, attracting the attention of multiple of said monsters.

"Notch, I swear, you're all insane," Stacy gasped, having most of her face hidden in her hands.

Jesse thought about this, before giving the brunette girl a sage nod.

"Probably."

Jesse glanced over her shoulder onscreen and let out a shriek. The screen changed to show that there was a tractor beam following her. " _Crap crap crap!_ "

"Run, Jesse!" Lukas yelled, squeezing the girl that he currently had his arm around and making her squeak involuntarily.

Jesse did a sort of flip to her left, the tractor beam blazing past her and then backtracking as another Enderman tried to hit her. She ducked under the hit easily as two more of its friends joined it, screeching furiously. She did quick sort of backflip to launch herself out of the way as the tractor beam shone right on the three Endermen, sucking them all up and away.

Dropping to all eights again, she began to scuttle rapidly through the crowd, chancing a glance up at the Witherstorm.

The screen changed to show the Witherstorm starting to _crawl_ with Endermen, tearing blocks off of it. Olivia bleeped into sight on one of the tentacles, nearly falling off, before yelling at a nearby Enderman, her magenta eye flaring angrily, before she reached down and ripped a block off. Teleporting away, she teleported next to another Enderman and yelled at that one, before ripping off some more blocks herself and teleporting away again.

"It's working!" Gill shouted, making Maya wince as he pretty much yelled into her ear.

"Woo!" Axel pumped his fists in the air, making Olivia look at him. "Go Olivia!"

She grinned.

Onscreen, Jesse did the same, before dropping back to all eights and darting around tractor beams as they tried to land on her, falling on the Endermen rapidly and sucking them all up.

Scuttling up to an Enderman who was wandering around a tractor beam and whipping back to her feet, Jesse then proceeded to do something that no sane person would EVER do. She shoved it with all of her might and an angry hiss, causing it to topple straight into a tractor beam.

The audience gasped, even Hadrian, and Mevia, and even _Aiden._

"You..." Isa was goggling at Jesse. "You just _shoved_ an Enderman. An _Enderman._ "

The Enderman whipped around to screech at her in rage, just as it got sucked up out of sight. Letting out a slight sigh of relief, Jesse dropped back to all eights and kept scuttling through the crowd, before someone tripped over her and bowled her over as well.

The audience winced.

" _Axel, are those snowballs?!_ " Jesse exclaimed, rubbing her side using her lower arms in slight pain.

Axel's head snapped around from where he'd nearly faceplanted, nodding and rifling through his pocket. " _Yeah, I found them near the cave- here!_ " And he passed a few to her before rushing off to get even more Endermen angry. All six of Jesse's arms flew up, a snowball slapping neatly into each one.

"Are you going to have a snowball fight with these Endermen?" Dan asked, raising his eyebrows at Jesse. The black-haired girl shrugged back.

"Apparently."

Tossing one in her topmost left hand, Jesse whirled around and took aim at three Endermen that just happened to be standing there, minding their own business. " _How do you like this?!_ " she yelled, chucking three of them at once at all three Endermen.

The three of them teleported, reappearing right in Jesse's face, screeching loudly, just as a tractor beam started closing in on the group.

"Uh, note to self- never have a snowball fight with an Enderman," Lukas remarked.

Jesse's eyes hardened, and she flung herself backwards, doing a backflip and kicking one of the Endermen in the face in the process, before landing on all eights and scrambling away as they were sucked up into the Witherstorm, more and more getting sucked up by the tractor beam.

Dodging to the right as another tractor beam blazed at her, she ended up right in front of a couple of Enderman. She looked up, craning her neck in what looked like a rather uncomfortable way, and made eye contact with them, making them shriek at her as she bolted, the tractor beam chasing Jesse and sucking up the tall monsters that were also starting to chase Jesse. " _Come and get me!_ " she snarled at them, making more and more get even more enraged and chase after her.

"Y'know, if someone had told me that I'd be watching an alternate version of myself who happens to be a female running around in a crowd of Endermen and purposely making them mad, I would've told them that they were insane," Jace said, watching the screen.

Jesse hummed in agreement.

" _Reuben, you mind giving me some help?!_ " Jesse shouted out to her little pink pig as she spotted him running around in the crowd of Endermen. Reuben bobbed his head up and down as he nodded with a squeal.

Jesse adjusted her path towards another Enderman, which was standing in front of a tractor beam and facing Jesse, Reuben moving so that he was behind the Enderman.

"Hang on," Magnus spoke up, eyes widening, "she's not gonna-"

Whipping upright, Jesse let out a loud yell and, using all six of her arms, shoved the Enderman in the chest as hard as possible.

The audience gasped again.

"Are you _trying_ to _kill_ yourself?!" Em yelled to Jesse, making the girl flinch a bit instinctively.

The Enderman stumbled over Reuben and tripped right into the tractor beam, which sucked it up even as it gave her an enraged scream. " _Nice one, Reuben!_ " Jesse shouted to her pig, before turning and sprinting away in the other direction.

An Enderman reached down to hit her, but she quickly tensed her legs and did a flip over them as a tractor beam sucked them up, before dropping to all eights and crawling rapidly through the crowd. In the corner of the screen, Ivor ducked a tentacle from one of the smaller Witherstorms, while Magnus hauled back and chucked a block of TNT at it. Soren was throwing random things to attract the tractor beam away from Gabriel, who was also attempting to anger some of the Endermen and doing a pretty good job of it.

Ivor let out a quiet sigh of relief.

A huge section of the wall of Soren's fortress swooped right at Jesse from the left, the spider hybrid apparently not noticing until the last second, where her head snapped around.

"Look out!" Nell yelled, which was kind of useless because of course, onscreen-Jesse couldn't hear her.

Jesse flung herself sideways, balancing momentarily on only four of her limbs as a huge section of it passed underneath her, before quickly dodging onto it and racing along the wall, scuttling along as quickly as possible to avoid getting sucked into the Witherstorm.

"C'mon c'mon c'mon c'mon _c'mon-_ " Petra muttered as if it were some sort of bizarre mantra, eyes narrowing in worry.

She reached the edge and jumped off, slamming into an Enderman upon landing and knocking it into a tractor beam as it whipped around to screech at her. It got sucked up out of sight.

Olivia waved furiously at her, Jesse looking up in the direction of the Enderman hybrid and then racing over. Olivia's arms were stiff and locked, but her expression was all excited. " _Jesse, look, it's working! That hole's big enough to get inside of!_ " She pointed, and Jesse followed her arm. The screen changed to show a gaping hole in the side of the main Witherstorm.

" _Now we just need to find you a way up,_ " Axel said, looking up.

Jesse paused thoughtfully, before turning to Axel. " _Axel, I'm going to stand on your back in a couple seconds._ "

Axel's brow furrowed. " _O... kay,_ " he said unsurely.

" _I want you to blow up._ "

" ** _WHAT?!_** "

Axel, Olivia and Lukas had all yelled this at Jesse, but so had many members of the audience. The volume of all the combined voices was enough to make Real-Jesse wince and touch one of her ears as if she wanted to cover it.

" _Trust me! I have an idea-_ " Jesse was saying urgently, when suddenly Olivia cut her off.

" _Axel, watch out!_ "

Axel let out a scream as a tractor beam suddenly landed on him.

"AXEL!" Several members of the audience near _screamed._

Olivia seized his leg before he could go too far and tightening her grip, her teeth sharpening in rage even as she did so. Jesse wrapped string around Olivia's leg as the Enderman hybrid started rising up as well and tightened her own grip. Lukas seized ahold of Jesse's waist, but even now they were starting to get lifted up.

"No!" Petra yelled. "No!"

A firework suddenly soared out of nowhere and exploded right in the Witherstorm's face, making it look around. Jesse whipped around to see where it had come from, her eyes widening in shock when she did.

The three Ocelot members were rifling through their pockets in a hot panic, over on a ridge about twelve feet away.

"You guys are okay!" Jesse shouted in excitement, eyes lighting up.

" _Hey! Do you guys need help_?" Aiden shouted to them, brow furrowing. His eyes were rather discolored, showing that he must've gotten amnesia as well.

" _Yeah, we need to-_ " Jesse gasped as she almost lost her grip on Olivia's leg and tightened her grip. " _We need to distract the Witherstorm!_ "

Gill looked up at the Witherstorm, before giving the group a grin, discolored eyes gleaming. " _Then leave that to us!_ " He pulled something else out of his pocket and launched it, sending another firework launching into the sky.

"You guys are the _freaking best_!" Jace cheered, whirling around and grinning at the Ocelots. All three of them blinked at him, before giving each other sheepish grins from where they were all sitting.

The tractor beam started to move away from the group towards the Ocelots, whereupon Axel, Olivia, Lukas, and Jesse all fell to the ground with loud yelps. Shaking her head, the spider hybrid jumped to her feet, determination shining to life in her eyes. " _Olivia, keep the Endermen angry!_ " Jesse told the Enderman hybrid, who nodded affirmatively.

Lukas was starting to run towards his friends, dropping to all fours to move more quickly. " _We'll keep the Witherstorms distracted for as long as we can."_

Maya nodded and saluted to the group, her own eyes oddly discolored. " _All right! Eyes on us, you great big bully!_ " she yelled at the Witherstorm, pinwheeling her arms.

" _You can do this, okay?_ " Olivia said more quietly, looking Jesse dead in the eye. " _We all know you can._ "

Axel and Lukas nodded their agreement to that, giving Jesse a playful little salute.

"Yeah, you'll be just fine," and Petra clapped Jesse on the back. This time, the black-haired girl involuntarily let out a grunt at the impact, wincing slightly, but still faintly enough that it was just barely noticeable.

" _Thanks, guys,_ " Jesse said, grinning at her friends, before quickly running to Axel. Axel dropped all fours and Jesse leapfrogged onto his back. " _Ready, Axel?_ " she called down to him, all of her muscles bunching up in a preparatory way.

The burly boy nodded silently, and he began to flash white. Without warning, Reuben leaped into Jesse's arms, the spider hybrid automatically reaching out with her lower arms and catching him, her eyes widening. " _Reuben!_ " she gasped, " _this is no place for a-_ "

Axel exploded, sending Jesse flying into the air as her lower arms tightening around Reuben. " _-PIIIIIIG!_ " she finished the statement with a scream, turning in midair and lashing out with one of her upper arms. sending a strand of silk that flew straight through the gaping the hole in the Witherstorm, before retracting, sending Jesse flying straight into the belly of the beast.

The screen blacked out.

"Reuben!" Jesse said scoldingly to the pig, making him shrink away at the tone in her voice, although it was pretty clear from the expression in her eyes that she was more worried than angry, "you shouldn't have done that."

"Yeah, you could've knocked Jesse off," Jace said, but he sounded less scolding as he fondled the pig's ears.

"Well, hopefully you two should be fine," Hadrian said. (He did not sound very hopeful, to be honest.) "After all, it's not like the Witherstorm can attack you while you're _inside_ it."

"You just jinxed it," Lizzie said, arching her eyebrow at the white-haired man.

* * *

 **A/N: Three more chapters, guys.**

 **Three.**

 **More.**

 **Chapters.**

 **Holy crap.**

 **Another deviation from actual Hybrid! I just thought it'd be kinda interesting to see their reactions to this and then be like "Wow why are we being such jerks in Episode 5?" xD**

 **RQTC: Drawing or writing?**

 **... Writing, I guess? I mean, I can do it faster, and I like writing :3**

 **the indecisive bird: (laughs) Yeah, I hope you don't mind. / (laughs) True, that does sound pretty funny. / This chapter seems kinda short, too. / (laughs) Uh, no. That's not what I've got planned. (I mean, yes, Reuben does die, but that's not what I was referring to xD)**

 **LunarStarsMoons: (laughs) / Mmm, I see.**

 **Emily The Avenger: (grins) / Is Katie gonna work on Hauntered soon?**

 **sailor . mikuchan: I know xD / (laughs) Alrighty.**

 **Darkbeast: Uhh... spiders? I dunno, man xD**

 **NinaNaranja: (laughs) Maybe. / (laughs) Alright, good to hear that!**

 **x.X. A.L. X.x**


	73. Well Then

The screen came back onto Jesse's screaming first, before the screen faded in to show her hitting the ground and bouncing once, surrounded by a purple-and-pink hue, bouncing through a miniature gorge before rolling over the ground and finally coming to a stop, arms wrapped around Reuben.

Lukas noticed Jesse turning progressively more pale from where she was sitting next to him. "Hey, you okay?" he asked her, making sure to keep his voice relatively low.

Jesse took a very slow, very deep gulp, before shakily raising her hand and pointing at the corner of the screen.

Most of the audience followed her gaze. In the background were the faces of those who'd been sucked into the Witherstorm, their expressions frozen in expressions of horror or fear, and behind a purple, glassy substance. However, onscreen-Jesse and onscreen-Reuben didn't notice.

Petra shuddered. " _Notch_ that's creepy."

Panting slightly, Jesse sat up, dropping Reuben next to her and giving him a stern look. " _Reuben, don't surprise me like that,_ " she gently scolded the pig, although it was pretty clear that she wasn't all that angry about it, " _you could've gotten hurt if I'd dropped you._ "

Reuben gave her a squeal of apology as she glanced around her surroundings, " _Well, then again on the other hand... I'm glad I'm not here alone._ " She fondled his ears and struggled to her feet, looking around again. " _Just stay close, okay?_ "

She began walking through the almost _cavernous_ insides of the Witherstorm, before her eyes widened and she froze, having spotted the people inside the Witherstorm, their eyes blank white and nearly _glowing_ with a strange purple hue.

"So that's what happened to all those people," Milo mumbled, his own face a bit pale.

"That's what happened to Gabriel, and the Ocelots..." Sparklez trailed off, staring at the screen.

Gabriel and the three members of the Ocelots shivered. "Yes, don't remind me," Gabriel muttered, looking as though he might be a bit sick.

After a long moment, Jesse took a long, shaky breath and continued through the Witherstorm, hands trembling. " _Ohhh, I hope this thing doesn't have some sort demonic immune system..._ "

Jesse groaned and placed her head in her hands. "I just jinxed it, didn't I?"

Suddenly, the whole room seemed to shake, and her head snapped up to gaze at the ceiling. " _Okay, screw that, looks as though it's got an immune system._ "

"Yep, I jinxed it."

The entire room suddenly started _turning,_ making Jesse cry out in shock and shoot out some webs. Her lower arms scooped Reuben up again as she retracted the string, sending her flying towards what was now the ground at more of an acute angle rather than a free-fall. However, she still let out a pained grunt as she collided with the ground, lower arms instinctively releasing and letting Reuben plop on the ground next to her.

Jesse grimaced as she pushed herself up, raising her head- and making _direct eye contact_ with a withered man. She let out a yelp and shuddered as she flung herself backwards, scrabbling to get away from him.

"Hey, wait," Maya said, leaning forward and making Gill grunt a bit as she put more pressure on his knees, "isn't that the butcher from Endercon?"

Real-Reuben whined and nuzzled into Jesse's arms, Jace reaching out and fondling his ears while Jesse reassuringly hugged the small pig that was sitting in her lap, being careful to leave room for Jace to fondle his ears.

Reuben let out a terrified squeal onscreen, galloping away.

" _Ah, no!_ " Jesse scuttled after him, " _Reuben, come back! Wait up!"_

She made it only a few feet before it turned again, making Jesse gasp and topple off what was now the wall, doing a sort of lazy flip in midair before doing a sort of faceplant on the ground, grunting in pain as she landed. She'd started getting up when Reuben landed right on her, knocking her back to the floor with a yelp.

Jace patted the black-haired girl next to him sympathetically.

Onscreen, Jesse slowly got up to all eights, a bit more warily than before, before her eyes widened.

The screen switched to show that, in front of her, under some sort of bizarre archway, was the Command Block. They appeared to be in what looked like the very heart of the monster, the ground littered with purple dust, and withered people stuck on the walls, the archway appearing to be made out of the Witherstorm's tentacles.

"Amazing," Hadrian muttered, in such a low voice that only Otto and Mevia could hear him, "and to imagine that it used to look like a normal Wither, save with the Command Block in its ribs."

Jesse got up to her feet, moving slowly, gingerly, in case the Witherstorm started turning again. She took a few tentative steps... before full-out sprinting at the Command Block, even as the cavern started shaking again, although it wasn't enough to cause Jesse to trip or fall or stumble.

She slowed to a walk as Reuben caught up to the spider hybrid, giving the girl next to him a worried whine. Jesse's eyes, however, was fixated on the Command Block, even as tremors rattled through the cavern beneath her. " _There it is,_ " she whispered to Reuben, although her eyes were still fixed on the Command Block, " _we meet again, Command Block._ "

A slow, metallic scrape as she unsheathed the miasmic sword, giving it a flick and making a flash of pink light reflect into the viewer's eyes. " _Now, it's time to destroy you._ "

Carefully making her way onto the raised platform, Jesse paused in front of the Command Block, fist tightening on the hilt.

"Hey, this'll be a piece of cake!" Axel said cheerfully. "This looks pretty easy!"

"This just looks way _too_ easy," Olivia spoke up uncomfortably. "After all they've been through, it's hardly just going to be in and out, is it?"

Nell frowned at the screen, her usually serene brow creasing suspiciously. "Well..." she trailed off, not daring to say anything in case she jinxed it.

Suddenly, Jesse's arm swung up, flicking the sword with a flashing wheel of light into the air, before letting out a loud yell and slamming it down on the Command Block. A resounding, trembling _CRACK_! rang through the cavern like the sound of a whip, white sparks spitting out upon contact and making a huge crack appear in the Command Block.

However, it still wasn't quite breaking.

The Witherstorm let out a roar of pain and anger, Jesse dropping to all eights in a preparatory way as the entire cavern shook violently. The archway, which looked as though it'd been made of the Witherstorm's tentacles, suddenly peeled apart to reveal that it was, in fact, made of the tentacles. Reuben let out a loud squeal of fright as the tentacles all shot at Jesse.

Ivor swore violently, making most of the audience turn to stare at him. He'd been a pretty grouchy person before this point, but he'd seemed to refrain from actually swearing.

"Are you _kidding me,_ " Magnus groaned. "This thing has a freaking immune system. Seriously. To quote Tiny here-"

"Hey!" Jace and Jesse chorused, twisting around to jokingly glare at Magnus.

"Why can't saving the world be less stressful? Seriously, I'm pretty sure she's not older than 18."

Jesse paused. "Well, in that time I'm 17 right now. Now that I think about it, I'm 17 here too. So you're not _wrong..._ "

"Let's discuss age phenomenons later," Petra joked, reaching over to tap Jesse on the head. Jesse very maturely stuck her tongue out at the redhead.

" _Oh mother of-_ " Jesse whispered, before flattening herself to the ground to dodge a tentacle. The cavern rumbled again, shaking so badly that it was enough to send Jesse tumbling backwards off of the raised platform as it began to rise higher into the air.

Tentacles began to come from the walls, and Jesse's already pale face turned pure _white,_ green-and-red irises shrinking to pinpricks in her eyes. " _Oh Notch, oh Notch oh_ frickin' _Notch!_ " the spider hybrid nearly _whimpered_ , hand tightening on the sword as she quickly scrambled back to her feet, another tentacle slashing down at Jesse and Reuben.

"Look out!" Dan yelled, forgetting that there was really no point.

Jesse lunged forward, scooping Reuben up and rolling sideways, a tentacle skewering the spot where she'd just been standing, lunging back to her feet and releasing Reuben in the process to leap over a tentacle that barely missed Reuben. " _Oh Notch!_ " she repeated, landing hard on her feet and staggering as the cavern continued shaking.

" _Reuben, whatever happens, we have to destroy the Command Block! Okay?_ " Jesse shouted down to the pig, brandishing her sword at another tentacle that was preparing to come at her.

Upon hearing that, Reuben started to let out a bunch of angry squealing, whipping around to a tentacle from before and squealing at it, almost like the piggy version of a barking dog.

"Go, Reuben!" Lizzie cheered, several of the other audience members cheering agreement.

Onscreen, Jesse beamed at him, before turning back to the tentacle and lashing out with it. With a good, swift flick of the wrist, she literally cleaved the tentacle right in half and left the top part to wriggle around wildly on the ground.

"That was awesome!" Axel yelled, making Olivia wince as he yelled right into her ear.

Jesse grinned at the tentacle on the ground, just as another one came whipping at her.

"Look-"

Jesse blinked, eyes widening, before she whirled around on the spot and slashed that tentacle too, destroying it rather effectively.

"Oh. Never mind."

" _It's doing everything it can to protect the Command Block,_ " Jesse mumbled, dodging another tentacle as it nearly skewered her, letting her eyes flutter shut. She took a deep breath.

Her eyes opened, blazing red.

" _ **Which means I have to do everything I can to destroy it.**_ "

"Whoa," Cassie looked a bit taken aback now, "she's _pissed._ "

Jesse was staring at the screen, her expression hard. "It messed with my friends," she said at last. "And like I said before. Mess with my friends, and make no mistake about it, I _will_ break you."

Onscreen, Jesse dodged another tentacle before hopping onto it. It gave a hard thrash, the girl using the harsh motion to launch herself at the platform, transferring smoothly into a parkour roll and whipping to her feet, only to flip herself onto her back and do a crabwalk as one tentacle thrashed the air immediately where she'd just been, launching into a handstand and kicking it away before flipping herself back onto her feet and cleaving that tentacle in half as well.

" _Awesome,_ " Nell and Axel chorused in perfect unison.

Another tentacle whipped at her, trying to lob her head off, and she simply raised her sword in defense, the tentacle literally splitting itself down the middle from the force of the hit, making Jesse's feet skid a bit as she tried to keep herself from getting shoved off of the platform, before wheeling the sword around in a flash of pink light and smashing another one down before it could even reach striking distance.

"You get _really_ good at this," Petra said, grinning at Jesse. Jesse smiled back, although it seemed to become rather forced when Petra clapped her on the back. Lukas was probably the only one who noticed the way she flinched a bit, and that was only because his arm was around her.

"Ahh... Petra, do you think you could stop that, please?" she requested, politely but quietly.

Petra blinked at Jesse a bit. "Huh? Oh, okay then."

Whipping directly to the Command Block this time, she raised her arm, grabbing the hilt with her other hand as well, and _slammed_ the sword down on the Command Block, sending even more white-hot sparks spitting everywhere and causing another resounding _crack_ sound to ring through the cavern as another crack appeared in the Command Block, but still not destroying it.

"Oh _come on!_ How strong is that thing?!" Gill complained.

"Considering we basically tried blowing it up using the strongest bomb ever and it wasn't even scratched, pretty damn strong," Axel replied, eyes glued to the screen.

"Good point."

Jesse suddenly let out a scream as the Witherstorm started rotating again, but this time turning _completely upside down._ She smacked against the walls as she toppled onto the floor, landing on her back and nearly falling through a gaping hole that happened to be directly beneath the Command Block. She yelped and quickly scrabbled to get to safe ground, looking up to see the Command Block still sitting on the floor- or, well, what used to be the floor.

"... _well,_ f*ck _then,_ " Jesse said, after a very long pause.

Jesse blinked when she spotted Hadrian staring at her. "What?"

"... nothing. I just didn't think you were capable of swearing," he said at last, returning his attention to the screen.

He had to lean down to duck the pillow Jesse proceeded to chuck in his direction, although it did sail harmlessly over the back of the couch.

* * *

 **A/N: Oh boy. Two more chapters. TWO MORE CHAPTERS. I'm both excited and scared now.**

 **RQTC: Is Jesse a cinnamon roll in this story or what? xD**

 **A bit short, but, y'know, I wanted to end on that note. Also, action xD**

 **Emily The Avenger: Cool (thumbs up) / That was the intention, yes xD And yeah :3 / Thanks! But yes, it will happen soon.**

 **RapidSammi: Not even four now xD / It's fiiine. And true xD / (laughs) / Indeed it is...**

 **Beli0304: (grins) / Uhh, no. I ain't spoilin' this. (grins) / No, it's drawing OR writing. No inbetween.**

 **Kaos Ruin: Lol me too xD**

 **sailor. mikuchan: (laughs) Here is the new chapter. And cool. And no both. xD / (laughs)**

 **LunarStarsMoons: (screams with you) / Yep :3 / Writing just comes easier to me, but I can do drawing too :3**

 **Meow Shadow: (grins) / Yep. (deep breath) / Ahhh, I see. / The R means Random. RQTC stands for Random Question of The Chapter. xD**

 **S4SH4L4SH4theGaMeR101: (laughs) Yeah, I feel your pain fam.**

 **AquaK13: No problem, dude :3 / Alrighty, cool :3 / Oh, I have way more xD**

 **RebekahTPE: (laughs) / (cracks up) Yeah, that'll be cool. / (laughs) / Rain. I love rain :3**

 **the indecisive bird: Cool :3 / (laughs) Alright, then.**

 **homeworkoverload: Ahh / (nods) Probably. / (laughs) Don't worry about it, dude. / (grins) Oh, you'll see what I've got planned. / Bai!**

 **MissyMattingly: Ah, alright.**

 **Rabbits rule: (laughs) No, don't buy Jace, he's copyrighted xD / He's been fixed, so he's fine. :3 / ... yeah, he jinxed it xD / Neither do I, Aboun :3**

 **NinaNaranja: (laughs) Yep, pretty much. / Ahhh, that sucks. But yay!**

 **Idon'tlikecheese: (nods) I see.**

 **CrystalTearsofFaith: You made me start laughing in the middle of math class. Thanks, dude xD / Nahh, it's cool :3**

 **J.M.M.: Nope, you can go back a couple comments and check; you asked me. I think you may have checked out my poll and not known what it was for something.**

 **Darkbeast Dend: Because Reuben is loyal :3**

 **SofiaTheWriter88: (laughs) Glad to hear that! ANd yeah :/**

 **x.X. A.L. X.x**


	74. Just Like That

" _This thing just won't_ die _, will it?_ " Jesse sighed as she clambered to her feet, neck craned back so that she could look at the upside-down Command Block. She paused for a moment, before looking down at Reuben, who was waiting at her feet. " _Okay, new plan,_ " she told him.

"Is it a good plan?" Lukas asked weakly.

" _I'm going to climb up there,_ " and she looked up at one of the walls, " _and use one of those tentacle thingies to swing towards the Command Block._ "

"That is _not_ a good plan!" Lukas exclaimed.

The spider hybrid knelt down and touched Reuben on the top of the head, eyes softening. " _Stay here, Reuben. I mean it this time,_ " she told the pig gently.

That being said, she ran full-tilt at one of the walls, before tensing her knees at the base and launching herself into the air. All six of her palms slammed into the surface, her feet balancing precariously on some crack that was too small for the audience to see. She took a deep breath and began to climb up the wall rapidly, feet propelling her and keeping the spider hybrid moving while her hands found handholds too subtle or too small for the human eye to see.

Olivia was chanting something at lightspeed under her breath with her face buried in her hands- something that sounded suspiciously like " _Don't fall don't fall don't fall don't fall_ ". This wasn't really making Real-Jesse feel any better, her arms tightening around Reuben anxiously.

The spider hybrid clambered onto a high ledge, this one completely black rather than the purple-pink tint, like the rest of the Witherstorm's insides. She slipped a bit, but her lower arms helped propel her onto the surface. The Witherstorm gave another a roar, everything starting to shake again, Jesse swinging her arms wildly as she tried to keep her balance on the surface she was standing on.

Which suddenly started moving.

The ledge she was standing on came to life, blinking open a single, glowing indigo eye and letting out a growl. Jesse let out a shriek and toppled from the _new Witherstorm head._

"Oh that's just not _fair!_ " Maya complained. Olivia lifted her head to see what Maya meant and let out an alarmed squeak.

" _What in-?! How's that even possible?!_ " Jesse gaped at the new head, before whipping around at the sound of another roar emitting from the other side of the room, tractor beams from both heads switching on and roving through the room.

Jesse dove out of the way of one of them, Reuben galloping up to the spider hybrid. " _Reuben! I-_ " Jesse flung herself to the floor as one of the tractor beams barely missed her. " _\- told you to stay put!_ " she finished her statement, before her eyes flicked sideways and she scooped up the pig and barreled out of the way as both tractor beams narrowly missed her.

She skidded out of the way and nearly fell through the hole again, barely managing to come to a stop in time. She looked over the edge and let out a gasp, the screen zooming out to show that the Witherstorm was practically in the stratosphere by now.

"Oh, that- that just gave me vertigo," Soren groaned, putting his head in his hands.

Jesse swallowed nervously before turning back to stare at the inside of the Witherstorm again, watching as a tractor beam accidentally lifted a severed tentacle into the air and then glancing at the Command Block. Deep cracks ran over the entire block, and it was pretty obvious that one last, good hit would smash the thing for good.

Her eyes suddenly lit up, widening in realization. " _I think I know exactly how I'm going to get up there,_ " she said, thoughtfully. Real-Jesse's eyes widened as she realized what her onscreen-self was thinking.

"I don't think I like the way this thing is going," Lukas said slowly.

"Jesse, what are you even planning on _doing?_ " Gill asked, leaning around Maya to get a good look at the black-haired girl. Olivia had emerged from hiding in Axel's back to look around at Jesse.

Soren's eyes widened in shock as he realized what Jesse had to be referring to. "I think she's- no, you _wouldn't!_ You can't-!" He whipped around to Jesse, stuttering as he tried to force out the appropriate words.

"What?" Petra asked, accidentally dragging Jace with her as she whipped around to stare at the architect, "what can't she do? What's she about to do?"

"She's- she's-"

Jesse casually reached up and plugged her ears.

Onscreen, Jesse slowly stared at one of the Witherstorm's huge, thrashing heads. " _The tractor beam._ "

" ** _WHAT?!_** " The room practically exploded with the shout, Jesse flinching slightly but still having the 'volume' muted due to her covering her ears.

"Are you _insane?!_ " Dan yelled at Jesse. Stampy was spluttering incoherently, while Stacy and Lizzie were just gaping at Jesse in shock and Sparklez was looking from her to the screen, from her to the screen, over and over again. Em was gaping soundlessly at Jesse, pointing at the screen and then at Jesse, trying to make sense of the situation. Nell had fallen off the couch at the shout, the gladiators were all talking simultaneously and trying to have each of their voices heard over the others', Hadrian and Mevia were _shouting_ to be heard, Otto was just staring at Jesse in surprise, and Isa, Reginald, and Milo were all staring at Jesse in perfect silence, eyes wide.

Harper and Ivor had both turned in perfect unison to stare at the black-haired girl, her hands clamped over her ears securely. Magnus was spluttering, Ellegaard and Soren were listing all of the reasons to _not_ do this, and Gabriel was just shaking his head and sitting back into the seat, looking alarmed. Petra was yelling something incoherently at Jesse, Jace also covering his ears, Lukas and Olivia were simply shaking their heads, and Axel was staring at Jesse in shock. Maya and Gill were both trying to talk over the other, trying to have Jesse hear them, and Aiden and Cassie were exchanging startled looks. Even the animals were getting into the act, Winslow hissing loudly, Benedict clucking loudly and flapping wildly, sending feathers flying everywhere, while Reuben was squealing angrily at Jesse.

To be honest, both Jesse and Jace were fairly certain that Reuben was giving them the pig equivalent of a lecture.

Onscreen, Reuben let out an alarmed squeal upon hearing this, making the audience all quiet down and turn back to the screen to make sure they didn't miss anything. Jesse, sensing all of the yelling was over (for now, at least), carefully unplugged her ears. Onscreen-Jesse carefully set the pig down, giving his ears one last quick fondle, before flailing her arms at the Witherstorm's heads. " _Hey, you!_ " she yelled to the Witherstorm, before giving Reuben one last, comforting look. " _Just watch my back, okay Reuben? If anything goes wrong, I'll be counting on you._ "

"Oh yeah!" Aiden snapped, although it seemed to be more out of nerves than anything else, "put the fate of the world in the hands of a pig!"

Jesse, Jace, Lukas, and Petra all swivelled to give Aiden the exact same death glare.

Jesse whipped back to the Witherstorm, flailing her arms again. " _Bet you can't catch me!_ "

"She's actually gonna do it-? She's actually going to do it!" Lukas exclaimed, shaking his head and staring at the screen.

Petra reached over Jace and started hitting Jesse on the back of the head, the black-haired girl flinching away and throwing up her arms protectively. "How- can- you- be- so- _stupid?!_ " she yelled at the black-haired girl, each word coinciding with a hit.

The tractor beam landed right on Jesse, the spider hybrid letting out a surprised yell as she flew into the air, hand tightening on the sword, soaring straight at one of the Witherstorm's heads' mouths. The moment she was in reach, she slashed downwards as hard as she could, scoring a direct hit on the eye and cutting off the tractor beam. Nearly falling, she managed to catch hold of the edge and crawl onto the ledge hastily, the head beginning to shake from side to side weakly, as if trying to shake her off, the tentacles on the ceiling flailing wildly.

She swallowed, making an audible gulping sound as she backed up one step. Two steps. Three steps-!

She started running, staring straight ahead, as if she didn't _dare_ look down, before kicking off of the edge and sailing into thin air. A tentacle thrashed into reach, and Jesse seized ahold of it. The moment she did, the tentacle started to thrash even more furiously, nearly shaking her off as she tightened her grip, lower arms strangling the sword's hilt so much that some members of the audience were faintly worried that it would break.

"She's alive!" Axel yelled, as if this was not obvious.

The tentacle momentarily stopped thrashing, and Jesse's grip loosened slightly as she stared at the still-too-far-away Command Block, still being thrashed around- and then, suddenly, another black tentacle that had been shooting at Jesse in her moment of direction slammed into her side as it seized ahold of her, the spider hybrid letting out a shout of alarm and pain as the force knocked the sword from her hand, sending it flying.

Cassie said a twenty-word-long string of words that no one bothered to reprimand her for.

The sword bounced once, twice, before clattering to a stop, _half of it_ over the hole in the Witherstorm. Jesse gasped, wincing as the tentacle tightened around her. Several members of the audience got the impression that if she hadn't been wearing the armor Ivor had given her, the tentacle would already have crushed her to a pulp.

" _If I- mmph,_ " and Jesse's face turned a bit pale as the tentacle gave another squeeze, " _if I try to shoot a web at it-"_ Another grunt as the tentacle squeezed even _more_ tightly. " _And I hit it the wrong way-_ " Now Jesse was gasping for breath, the tentacle still ensnared tightly around her. " _Or miss, then-_ " Her next grunt rose into a squeak. " _\- I think I'll knock it through the_ hole!" Her last word turned into a squeak, face beginning to turn a faint shade of purple from being squeezed without a single pause.

Lukas's arm tightened around Jesse protectively.

Jesse gasped, before looking down at the tentacle and then shaking her head before throwing her head forward. " _C'mon, c'mon, please-_ " Another squeak. " _Work!_ " Her teeth sharpened into canines, and she sank her teeth into the Witherstorm's tentacle.

"That's..." Hadrian paused, arching his eyebrow, an odd look coming over his face.

Mevia finished, looking rather uncomfortable herself. "Disgusting."

Disgusting it might've been, but it definitely did the trick, the Witherstorm automatically releasing the spider hybrid and loosening its grip. Jesse took a deep breath of air and yelled down to Reuben as she started using her lower arms to try to keep the Witherstorm from crushing her again. " _Reuben, I need your help!_ " she yelled down to the little pink pig, " _remember how we used to play fetch?!_ "

Real-Reuben's ears perked up at the sound of the word.

Onscreen, Reuben perked up as well, and he ran over to the hole, carefully taking hold of the super-sword in his mouth, and then beginning to run for the walls, sword in his mouth. " _That's it! I believe in you!_ " Jesse shouted to him.

"Go Reuben!" Ivor said, a faint smile coming over his face. This made several members of the audience look round at him, but his eyes were fixated on the screen resolutely.

Most of the audience started clapping and cheering, shouting encouragement to the little pig. Most of them were never going to admit it, but they'd gotten rather attached to the little pink pig. He was just that cute.

The tentacle swung Jesse towards the Witherstorm head, getting a bit too close for comfort. Jesse sucked in a deep breath in a gasp as she kept an eye on the little pig as he managed to get up onto a higher tentacle, galloping towards Jesse below him, eyes narrowed in determination. " _Hey, jump! I'll catch you!_ " she shouted to the pig.

The pig did so without any hesitation, jumping from the tentacle. Jesse's eyes narrowed, and she lashed out with one arm and _barely_ managed to catch Reuben by the hoof, both of them dangling over the abyss.

Jace and Jesse both simultaneously let out relieved sighs, having not even realized they were holding their breaths.

Lots of cheering erupted from around the room, Jesse and Jace both reaching out to fondle the pig's ears as Gabriel, Ellegaard, and a few others got up to pat the pig, the people on the floor all doing so as well.

Jesse carefully reached out and took the sword out of his mouth with her free hand. " _Okay, it's time to put an end to this thing, once and for-_ " She was cut off as the Witherstorm head she'd attacked lurched up with its last bit of life, massive teeth clamping down on Reuben's back leg, causing the pig to squeal in alarm.

"No!" Jace yelled, bolting upright, eyes widening. Jesse's eyes widened as well, abject fear coming into her expression. The only thought going through both of their heads was:

 _That thing's got our Reuben!_

" _Reuben!_ " Jesse screamed, whipping around to Reuben, panic filling her expression.

The Witherstorm head engaged in a deadly game of tug-of-war, Jesse keeping an iron grip on Reuben's hoof and the Witherstorm hanging on just as tightly. It was almost as though the monster was determined to get its revenge on the girl who was about to destroy it.

" _No, no, no, Reuben, Reuben, hang-hang on, hold on, okay,"_ Jesse alternatively pleaded and ranted, babbling a million things incoherently as she desperately tried to keep ahold of the pig, when suddenly the head she'd just slashed dropped, its teeth slipping from Reuben's leg numbly. However, the downward force of its head dropping was enough to knock the pig out of Jesse's hands.

Time seemed to freeze, the pig seeming to float in midair for a second, before starting to fall.

The screen went perfectly silent as the pig fell out of sight, Jesse's mouth hanging open as she drew an arm back and fired a web.

Except, at the last second, the tentacle thrashed sideways, and the web flew askew. It was like Gabriel all over again.

An explosion of sound filled the room, shouts of "No!" and "Not Reuben!" filling the air, even Aiden, Hadrian, and Mevia sitting there with their eyes wide and mouths hanging open in shock, but neither Jesse nor Jace were a part of the noise. Jesse's arms were in a vice around the pink pig, eyes wide in horror and panic and... something else, something else nobody could identify. Jace was staring at the screen, eyes not even wide, his shock so beyond comprehension that he was just literally sitting there, hand resting in Jesse's lap next to Reuben's snout. Reuben nudged him and whined a bit in concern, staring at his owner, before nuzzling Jesse, trying to get her attention.

The two of them just sat there for a moment, before they both, nearly silently, whispered, as if their vocal cords were being cut off somehow:

"Reuben?"

" _REUBEN!_ " Jesse was screaming when the sound on the screen came back on. " _REUBEN!_ "

There was no answer.

Jesse stared hollowly for a moment, before her eyes began to slowly turn blood red, glittering like rubies. Her expression was contorting into one of pure rage and fury and pain, her fangs sharpening even more as she gritted her teeth, before she whipped around as the tentacle swung towards the Command Block in confusion, letting out an enraged, almost _insane_ scream that no one had expected that the girl was able to make, and drew her arm back and stabbed out with the sword with a strength that could only be described as superhuman.

The sword's blade _shattered_ from the force as it cleaved into the Command Block, sending shards of metal and white-hot sparks spitting everywhere, Jesse's red eyes glowing like coals in the light.

She didn't seem to care one atom.

Sparks sputtered out of the Command Block, said block shaking for a few moments, before _exploding_ in a shower of white sparks. The other Witherstorm head also dropped limp, the tractor beam vanishing, everything beginning to flicker into pure darkness. The tentacle loosened and dropped Jesse, and Jesse plummeted towards the ground, disappearing into the inky blackness that the inside of the Witherstorm was becoming, the screen fading to black.

Flashes of a younger Jesse playing with Reuben appeared, before it came onto show the younger Jesse practically crying her eyes out as she hugged Reuben in a death hug, seeming to be sitting at the bottom of some sort of deep hole. " _I'm sorry!_ " she nearly sobbed, little Reuben nudging her as if to say he was okay, and her older voice speaking in almost perfect unison with the little her, " _I'm never fast enough to save you, I didn't mean to let you go, I didn't mean for you to fall, just please..._ "

The screen started fading to black again.

"Please _be okay. Please... I don't want you to be hurt._ "

The screen faded completely to black.

" _You're mine, okay? You're my little pig._

 _"My little Reuben."_

Everything went silent.

The room was perfectly silent, for once.

It was almost ridiculous to think that after watching this girl and her pig beat Magnus at his own game, fend off monsters, walk among the Endermen, risk her life to blow up this Witherstorm when her heroes wouldn't, reunite the Order of the Stone, become friends with an old rival, risk her life to save her friends, find out that she was a hybrid... it was ridiculous to think, that after all that, both of them could be gone.

Just like that.

* * *

 **A/N: Uh, wow. This got way more intense than I expected it to get. Nearly started crying during the writing of this chapter.**

 **RQTC: You guys ready for the surprise I've got prepared for you next chapter? Or, well, maybe not so much of a _surprise_... but ready for what I've got in store?**

 **S4SH4L4SH4theGaMeR101: (laughs) / Mmm, cool. / (nods significantly)**

 **Emily The Avenger: (laughs) Thank you!**

 **RapidSammi: (laughs) Yeah, that makes me laugh too. Kind of a balancing out for these next two... or three... or... possibly four chapters. Depending on how long the chapters start getting.**

 **AquaK13: (laughs) / Indeed xD / (deep breath) My pulse is literally speeding up from how many emotions I'm feeling about this next part.**

 **Beli0304: Cool :3 / Well, most of the other times, I mean xD**

 **RebekahTPE: Yeah, me too xD / Oh, god, yeah. / (grins) Don't spoil the other peoplez, Bekah. / Nope. xD**

 **sailor . mikuchan: (laughs) / Yeah, she is :3**

 **LunarStarsMoon: Yesh x3 / My heart rate is picking up. Whew. :3**

 **LittleAngelbun: No spoilers :3 / YAAAAAY!**

 **Darkbeast Dend: Indeed x3**

 **NinaNaranja: Nonexistent words are the best words xD / I'm both excited, nervous, and experiencing butterflies.**

 **J.M.M: Go to the comments and just keep going 'Next' until you see the comment...?**

 **Rabbits rule: (grins)**

 **x.X. A.L. X.x**


	75. No

The screen came back on to show that all three Witherstorms pretty much falling apart at the seams, piece by piece. Endermen were teleporting away at the sight of light as the sun emerged from behind where the Witherstorms had been blocking out the light, the massive black clouds vanishing from sight. It was almost as though that entire fiasco hadn't even _happened._

Jesse appeared, falling through the sky, before splashing down safely into a body of water, everything getting muffled by her landing.

"SHE'S ALIVE!" Lukas actually _screamed_ from how excited he was, enveloping the smaller girl in death hug, Petra contributing and Olivia joining before the whole group nearly got flattened to the floor by Axel. Reuben had wormed out from Jesse's grip and was galloping around in circles, squealing with joy. Petra's arms were tight around Jace as well as he got squashed into the hug.

The audience was all cheering, sighing with relief, or laughing in relief. Gill had instinctively jumped to his feet and spun Maya around in the air, making the brunette squeak in surprise. Ivor leaned back in his chair, letting out a long, relieved breath, a faint smile starting to play over his face. Even Aiden leaned back into his couch, letting out a soft breath as he stared at the screen, a strange look of mixed relief and thoughtfulness came over his face.

Jesse and Jace disentangled themselves from the hug, the only two people in the room who hadn't joined into the relief or happiness, their eyes searching the screen intently. Seeing their anxious expressions, the rest of the audience's smiles or relief was starting to fade as well.

"Jace?" Petra put one hand on Jace's shoulder, the boy still staring at the screen. "What's wrong?"

Jesse opened her mouth to say something, to respond to Petra's question, before pausing and gulping. She mumbled something that absolutely nobody caught.

"Sorry?" Lukas asked, leaning in to hear her better.

Onscreen, Olivia and Axel came running up to Jesse as she climbed out of the water, an anxious expression on her snow-white face, big grins fixed over their faces. " _There you are!_ " Olivia called, skidding to a stop right in front of Jesse and throwing her arms around her friend. She backed away a moment later when Jesse did nothing more than stand there.

Axel skidded to a halt right in front of Jesse. " _Jesse, are you okay?_ " he asked, " _we thought you were..._ " He faltered, before picking up, more softly, " _well, we didn't think you'd make it._ "

Jesse's mouth opened and shut for a moment, her eyes still wide with anxiety as she stared at her two friends.

Real-Jesse spoke up again, coincidentally at the moment her onscreen-self asked the same thing.

" _Where's Reuben?_ "

The audience's heads all snapped around to stare at the screen, anxiety beginning to enter most of their expressions.

Olivia looked bewildered- before her eyes widened in fear. " _I- I thought he was with you!_ " Olivia gasped, worry starting to shine in her eyes.

Lukas happened to choose that moment to run up to the rest of the group. " _Jesse, you did it!_ " he exclaimed, grinning at her. " _You actually did it!_ "

Jesse turned to Lukas, her mouth starting to open and shut again, abject fear in her expression, face still snow white. He seemed to sense something was wrong the moment he saw her, his smile falling and his ears beginning to droop worriedly. " _Jesse? Are you okay?_ " he asked her.

Before she could answer, a small cry rang out.

"Did you guys hear that?" Axel asked slowly, concern in his expression.

Isa's eyes widened in horror as she seemed to realize something.

"Oh no."

Onscreen, Jesse whipped around, before she froze in place, eyes welling up with tears.

The screen switched to show Reuben lying on his side several feet away, pink skin practically the same shade as Jesse's face.

Jace let out a gasp, doubling over and clutching at his chest, making Petra exclaim in worry as she steadied him, the boy's clear green eyes overflowing with tears as he shoved his hands up to his mouth, beginning to shake. "N-no..." The single word came out as a single sob. "N-n- _no..._ " His voice rose into a higher pitch before cracking, the usually cheerful, mild mocha-haired boy shaking so hard he was knocking against Petra's comforting hand.

No one was smiling anymore. Reuben had crawled to the two Jesse's feet, staring at them. Jace was beginning to break down, but Jesse was just sitting there, staring at the screen, not even crying. Just sitting there.

" _Reuben!_ " Jesse shouted, racing over to the pig and tripping. She just picked herself up and crawled over, not even going on all eights, just scrambling to get there on all fours, clawing her way desperately over to her pig, as if she'd forgotten her extra limbs. Perhaps she had, in that moment. " _Reuben,_ " she repeated, but it was more of a pained whimper this time, hot tears beginning to pour down her cheeks, frantically wiping them away in the same moment.

The little pink pig let out a soft whine, his sides rising and falling as he struggled to breathe properly. Maybe to breathe at all. His bones had to have been broken by that fall, and Jesse seemed to know it, because she was doing everything she could to get to Reuben on her own, hands and shoulders shaking.

The others ran up behind Jesse, coming to a stop. " _Oh no,_ " Olivia whispered, but Jesse seemed to be totally unaware of them, tears pouring down her cheeks as she looked at Reuben, frantically trying to mop them away.

" _Reuben,_ " she repeated again, reaching out a shaking hand. Reuben turned his head to look at her, brown eyes fixed with sadness as he stared at Jesse. She was still desperately trying to stem the flow of her tears. " _I'm sorry, I k-know y-y-you h-h-hate it when I cry,_ " she apologized through a breaking voice.

"I can't watch this," Maya whispered, burying her face in Gill's arm. He put a grounding hand on her shoulder, turning his head away from the screen as his own breath caught in his throat.

Ellegaard did the same, Magnus wrapping his arms around her and hugging the redstone engineer, his own eyes seeming oddly shiny.

Real-Jesse seemed oddly affected, just sitting there and staring at the screen still. She hadn't even started crying yet.

Reuben gently pressed his nose into Jesse's hand, which made Jesse hiccup a bit as she tried to keep her tears back. " _Reuben?_ " Her voice was barely a whisper now, as if her vocal cords were being strangled to death and were keeping her from saying anything above that volume. " _Your'e a hero, you know that? You just helped me save everyone, you know that, right?_ " She was starting to shake harder than a leaf. " _C'mon, please-_ " Her voice caught in her throat as she tried to keep speaking, before finishing in a shattered voice, " _please just say something._ "

Reuben tried to get to his feet, but he hadn't even managed to put one hoof on the ground before he fell back down, whining softly at the fact that he wasn't able to comfort Jesse. He just looked so _tired_ , more than anything- as if he'd just spent the whole day playing and running with Jesse, and just wanted to take a nap while Jesse or Jace and Axel and Olivia just chatted and joked and planned for next year's Endercon.

" _It's okay, boy,_ " Jesse managed, sounding almost as if she were choking.

But of course, it wasn't okay.

It just wasn't.

" _I'm here, okay?_ " Jesse carefully reached out and set her hands on his head, fondling his ears slowly. " _I'm here, I promise, alright? I'm here._ " Tears were definitely pouring down Jesse's face now, and most of the audience was staring at the two Jesses sadly or uncomfortably as Jace was sobbing, head buried in his hands as he tried to stop crying but couldn't. Jesse's face was still completely blank as she stared at the screen.

Because Reuben _couldn't_ die, Reuben just _couldn't_ die, because he was _their_ Reuben. He always had been _their_ Reuben and always would be, their little pig.

He just _couldn't_ die.

" _I'm sorry,_ " Jesse whispered, all of her other hands clenched into fists with her nails digging into her palms, " _I'm so, so, so sorry, Reuben, I'm_ sorry..."

Reuben let out another whine, nudging her hand with his nose gently, so slowly it was as though he were using all of his energy, and the gentle contact sent waterfalls of tears coming down Jesse's face, her breath coming in shorter and shorter bursts until she was near-hyperventilating, hands shaking so badly that they sent violent tremors up the rest of her body.

Jesse carefully reached out and touched his ears gently, before fondling them, the only part she could touch without causing Reuben even more pain. " _I love you, okay?_ " Her voice broke. " _You're my Reuben."_ The volume of her voice dropped again so that it was barely audible. " _Okay?_ "

Reuben let out another soft whine at that, nudging her hand again, before his head drooped back to the floor, drained by that last effort, and the little pig went completely still.

Isa's hand was to her mouth in perfect horror, eyes welling with tears. Milo's head was bowed as he fought his own tears, Reginald's hands clenched into fists on his lap. Petra's arms were tightly wrapped around Jace, fighting tears so hard that her face was nearly screwed up with concentration. Lukas's arm was a vice around Jesse, the black-haired girl still sitting there perfectly still. Olivia's head was buried in Axel's shoulders as tears poured out of her eyes, and Axel had his head buried in Olivia's shoulder in return.

Maya was beginning to cry in earnest, head buried in Gill's arm, the bearded man's eyes shut as he tried to keep his own tears back. Even Aiden looked distinctly unhappy about this, glancing at Cassie, whose arms were wrapped in a tight hug around Winslow, her head buried in her arms as she tried to stop crying. Stampy was crying, head in his hands, Lizzie had her eyes shut, Dan was looking away unhappily, Sparklez was hugging his knees, Stacy was trying to comfort Stampy and Lizzie at the same time.

Harper and Ivor exchanged a both sad and worried look, Gabriel was staring at the floor, Soren was shaking his head over and over. Otto was shaking his head slightly with a sad frown, Slab had his hands over his face, and Facemeat and Clutch were sniffling. Nell had grabbed Em in a tight hug, starting to cry a bit herself, and Em was just frowning at the floor, not even trying to push Nell away. Hadrian and Mevia merely appeared rather uncomfortable about the whole thing.

Then there was a single, soft, breathed word.

"No."

Everyone turned around to see who'd spoken.

Jesse was staring at the screen, starting to shake her head in the first _hint_ of reaction that she'd had about the whole thing. "No. No!" She was starting to visibly tremble, hands shaking from where they were clenched into fists on her lap. "No."

"Jesse?" Petra reached out to place a hand on her shoulder. "Hey, it's- it's okay-"

"No!" Jesse's head was shaking more furiously now, her entire body practically vibrating as she flailed up with one handsmacked Petra's hand away, a look of surprise and hurt coming over the redhead's face that Jesse simply didn't notice. The girl's clear green eyes squeezed shut, forcing tears to come out of her eyes. "No."

Mevia paused the episode, turning to look at Jesse with a look that seemed almost like _concern._ Otto blinked when he saw it.

"No." That seemed to be the only word Jesse could say right now, and it was picking up in intensity and speed and pitch and volume as she spoke. "No. No. No, no, no, no no no no no no nonononononono _nononononono-_!" The repeated mantra of 'no' was now practically a wail as she tried to move away.

Lukas clamped his arms around her, keeping her in place. "Hey, Jesse, it's-!"

The repetition had turned into a Notch-awful _wail_ now, a sort of keening sound that was broken up by sobbing that sent chills crawling up everyone's spines at the sound of almost pure pain as Jesse started to try to shove her way out of Lukas's arms, which remained firmly entwined around her. "Hey! Jesse!" Lukas shouted, trying to have himself heard over her crying, "c-calm down, it's-"

" _NO!_ " Jesse near- _screamed,_ making many members of the audience flinch in surprise as she was now definitely fighting Lukas, she was shoving and pushing and thrashing to get out. Even Jace was distracted from the near _heartbreak_ he'd just experienced from watching one of his best friends- _his_ Reuben- die right in front of his eyes by this, and he lifted red-rimmed eyes to watch Jesse, a confused look coming over his face at how _upset_ she seemed to be.

Lukas visibly flinched as Jesse's hand came up and weakly shoved him in the chest. It wasn't that it hurt, because it really didn't, but the fact that she was seemingly willing to hurt him to get out of his grip and get the hell out of that room.

He wasn't sure why. Maybe it was the pain of watching Reuben die, even though she'd only met him a day or so ago but had somehow gotten so attached to him already in the short time that she _had_ known the pig.

One thing was clear to him right now, though- in this state of _hysteria_ that Jesse was in, if he let her go, she was going to run off, and she was going to hurt herself, and he was _definitely_ not willing to allow that to happen.

Ivor leaped to his feet quickly, moving over to the group sitting on the floor and yanking out a bottle of something that looked faintly purple as he went. Pulling out a clear bottle with something that looked like a wisp of blue, he dumped that into the purple potion, corking the bottle and shaking it vigorously, before going down on one knee, uncorking the bottle, and dumping the contents of said bottle into Jesse's mouth.

The girl reflexively swallowed the thing, eyes snapping open, confusion coming over Jesse's face as she stared at Ivor for a moment.

Then the light left her eyes, her eyes drifted shut, and she slumped forward like a deadweight, somehow not falling straight into Lukas's shoulder and simply dropping past that.

Petra, Ivor, and Lukas all reached out to catch her before she did a faceplant on the ground, Petra looking up at the man. "What'd you just give her?" she asked, curiously. Had he attempted a stunt like this in the first or second episode, she would've been more likely to knock out his teeth.

"Calming potion mixed with a Brew of Sleeping. It should knock her out for-" Ivor paused, eyes moving from Petra's back to stare at something, eyes widening slightly. "... for..."

Confused by the reaction, Lukas looked down at Jesse. A slight chill ran up his back.

Hidden by the curtain of hair that usually covered her back and neck, but had now drooped to one side when Jesse had up and collapsed from the potion Ivor had just given her, was the unmistakable mark of what looked like a bruise. It was still mostly hidden under her shirt... but it was unmistakably there.

But it wasn't the fact that there _was_ a bruise that was bothering Ivor and Lukas. It wasn't the fact that it was in a rather awkward position to _get_ a bruise.

What both Ivor and Lukas were now looking rather bothered by was that the weak healing potion that Jesse had consumed earlier should've fixed any minor injury.

So why did she still have bruising on her back?

* * *

 **A/N: (deep breath) Oh boy. I actually had to stop while writing this chapter, I started crying a bit.**

 **So this part was sort of my surprise...? Kind of the end part and the next few chapters, mainly. So, maybe not a surprise, but a... ... I don't know what to call it...**

 **Next chapter they take a bit of a break from the episode, and we're going to see exactly why Jesse reacts the way she does when she's hit, and why she winces when people clap her on the back too hard.**

 **And exactly why she's so damn protective of her friends.**

 **I hope you're not in a public place tomorrow when you read the chapter.**

 **LunarStarsMoons: (looks at the ceiling and refuses to look any of the readers in the face)**

 **Emily The Avenger: ... errrrrr... (looks at ceiling awkwardly)**

 **SofiaTheWriter88: Sadly not; that'd be a bit too big of a deviation from Original Hybrid. :/**

 **J.M.M: Ohhhhh. / Ah, I see. No, I don't know any YouTube channels with those people. (shrugs) Sorry!**

 **AquaK13: (casually gets up and leaves)**

 **LittleAngelbun: (awkward smile)**

 **Kaos Ruin: Sorry for making you hold your breath for seven hours xD**

 **homeworkoverload: (awkward look)**

 **S4SH4L4SH4theGaMeR101: Ahhhh... sorry... (sheepish look)**

 **NinaNaranja: Uhh, that good or bad? xD**

 **RapidSammi: Uhhmmm sowwy Sammi : I remember you 'stabbed' me the first time I wrote that ending, glad to see you didn't do it this time xD**

 **x.X. A.L. X.x**


	76. The Truth of the Matter

"What in...?" Petra had spotted the bruise by now too. The three of them were leaning over Jesse and staring at it with their foreheads practically clonking together. "Is that a bruise? What's it doing on her back?"

"We should... probably get a closer look at that?" Lukas suggested, lifting his head to look at Ivor questioningly.

(After all, Ivor had turned into the resident doctor, and it wasn't like Lukas knew anything about this sort of thing. Sure, he knew how to handle injuries that were obtained in the heat of battle or during a build or whatever. Not when it was something as out of place as a bruise on someone's back.)

"Well, yes, but..." Ivor paused uncomfortably. "Well, we may need to take off her shirt to..." His face was turning red now. He cleared his throat a bit uncomfortably. "To see exactly what's going on."

Lukas's face felt a bit warm as well. "Oh."

Petra simply let out a grunt and picked Jesse up, flipping her over so she was carrying the much-smaller girl almost bridal-style. She blinked at the lack of weight in her arms- for someone who claimed to be 17, she was extraordinarily light- before dismissing it. "Well, I guess me and some of the other girls can get her shirt off, and then we can decide what to do from there."

Olivia dusted her knees off and stood up, wiping her face. "Yeah. I can come and help, I guess."

Harper shrugged and stood up as well, and Maya gently extricated herself from Gill's grip. Petra waited another minute in case anyone else wanted to come, before briskly walking out of the room, saying, "Just... I dunno. Wait here for a bit, I guess."

The four (five, if you counted the now-unconscious Jesse in Petra's arms) of them left the room. This left the rest of the room's occupants staring uncomfortably at each other, unsure what to do.

Finally, Soren sighed and rubbed the back of his head. "So, um... how are you all doing?"

He shrank back when everyone turned to stare at him, giving him rather flat looks. "I'm not good at starting intense conversations..."

"Oh, trust me," Ivor near- _drawled_ sardonically, "we know."

* * *

It took a few minutes, since Jesse was pretty much like a rag doll in this state and getting her overalls off of her was like trying to get them off of a dead fish- actually, getting them off the dead fish may have been easier- and Olivia and Maya excused themselves to go find some pajamas for Jesse- and of course, you had to get over the awkwardness factor of basically taking Jesse's clothes off- when, in short, they'd finally (finally!) managed to get the overalls off of her, Petra frowned a bit.

Jesse was still wearing a pair of shorts under that, so it wasn't as awkward as Petra had been expecting- but her legs were covered in what looked like rather deep scars. Some weren't exactly big, but they were all fairly deep.

"Is Jesse a clumsy person or something?" Harper asked, frowning down at the sight of Jesse's legs.

Petra's lips twisted together, and she paused in carefully trying to pull Jesse's shirt off. "I mean, I know that Jace is _kinda_ clumsy, and since Jesse's basically kind of Jace, that might make sense... but even that doesn't explain the amount of scars on her legs," she muttered, more to herself than anyone else. Harper heard the comment clearly, though, and made a humming sound in comprehension.

Olivia came back through the door first, holding a set of gray pajamas, Maya trailing behind her a bit, the two girls deep in a conversation. Petra hid the faint smile that came over her face at that- it was good to see that they were starting to get along.

Petra returned her attention to getting the shirt off as the two girls came to a stop, Olivia setting the pajamas on the bedside table in her peripheral vision as they came to a stop next to the bed, their conversation dying.

After a moment of pulling, the shirt finally slipped off.

The moment it came free half of the way, Harper gasped and backed away so far that her back slammed into the door, eyes widening in shock. Maya gasped, hands flying up to her mouth as she recoiled backwards a few steps, Olivia actually _gagged_ and turned her head away, and even Petra had to turn her head away.

Not that it really did too much good- the image was still clear in her mind.

Jesse's back was a nightmarish patchwork of bruises, cuts, bandages and scars. The bruises ranged from a deep purple to more of a sickening green, and some of the cuts hadn't been treated yet from their awkward position on her back, and some of these deeper-looking cuts were starting to ooze pus. And now that Jesse's clothes (except maybe her bra and shorts) were off, it was painfully obvious exactly how thin Jesse was. It didn't look as if she were starving herself on purpose or anything- after all, she ate a fairly healthy amount at meals- but Petra could clearly count Jesse's ribs.

With all these facts combined, it was a wonder that Jesse hadn't just up and collapsed on the spot.

"What the hell?" Maya asked, when she could speak again, hands gripping the table next to her so tightly that Petra was honestly a little worried that the table would crack. "How the hell is Jesse even _alive?"_

Well, it was a bit of an exaggeration, perhaps, but Petra had honestly been thinking a similar thing in the first split second she'd spotted Jesse's back.

"Yeah," Olivia said, carefully turning her head back to the screen, but her hand still shoved up to her mouth to keep herself from throwing up, "She looks terrible."

Petra was wincing a bit now that she remembered how she'd literally _slapped_ Jesse on the back several times. It was a wonder she'd been able to keep from actually crying out in pain every single time that had happened." _Notch,_ " she muttered, trying to examine Jesse's back and pretend that her stomach wasn't rebelling and telling her to vomit- just a little bit. "Jesse looks as though she's been through _hell._ "

Harper swallowed from where her back was still pressed against the doorway. "Um..." She swallowed again. "Should we go... tell the others?"

Petra swallowed a bit herself. "Yeah. But, uh, first..." She looked back down at Jesse, trying not to keep her eyes fixed on one part of Jesse's back for too long. This, however, just made the whole thing worse, as her eyes roved over one part of Jesse's back to the next, making everyone single specific wound stand out even further. That cut was deeper than the one on her left shoulder. That scar wasn't fully healed over yet. That bruise was so dark that it looked like it had been newly formed.

"We should probably put on those pajamas you guys brought on her."

* * *

Everyone was still sitting in the living room, Jace hugging his knees with his head buried in his knees again, having lost interest in the conversation. Reuben was snuffling comfortingly next to him, but Jace was just curled up in a tight ball as the murmurs of conversation surrounded him.

"Ariza!"

Everyone's heads snapped up and looked around for the source of the voice, which sounded unfamiliar. Jace's head came back up out of his knees- and he let out a muffled scream as he launched himself backwards automatically, smacking into Lukas and knocking the both of them to the floor, but Jace was still gasping, trying to scramble backwards, the releasing of his facial muscles allowing tears to trickle their way down his cheeks.

Everyone's eyes went to where Jace was gaping at.

There was a girl crouched on the floor in the corner of the room, arms wrapped around her legs and head buried in her knees. There was a piece of paper clutched in her hand. What was more, her entire body was faintly glowing, pale blue, and translucent. Her short, dark hair seemed to have a streak of different color through it, but with the blue tint the girl was colored in, it was impossible to tell what it actually was. She appeared to be wearing a flannel and jeans.

"Ari- oh, there you are! We were worried sick about you, what are you doing in here?" Another girl walked up to her- one with long, dark, curly hair with a streak of a different color also going through it. She seemed to be wearing a leather jacket, but she was walking briskly enough, and the image was hazy enough, that it was difficult to tell exactly what else she was wearing. Her eyes, however, seemed to glow a different color other than pale blue- it was a dark brown shade.

'Ariza', apparently, just lifted the paper in her hand and held it out to the other girl, head still securely buried in her knees.

The other girl blinked at it, before taking the paper and reading it. It was a long few moments of silence, in which the audience was watching her read the paper and Ariza had just gone back to hugging her knees, before the other girl set the paper down to the side, knelt down, and hugged Ariza. "I'm so sorry," she said, quietly and sincerely.

Ariza lifted her head, revealing a pair of eyes that were clear green. Tearstains were on her cheeks, and a few other tears made their way out of her eyes as she looked up.

"I thought my dad was joking when he first told me," she said softly, as more tears left their damage on her cheeks. "And then I realized that there was no way he was joking. Not about something as serious as this. So then I realized that my grandmother's just..."

There was a long pause, as if she was trying to grasp for the correct word but it wasn't in her vocabulary. "... gone."

Jace stared at Ariza, the now-familiar ache that his chest had gotten used to doubling back, a hundred times more painful. He had no idea who this girl was, or even why she was here, or how she'd just appeared in the room without any of the rest of them noticing.

But in that moment, he got that she'd lost somebody close to her.

And in that moment, he _felt_ for this girl.

He felt for her, because he knew exactly how she felt.

The other girl kept her arms around Ariza for a long moment, before sitting back on her heels and giving Ariza a weak smile. "How about we get you some hot chocolate and let the others know what happened? They're all worried sick about you."

Ariza shook her head and gave the other girl a rather sad smile in return, as if she were trying to force it. "Sure, Gommie. Thanks for coming after me." As she stood up, a stray breeze blew through the room, dispersing the particles that were making up these two girls into thin air.

A heartbeat of pure silence as every occupant of the room tried to process what had just happened.

Not a full three seconds later, the door swung open again, and Petra walked into the library. Jace turned to look at her, and immediately what struck him was the expression on Petra's face.

Petra was uneasy.

Disturbed, confused, rather upset, but there was definitely this uneasy look on Petra's face that made Jace start to worry a bit, his concern driving away that persistent ache in his chest that refused to go away.

Petra was never this uneasy.

"Hey, guys," the redhead spoke as the other three girls poked their heads into the room timidly, "well, I..." She paused and took a deep breath, letting it out in a dragged-out huff. "... I got a good look at her back."

"What did you find?" Ivor asked, almost impatiently, the empty potion flask from earlier sitting in his hand. He still hadn't put it away, for who knows what reason.

Petra paused. "Well, there's... good news, and bad news."

"What's the good news?" The man asked, raising an eyebrow at Petra.

Petra paused again, this supremely unsettled look coming over her face. The silence dragged out, longer and longer, until it was simply just awkward.

Jace had never known that silence could get this loud.

Gill met Maya's eyes, and asked her the question silently with his eyes. She paused and shrugged, looking just as bewildered about the whole thing as Gill did.

Finally, Petra sighed and raked a hand through her hair, nearly ripping the bandana off. "Well, the good news is, if Jesse wants to kill herself, the job's already half-done for her," the redhead said flatly.

There was this shattering sound, and everyone looked round again to see that Ivor had literally broken the flask with the force of his impulsive squeeze, broken glass littering the floor near his feet. There were now half-a-dozen cuts on his hand that he didn't seem to notice, and his expression was no longer impatient, but wide-eyed in shock.

Lukas swallowed, looking as though he were forcing something with a disgusting taste down his throat. "And the bad news?" he asked, sounding as though he weren't at all sure he even wanted to hear the bad news, if the good news was something so bad.

"Her back..." Olivia was the one who spoke up this time, shaking her head as she spoke. "It's a _nightmare_. I have no idea what happened to make it that way, but... it's definitely worthy of the term 'nightmare fuel'."

Axel was about to tell Olivia that he didn't think this was the time for jokes- least of all jokes like this- when he took another look at Olivia and found her face dead serious. The rebuke died in his mouth.

"What's wrong with it?" Mevia asked, sounding slightly concerned about this. This made Otto blink at her again.

"Besides the fact that it looks like someone essentially threw her into Soren's grinder before throwing her into a room full of broken glass?" Maya said flatly.

Lukas was starting to look sick. For that matter, Jace was starting to _feel_ sick, the unpleasantness of this news driving out the curiosity of that... vision, or hallucination, or _whatever_ it had been that had just occurred. "It's that bad?" the blonde asked.

Harper gave her head a shake. "I'm honestly wondering how she manages to even _pretend_ to be happy with the state she's in."

There was an uncomfortable silence as everyone processed this, before Ivor finally managed to regain his composure and stood up, ignoring the small explosion of shattered glass on the floor behind him. "Well, I think I'll have a look at Jesse myself and try to see if I can do anything. Blonde g-" He caught himself, pausing. "... Lukas. Do you want to come with me?"

The blonde blinked. "I- yeah, sure," he said, getting to his feet.

Ivor gave him a nod before looking to Harper, who happened to be nearest to the door. "Harper... right? Can you show us where Jesse's room is?"

The dark-skinned woman nodded at him. "Sure can. Right this way," she said, although she did still sound a bit shaky about the whole thing.

And she led the way out of the room.

Jace watched them go with a sort of detached curiosity, faintly aware of the pounding ache in his chest as Reuben followed Harper, Ivor and Lukas out of the room to go check on Jesse.

His little Reuben was...

Really, really sweet...

He was brought back to reality when a grounding hand landed on his shoulder, and he looked up to see Petra looking at him with this extremely concerned look. "Hey, Jace, can you come with me for a few minutes?" she asked, in a low voice.

The mocha-haired boy remained sitting on the floor for a moment, staring at Petra as if he was unaware of her question. She had just opened her mouth to repeat it when he slowly climbed to his feet, his muscles complaining from how long he'd been sitting on the floor, curled up. "Yeah, sure."

* * *

 **A/N: Next chapter is when the feels train's gonna make me stop writing twelve times, but it might take me a while to get it done.**

 **(deep breath in) I actually had to physically stop writing this chapter fifteen times and pace around the room, I got so mad while writing it. I also cried a bit, but that may have been out of frustration.**

 **Huh. I make an appearance. Wonder what that's about.**

 **NoItsBecky: Yeeeep.**

 **LegoGirl794: (nods) Indeed he will.**

 **LunarStarsMoons: Ahhh, I'm sorry I made you cry...! / Yes, they did.**

 **CrystalTearsofFaith: I'M SORRY (dives under desk)**

 **sailor . mikuchan: (shakes head) I have no idea, dude. I do sometimes too, but that's only because I like laughing a lot, so my emotions get confused and tell me to laugh when I'm actually upset. Then I realize I'm upset, so I start crying.**

 **Emily The Avenger: (winces)**

 **J.M.M.: Oh, I think I've heard of it!**

 **Kaos Ruin: Oh. _Oh._ (blushing) Um, I'm sorry I made you cry at work.**

 **the indecisive bird: (laughs) Actually, no. The first time I watched, I didn't actually cry, I was just like "Oh no!" The second time I bawled my eyes out and my mom was so confused. / Jesse's _really_ adamant about that; you'll find out why next chapter. I _was_ putting it in this chapter, but then I realized this was getting too long. **

**S4SH4L4SH4theGaMeR101: (rubs head awkwardly) Ahh, I'm sorry...**

 **LittleAngelbun: Sort of. / Ahh I'm sorry / (laughs) Well, glad to see you like it.**

 **NinaNaranja: It's odd; whenever I cry a little bit while writing a chapter my readers are apparently crying bucketloads... what? / I'm glad to see you liked it.. I... think xD**

 **Darkbeast Dend: Uhm... my favorite YouTuber is Markiplier or Jacksepticye, but that's just because they make me laugh when I'm down :3**

 **Meow Shadow: Trust me, next chapter you're going to see why she reacted that way (grins evilly) / Oh, thanks! I meant to stick the whole thing into this chapter but then all of my ideas started growing and it got to be a bit too much haha xD / Wait, I have a thousand reviews? (goes and checks) OML whhaaaa-**

 **SofiaTheWriter88: Ahhh I'm sorry ;-;**

 **AquaK13: It's not emotional exactly, unless you count making me super mad as emotional xD / No spoilers (looks at ceiling) / (laughs) Don't worry, I'm the innocent one too. Notice that I haven't actually said a swear in the story; it's been censored or simply mentioned. / They were small, it didn't affect the meaning. (They did make my inner spelling nerd twitch, though.)**

 **RapidSammi: You'll see next chapter. :3 And I'm glad to see you're restraining yourself, lol.**

 **homework overload: Oh, no, not at all! I like it when my readers make me feel awkward, because then I can laugh at myself later on xD / Ahhhh, I see. / Congrats, dude!**

 **Rabbits rule: Well, I'm glad you... liked it? I think? / And... yeah, pretty accurate xD**

 **...**

 **Guys.**

 **GUYS.**

 **OVER 1000 REVIEWS.**

 **OVER 1000 FREAKING REVIEWS.**

 **WE'RE NOT EVEN HALFWAY THROUGH THE STORY AND WE ARE LITERALLY 20 REVIEWS AWAY FROM BEATING HYBRID.**

 **WHAT THE HOW AND WHY AND WHEN?!**

 **GUYS!**

 **THANK YOU!**

 **THANK YOU SO MUCH!**

 **x.X. A.L. X.x**


	77. I'm Not Fine

Lukas didn't have an iron stomach or anything, but he'd never thrown up from just looking at something.

That nearly changed when he got a good look at Jesse's back.

The blonde dry-heaved from where he was now leaning against the wall, eyes squeezed shut as he tried to forget the nightmarish patchwork of bruises and cuts and scars that was Jesse's back.

He wasn't having much success.

Harper had already left the room, having showed them in and then left again, a supremely uncomfortable look on her face. Now Lukas knew why.

Reuben was at Lukas's feet, nudging the blonde comfortingly and letting out a soft whine himself.

Ivor looked rather uncomfortable by the sight, too, but he hadn't reacted as much as Lukas was. The only sign of how disturbed he was was the perturbed expression on his face, and the way his hand was tightening on the bedside table.

" _Notch..._ " Lukas finally managed to lean away from the wall and come back over to the bed, although his stomach was still rebelling and telling him to throw up. "Who'd do this to _anyone?"_ _Let alone Jesse,_ he added silently.

Ivor's hand tightened even more on the bedside table. "I might have... an idea of who," he muttered, dark blue eyes getting even darker.

Lukas's head snapped up and around to look at him, but Ivor ignored him as he pulled out several potion ingredients and potions, sorting through them. "Well, I don't think I can do very much to fix... _this_ ," and he indicated Jesse's back, "but I can at least make sure that the cuts on her back aren't infected, and maybe get rid of some of the minor bruises."

"Can't you just give her... I don't know- something stronger?" Lukas suggested, because his eyes were fixated on the nightmare that was Jesse's back and he just couldn't _imagine_ where she'd even gotten some of these injuries."

Ivor sighed and shook his head a bit. "Potions aren't some magical cure-all, you know. Too much build-up in the system over too short of a period of time, and there are some odd... side effects. And seeing the state Jesse's in right now, I'd really rather not put her through said side effects."

"You fixed Ellegaard up in that time," Lukas pointed out.

"And the episode simply didn't show the side effects that she probably experienced afterwards, although that Petra surely watched some of them occur," Ivor was quick to counter. "Also, spider venom, while a rather dangerous way to enhance a potion's strength, also tends to get rid of most of the side effects. However, we don't _have_ any spider venom in the vicinity, so I'd rather not try to put Jesse through the side effects."

Lukas paused, raising his eyebrow. (Not that he could do it properly, either. Honestly, the only two people who _could_ manage it properly were Ivor and Jesse.) "What even _are_ the side effects?" he wondered.

"Dizziness, nausea, and the tendency to want to projectile vomit are some of the ones that come most immediately to my mind," Ivor was quick to respond. He paused a moment later. "And muscle spasms. Muscle spasms are also rather likely."

Lukas stared at Ivor as the man mixed together some ingredients, raising a bottle to eye level and squinting at it intently, as if trying to see through it.

"If it makes you feel any better, Ellegaard probably only went through the dizziness, nausea, and a few odd muscle spasms," the black-haired man said, after a few awkward moments of silence.

"It really doesn't, but good to know."

"Mmm."

There was another silence as Lukas watched Ivor mix together a few more ingredients, before something occurred to him. "Hey, Ivor? Can I ask you something?"

"You just did."

Lukas paused in the middle of opening his mouth to ask the next part. "... oh. Well, yes, I did." A long pause as he tried to figure out another way to ask. "Can I ask you two more questions, then?"

Ivor paused for a moment himself, dark blue eyes flicking to Lukas. The blonde could've sworn that he saw a smirk twitch over Ivor's face. "... clever. Ask away, then."

"You... asked me if I wanted to come with you. But I haven't really been able to do anything to help you... so is there a reason you asked me to come?" Lukas asked, tentatively.

Ivor kept looking at Lukas out of the corner of his eye, before going back to mixing his potion ingredients. "Sort of. I was wondering if you wanted to administer the potion to her?"

"... sorry?"

Ivor clarified at the sight of Lukas's bemused face. "The potion doesn't work nearly as well if Jesse isn't awake to ingest it. I don't know why; I think it's because when one goes to sleep everything in the system is basically resting, so it wouldn't circulate as well. So I was wondering if you wanted to stay in here with her."

Lukas blinked at Ivor, before looking back down at Jesse, and then back at Ivor. "Well, of course, but why can't you do it?"

Ivor paused again, staring at the potion ingredients for a long minute before speaking up again. "Because I don't think I can stay in here until Jesse wakes up naturally without breaking something." And with that, he set the potion bottle down on the bedside table, the liquid a luminous sort of teal-green shade. "It should be done, just shake it up every ten minutes. I'm going to leave before I smash something."

And after tugging Jesse's top back down over her back he was gone.

Lukas watched Ivor go, before carefully easing himself into a sitting position on the bed, being careful not to jostle Jesse too much. The bed creaked a bit under his weight, but otherwise nothing happened. He then lifted Reuben onto the bed next to him, the pig sitting patiently next to him on the bed and not trying to wake Jesse up.

It was going to be a while to wait.

* * *

Petra and Jace had been walking for a while now.

Petra had been wandering the hallways for so long now, Jace was a bit lost. Hopefully, Petra knew where they were going.

Finally, Petra came to a stop and turned around to see Jace. He noticed that her eyes were filled with concern. "Jace, are you okay?" she asked, voice low.

Jace shrugged a bit. "Yeah, I'm fine."

"No, you're not." Petra brushed a few strands of red hair out of her eyes, still staring at Jace in concern. "I saw how you reacted when Reuben... well, you know."

Did she really have to remind him? His chest tightened painfully, a spear of pain driving through his chest at the accidental reminder.

"It's not nearly as bad as how Jesse reacted, but..." Petra paused, shaking her head a bit as she stared at Jace. "... you can't just be _okay_ after that."

Jace shrugged again. It was barely more than a twitch of the shoulders. "Well, I'm just fine," he replied, stubbornly.

Jace was optimistic and cheerful most of the time, but he was also the type of person to dig his heels in.

Thank Notch Petra was just as stubborn.

"Are you?" she snapped back, actually making Jace flinch in surprise. "You just broke down into tears back in the living room. You just watched one of your best friends _die._ There's no way you're 'just fine' after that." The gentle tone was completely gone, her 'just fine' outlined in air quotes and nearly dripping with sarcasm.

"If you don't mind my saying so, Petra, I'd rather not talk about it," Jace responded dully.

He internally winced at how _formal_ he sounded, but Petra should've known that he just didn't want to discuss this. Every minute his eyes closed, he could see Reuben- Reuben's horribly pale body, the sad look on his pig's face, the way Reuben tried to move- tried to comfort him... and just couldn't.

"I _do_ mind your saying so. And we're not leaving this hallway until we talk about it," Petra snapped, stepping forward so sharply that Jace flinched again. It looked as though she might try to slap him to his senses as she raised her hand again, eyes hard with something that he couldn't identify. Anger? Irritation?

Instead of slapping him, like he'd expected, she cupped his face with surprising gentleness, making him aware that something wet was coming down his face. She pulled her hand away and held it up for him to see, gleaming tears glittering on her fingertips.

He hadn't even realized that he was starting to cry again.

Petra's sharp gaze softened, and she reached out and cupped his face again. "We're not letting him die in our time, Jace. We're not letting _anyone_ die. And you're not doing this alone." She stepped a little closer, reaching out with her other hand. "You don't deserve to do this alone."

The pain in Jace's chest doubled back, and he let out a little gasp, his fists clenching as tears welled up in his eyes. Petra stepped a little closer again and leaned her forehead forward, letting it gently rest against his. "We're here for you, Jace," she told him quietly. She paused for a moment, before telling him firmly, " _I'm_ here for you."

A sob came out of Jace's mouth, quite unbidden. His shoulders started shaking as more and more began to sneak their way past his mental wall, and he raised his arms automatically.

Petra released his face and pulled him into a tight hug, the shorter male's face buried in her shoulder as his arms wrapped around her. He let out a sob again, squeezing his eyes shut into the comforting darkness her shoulder provided for him.

Petra didn't do anything except tighten her grip on the mocha-haired boy. Slowly, she leaned against the wall, and let herself slowly slide to the ground, the shorter male folding up on himself as well. But she didn't say anything.

She didn't have to.

She just let him cry.

* * *

Jesse wasn't sure how long it was from when everything had gone dark. But when she came to, she was a bit surprised- pleasantly so, actually- to find that she was comfortable and warm. She wanted nothing more than to just stay asleep.

And then she remembered exactly why the last thing she'd seen before everything had gone dark was Ivor's face, and her heart sank.

She mumbled and came to a slow sitting position, rubbing her eyes tiredly. An oinking sound rang out, and Jesse blinked before looking down to see Reuben nudging Jesse, tilting his head back so he could look at her clearly with those brown eyes.

"Jesse?" The black-haired girl's head looked up from Reuben to see someone else sitting right on the edge of the bed. Honestly, it was a bit of a surprise that she hadn't spotted him immediately. "Hey, you awake?"

Jesse nodded at Lukas, giving him a small smile. "Yeah, I'm up." She spotted something else sitting on her bedside table- a potion bottle with a teal-green substance inside. It looked a bit like colored shaving cream, honestly- and pointed at it. "What's that?"

Lukas took it and uncorked it, holding it out to Jesse. "Ivor made it. It's something for..." He paused, before gesturing at her. "Well... you know. Your back."

Jesse's heart sank even further.

So they knew, now.

Pretending it wasn't really bothering her, she reached out and took the bottle, giving him a faint smile. "Oh. I see." Tilting the bottle back, she let the substance pour down her throat. The initial taste was a bit sweet and a bit sour, but then it gave way to a more lemony taste than before.

Out of the corner of her eyes, she could see Lukas staring at her as she swallowed the potion and set the bottle back on her bedside table, but she was careful to directly avoid his gaze for a bit. When she could no longer do so, she looked up at Lukas and gave him a faint smile again, about to open her mouth and say something- anything- when he interrupted. "Jesse, are you okay?"

She paused, nodded, and was about to give her usual answer when he reached out and laid his hand on her wrist, staring into her eyes in concern. "Please... please don't lie."

Jesse sat there for a moment, her smile still on her face, before it faded away.

She could've lied to him, of course. She could've done the same thing she'd done to a thousand people before who'd asked, nodding and telling them she was fine, or pretending to be happy when she was really breaking inside.

But she couldn't, for some reason.

Not this time.

Not with Lukas.

"Well..." She paused for a few moments, before finally finishing, "No. I'm not. But... it's okay."

Lukas's hand tightened, closing on her wrist, accidentally making Jesse flinch a bit.

"Who did this to you?" he asked, his voice having dropped a bit in both volume and pitch. It was actually a little frightening, to see the usually mild blonde staring at her so intensely.

"... ah... my dad beats me," Jesse spoke dully, glancing away from Lukas.

Lukas's hand tightened again, squeezing her wrist. She chanced a look at him. The blonde was practically glaring at her now, so she dropped her gaze back to the bed awkwardly. There was a long silence. "Why?"

"... he... blames me for my mother dying. Says it's my fault. I... honestly don't know if it is or not," she told him, honestly. There wasn't any point in hiding it from Lukas. If she tried, he would just keep trying until he finally wheedled the truth out of her. "But he blames me for it."

"... jeez..." And Jesse found herself being pulled into a tight hug. The moment she'd just gotten used to this fact, he'd released her again and was holding her at arms' length, hands tight on her shoulders as his blue eyes searched hers. "Why didn't you tell anybody? A family member, a-a friend, someone- _anyone._ "

Jesse stared at him for a long minute, before glancing away again. "... I'm sure people don't want to hear about my problems. And... I... don't really have friends."

She paused for a moment, pretending not to notice the confused look in Lukas's eyes. He was just about to open his mouth and say something, when she interjected again, having remembered something. "Well- I did have one friend. His name was Chris," she said, eyes softening as she remembered. "He was one of the people who was willing to come anywhere near me."

She spotted the blonde's questioning look in her peripheral vision, and shrugged a bit. "People thought I was a troublemaker. I'd always come to school with dirty clothes, or looking beat-up, or I'd miss school altogether. And my dad told everyone I was, just to take my punishment a step further."

"And people believed him?" Lukas interrupted her, although it seemed to be more impulse than anything.

Jesse gave him a faint smile, even though what she was talking about was no smiling matter. "Well, I never said anything to the contrary, because if I did, I'd just get punished even worse. Besides," and she gave him a shrug, although it was really only more of a twitch of the shoulders. "Adults tend to believe other adults. They're not so quick to believe children."

"So parents just kept their kids away from me, and as we got older... people just stayed away from me, anyway." She paused again, before continuing slowly, a faint smile beginning to play over her mouth, "But Chris didn't mind that. He was kind of like me, I guess. A bit of an outcast..." Her smile faded as she remembered more about Chris. And as she remembered exactly why she'd tried to forget him.

Lukas waited for her to continue. When she didn't, he gently prompted, "So... what happened to him?"

Jesse closed her eyes. It was easier to deal with the painful feeling manifesting in her stomach and heart in the dark. "He died."

The bed creaked violently and there was the explosive sound of shattering glass. Jesse's eyes flew wide open to see what had happened.

Lukas and Reuben were both staring at the potion bottle that Lukas had knocked onto the floor in shock- or anger- or- well- _something._ The blonde's blue eyes slowly moved from the potion bottle back to Jesse, still wide with shock. "What?" he asked her, in a whisper.

Jesse sighed, slumping back into her pillows, staring into her lap aimlessly. "Chris got bullied a lot already, and he got a lot of flak for being friends with me from family and friends. They were good people, so... I guess they didn't want to see their kid hanging out with the town misfit. A few of the bullies started focusing all of their attention on him, and I didn't know anything about it. He'd hide it from me whenever I got to see him." Deep breath in. Deep breath out. "So, I guess it got to be a bit too much, and he... jumped off of a bridge and..."

Lukas reached out and took her hands, making her blink and look up.

She hadn't even realized her hands had started shaking until he'd grabbed ahold of them.

"Is that why you reacted that way when..." Lukas trailed off, glancing at Reuben awkwardly.

She got the gist of what he meant. "Yeah... and why I'll do anything for my friends. I've only ever had one friend, so... I thought to myself, 'If I ever have friends, I'm going to protect them with everything I've got'..." A lump formed in Jesse's throat, one that swallowing just made worse. "If I'm going to die, I'm going to die protecting for my precious friends."

There was a long silence in the room, Lukas's hands still steadying her trembling ones as he stared at her and the black-haired girl carefully avoided his gaze. Finally, Jesse said, in a quiet voice, "So... I guess you know now."

"Know what?"

Jesse glanced at Lukas from where she was still sitting. No, he wasn't teasing or making fun of her. He was genuinely confused.

"That I'm a freak. I'm no good for anything... I just cause trouble for everyone and everything." Tears clouded her vision, and she dropped her eyes from Lukas. "I even killed someone..."

Lukas's hand reached out and grabbed ahold of her shoulders, making her look back at Lukas in surprise as he dragged her upright into a suggestion. "Don't say that."

"Why not? It's true, isn't it-?"

He dragged her even closer, Jesse's eyes flying open even wider-

His lips made contact with her forehead.

Reuben let out a squeal as the two of them sat like that, Lukas's hands tight on her upper arms and Jesse's eyes wide as she stared at a stray thread on his leather jacket, feeling warmth creep into her cheeks.

Finally, Lukas gently pushed her away, his own cheeks rather pink and his blue eyes fixated on her lap. "None of that's your fault. None of that's true. Don't _ever_ say that again. You don't have to do this alone. You don't _deserve_ to do that alone."

Jesse stared at him, mouth open slightly.

She felt tears spring into her eyes, and the next thing she said came out in a sob.

Lukas pulled her into a hug, her face buried in his shoulder, and the black-haired girl crumpled completely.

For a long time afterwards, the two of them were intertwined in a tight hug, Jesse just crying her heart out and Lukas keeping his arms around her while Reuben watched, although at a respective distance.

She hadn't known how much she needed this until she'd gotten it.

* * *

 **A/N: LUKESSE AND JETRA (or Jactra, depending on how nitpicky you're being with the ship names) FINALLY DO A THING! (And no, it's not that thing.) And Jetra has less of a thing than Lukesse.**

 **I tried xD**

 **Ugh. I don't think I did a very good job on this chapter. Hnnngggh. (flops over)**

 **Well, anyway, next chapter we return to watching the episode!**

 **Kaos Ruin: (cracks up) Really? Well, tell them thank you! Also, if you don't mind my asking, what's your job?**

 **Emily The Avenger: It may have just gotten even more intense...**

 **Nutmeg: (hugs back) Yeah...**

 **S4SH4L4SH4theGaMeR101: Shhh, don't spoil it for other people who may or may not have read Hybrid yet! xD / Thanks for the waffle!**

 **Meow Shadow: I'd stay there too, tbh xD / Ahh, I see. / And you find out here!**

 **LunarStarsMoons: (points) Here, have the Lukesse fluff xD**

 **the indecisive bird: Dude, I've played it over 12 times xD I've had the game since it first came out in 2015. xD xD xD / No spoilers~**

 **CrystalTearsofFaith: (dives under desk) I'M SORRY**

 **NinaNaranja: Well, I'm glad to see you're excited xD**

 **LittleAngelbun: (flails with you)**

 **sailor . mikuchan: That's quite accurate, unfortunately xD**

 **J.M.M.: Mmm, I might. / x3**

 **RapidSammi: (Backs away nervously)**

 **AquaK13: (scratches head) (looks at chapter and back to you)**

 **Rabbits rule: Uhh, yep. (points) / (awkwardly hides)**

 **Darkbeast Dend: (smiles and nods)**

 **homeworkoverload: (laughs) I'll see if my parents have time to take me.**

 **... guys.**

 **We have officially broken Hybrid's record on reviews.**

 **How-**

 **Why-**

 **When-**

 **Guys, seriously, thank you. You have no idea how much writing this story and seeing that people like my work means to me. I almost stood up in the middle of Chinese class this morning and cheered at the top of my lungs. Thank you all _so_ much!**

 **x.X. A.L. X.x**


	78. The Hybrid Order of the Stone

Jesse and Lukas sat like that for ages, his arms still wrapped around the girl, before they finally pulled apart.

"S-sorry about getting your shirt wet," Jesse said, using the long sleeve of her pajama top to mop at her face.

"Don't ever apologize about something like that," Lukas replied, raising his eyebrow at her a bit and faintly smiling at her to take the bite out of his words.

She returned it, sniffling once and wiping away some more tears, before blinking and looking down at her pajama sleeve. A blush began to spread over her face as she stared at it. "E-er... did you... uh..."

Lukas stared at Jesse for a moment, before his own face began to turn pink, pink pigment pumping through his cheeks rapidly. "Oh... n-no, P-Petra and Olivia changed you out of your clothes... I guess it's more comfortable sleeping in a set of pajamas than in some denim overalls. Haha," and he rubbed the back of his head awkwardly, trying valiantly to ignore the blush on his face.

Jesse relaxed, a faintly relieved look coming over her face. "Ah. I see."

There was another pause, before Lukas tentatively said, glancing at the door, "Well, we're going to have to watch the rest of the episode... I-if it makes you too uncomfortable, you can sit it out-?"

"No, I- I have to see what the aftermath is," Jesse said urgently, getting up out of bed (but being careful not to knock Reuben off the bed). "I'll be fine."

"You sure?" Lukas asked, reaching out and giving her shoulder a squeeze.

"Y-yeah," she replied, going over to where the girls had folded her clothes neatly as Reuben hopped down from the bed, trotting after her with an oink.

Lukas waited for a moment, before gently lifting his hand off her shoulder and giving her an encouraging smile. "Okay. Do you want to change, or-?"

"No, not really, these pajamas are _really_ comfy," Jesse joked, making Lukas laugh a bit out of surprise and a bit out of relief. At least Jesse had recovered enough to be able to joke. "But at the same time, I'm not sure how comfortable I am letting them see my pajamas... so I guess I'll change out of 'em for now. You can go up ahead and let everyone know I'm doing better now." She paused. "By the time, do you know what time it is?"

Lukas checked his watch, eyes widening slightly. "Uh... wow, it's only about 7 or so. Depending on how long the episode is, we still have to eat dinner... and then depending if our plans have changed, I think we're going to be poking around this place in the morning." He couldn't believe that things could just go so... _normally_.

It felt like centuries ago that they'd made their plans.

"Oh yeah, nearly forgot about that," Jesse hummed, picking up her pile of clothes. "Well, you go hammer out the details with everyone else." She smiled at him again.

Lukas paused, staring at Jesse, before moving forward and putting his arms around her again.

The black-haired girl paused, a bit tensed up from where she was being held in his hug, before relaxing into it a bit. There were a few long moments where they stayed like that, before Jesse pulled away and gave Lukas a faint grin. "You go ahead, okay." She leaned down and fondled Reuben's ears, a faintly happier look coming over Jesse's face. "And _you_ can stay with me if you'd like, buddy."

Reuben let out a cheerful oink, and Lukas grinned at that. "Alright. I'll head out, then. See ya in a minute!"

And he shut the door on his way out.

* * *

Lukas felt his face burn with embarrassment the moment the door shut. He started for the living room, trying to steady his breathing as he went.

He couldn't believe that he'd nearly _kissed_ Jesse...

Had she been any taller, it would've been hard to avoid accidentally pulling her straight into a kiss, but thankfully she was quite petite, so he was able to divert his 'path' to her forehead.

Still. That could've gone wrong in _so_ many more ways that it was a wonder that it _hadn't._

He was standing in front of the living room doors before he'd realized he was even there. Taking a deep breath to calm himself, he pulled open the door.

Everyone looked up from their individual conversations to see the blonde making his way inside. Jace was sitting on the floor still, and Lukas was relieved to see that the mocha-haired male had recovered from the shock enough to be apparently holding a conversation with Olivia, Axel, and Petra.

Ivor turned to see Lukas, dark blue eyes burning with such intensity that the blonde had to check himself from shrinking away. "Did she tell you how she- you know?" the black-haired man asked, urgently.

"U-um, yeah," and Lukas recounted a very quick summary of the events. The audience's faces showed everything from horror to sorrow to sympathy to anger by the time he'd finished.

"She went through all..." Jace put a hand to his mouth, horror written over his expression. "Holy _crap_ , no wonder she reacted as bad as she did..."

Ivor said nothing, just glanced away with a rather sorrowful expression on his face. "..."

Mevia gave her head a shake, a faintly sympathetic look fixed on her face. (Otto was staring at Mevia as if she'd sprouted a second head or something.) "That's... terrible," she said at last, albeit in a rather matter-of-fact voice that several members of the audience shot her a look at.

"Her dad did _what?!_ " Petra seethed, eyes practically aflame with fury (Axel nervously edged away from the redhead a bit). "I swear, if I ever meet him, I'm going to shove my pickaxe up his-"

"Shove your pickaxe up whose- what?" Jesse asked, as she stepped through the door. Lukas jumped a bit in surprise. Quickly, everyone composed their faces into a more natural or casual look, hoping that she didn't notice the change.

Thankfully, she didn't seem to.

"Oh- Jesse- it's nothing," Petra spluttered, trying to cover for it. "H-how are you doing?"

Jesse leaned down and fondled Reuben's ears a bit, giving the audience a faint smile. "Not too good. Better now that I've told someone. Let's just get this over with," and she plopped down on the floor next to Jace.

There was a long pause, before everyone carefully changed their position so they were facing the screen again, a huge pause button blocking out most of the screen.

No one moved towards the thin gray rectangle that had the play button on it.

No one wanted to be the one to pick up the remote.

Finally, Hadrian made an irritated grunting sound and leaned forward, grabbing ahold of the remote and nearly _slapping_ the button before tossing it back onto the coffee table, where it clattered noisily but didn't break (thankfully).

The screen loaded for a moment, before coming back to life.

Reuben disappeared in a puff of smoke, replaced by a single pork chop, hovering a little above the ground.

Everyone chanced a glance at the two. Jace's hands were fists on his knees, and Jesse's eyes were suspiciously liquid. However, neither of them started crying again.

Reuben nudged his way next to them and poked them, making both of them look down at the little pig and give him a little pat, both of them faintly smiling down at the pig.

Onscreen, Jesse slowly reached out and took ahold of the pork chop, staring down at it with more tears flowing down her face as she simply blinked, sending a cascade of the salty tears down her cheeks.

A hand gently placed itself on her shoulder. The girl probably usually would've started a bit out of surprise, but right now she just looked too miserable to do anything except just sit there. " _Jesse,_ " Lukas said quietly. " _I am..._ " A pause. " _I am so,_ so _sorry._ "

Jesse's head dropped as she hugged the pork chop to her chest, a sniffle making its way out of her mouth as her shoulders started shaking, more and more tears going down her face. Lukas dropped to his knees in front of the girl, and put his arms around her in a tight hug as well. Olivia dropped to her knees and put her arms around the girl as well, and then Axel put his arms around the whole group, tightening his grip.

And for a few more moments, as the screen zoomed out to show people that must've been trapped in the Witherstorm slowly walking forward to watch them, and Ivor, and Magnus, and Gabriel and Soren, and then the three Ocelots, staring at the four hybrids in their intertwined hug.

Maya's hands tightened in her lap. "Notch," she muttered, staring at the screen with a dreadful expression on her face. "That must be horrible..."

Slowly, the screen went dark, coming back to show the words ' _ONE WEEK LATER_ ' emblazoned across the screen. It faded again to show a portrait of Reuben, the screen gradually zooming out to show that it was a monument with Reuben's name written under the portrait, and flowers and saplings surrounding the base of it.

Reuben whined, nuzzling into the two Jesses, as both thanks and seeking comfort. They gave it, Jesse's hands going to his ears and fondling them, and Jace's hands rubbing Reuben down gently.

Jesse took a deep breath onscreen, her hands stuffed into her pockets, seeming not to notice Ivor, Magnus, Gabriel, Soren, Ellegaard, Petra, Olivia, and Axel just behind her. After another moment passed, she turned around and gave Axel a sad sort of smile.

He returned it, reaching out and giving her shoulder a squeeze. Her eyes glazed over a bit, and the smile turned into a slightly forced one of pain.

Axel shot Real-Jesse a sheepish grin as she shot him a faint grin and a raised eyebrow.

Cheers erupted from a massive crowd behind them, and the four of them - Petra, Axel, Olivia, and Jesse- made their way through the crowd, Jesse and Olivia sharing a shrug and a shy smile, Petra squeezing Jesse's shoulder as they kept walking, Axel waving a bit, and Jesse shyly waving at a few people in the crowd as they walked towards a stage. The screen zoomed out slightly to show that there was a fire lit on top of Reuben's monument.

"Wait, where's Lukas?" Maya wondered, eyes narrowing.

Her question was answered a few seconds later as the screen switched to show Lukas standing in the crowd with the other Ocelots. Jesse hopped up a bit and waved at him, smiling. It was a bit of a sad smile, but at least she was smiling.

Lukas waved back, ears and tail flicking happily. The other Ocelots glanced at Lukas's tail, his ears, his blue-green eyes, before turning their gaze away.

Gill's grin faded a bit. "I... wonder what that was about."

"Why's Lukas not up there with us? He helped," Jesse wondered, scratching her chin thoughtfully.

Lukas shrugged noncommittally. "I'm sure it'll be explained later."

"Yeah, he probably just got stage fright," Petra joked, grinning at the blonde.

He punched her on the shoulder.

Jesse and the others climbed up onto the stage, the black-haired girl walking straight up to Gabriel.

Gabriel gave the spider hybrid a sad smile, before leaning forward and whispering to the girl, " _People used to look at me like that once, Jesse. Having my memory restored has both been a blessing... and a curse. Perhaps they deserve to know the truth about the Order._ "

"About time," Ivor murmured. Soren shot a look in his direction.

" _Yes, all those lies we've told them..._ " Soren was standing nearby with Magnus and Ellegaard. Ivor was standing at the back of the stage, away from the rest of the Order. " _Perhaps we should come clean?_ " the architect finished, weakly.

Jesse gave the crowd the quickest glance, before nodding at the Order. " _You're right. They do deserve to know,_ " she replied, in a low voice.

The four Order members exchanged anxious glances, before they nodded in unison and walked to the edge of the stage together. Jesse stepped back a few steps, all of her hands twisting together anxiously as Gabriel hesitantly began speaking.

" _We all owe a great debt to Jesse and her friends,_ " Gabriel began.

Soren picked up the statement, " _But we owe a debt to you people as well. Which is why..._ " His voice petered out, the two friends exchanging nervous glances. Ellegaard picked up, " _Which is why we need to tell you something. About the Order._ "

The four of them all swivelled to look back at Ivor, whose arms were crossed. Slowly, his head dipped in a nod, a slight, encouraging smile coming over his face.

Magnus slowly took up the 'speech', "The Order of the Stone... isn't what you guys all thought it was."

"Wow, who knew you could be serious?" Ellegaard hummed, watching the screen.

Magnus put the redstone engineer in a playful headlock, making several of the occupants of the room roll their eyes and then turn away to hide their grins.

Gabriel looked at the floor, face darkening in shame. " _We were... frauds. We used the Command Block to falsify our legacy."_

Cries of shock and rage erupted throughout the crowd, as Soren finished quietly, " _We were no heroes._ "

"So, guess that's that," Magnus sighed, letting go of Ellegaard and leaning back.

"Well, you did get rid of the Ender Dragon. Just not in the way you said," Jesse pointed out, giving another shrug. "I might be a bit disappointed in you guys for lying. But I don't hate you or anything."

The Order members all smiled at Jesse gratefully. She smiled back, although it was still a bit faint.

" _So, it's time for the world to celebrate new heroes,_ " Ellegaard picked up again, "real _heroes._ "

There was a perfect, deafening silence. The butcher put his hands on his hips. Nohr, from Boom Town, sent them a sour look. No one cheered, or booed, or even shouted anything at them. It was just silent.

Jesse suddenly spoke up, making everyone's attention snap to her, " _Well, they_ did _do one thing to help_ us _out._ " She gestured at her friends. " _To help defeat the Witherstorm, which honestly, wouldn't have been possible if they hadn't done this one thing._ "

Sparklez hummed curiously. "What's that?"

Onscreen, the Order all exchanged confused glances. Soren shrugged, and Gabriel shook his head helplessly, as if to say that they had no idea, before turning to stare at Jesse patiently.

A smile twitched into place at the edge of Jesse's mouth. " _They were the reason we managed to escape the lab._ "

" _We have to know what happened to them!_ " A kid's voice burst out angrily onscreen, making several members of the audience jump (Mevia nearly ended up in Hadrian's lap).

The screen switched to show young Lukas pacing the floor, before stopping to cross his arms and glare at Axel. His tail was bushy, and his ears were flattened back. It was pretty clear, even to a casual observer, that Lukas was _pissed._ " _We can't just sit in here and just_ wait _for them!_ "

" _I'm not_ saying _we should do that!_ " Axel argued back, a hiss clearly audible in his voice as he glared at the ocelot hybrid. " _But then what can we do? We can hardly just- I dunno- blow up the wall and run away!_ "

Young-Jesse interjected, spreading out her six arms. " _Actually, we've never tried that. And with us being hybrids... well, it can't be_ that _hard to run away. Besides! We can just use our abilities!_ "

There was a short silence, all of the hybrids looking at one another as if they were expecting a different idea.

" _Well..._ " Petra spoke slowly, tilting her head to one side, gold eyes narrowing thoughtfully, " _that's true. We've never actually_ tried _running away._ "

Jesse nodded vigorously, making her short, fluffy black locks fly around. " _And what if they need help or something? We can't just leave them behind!_ "

"It's a bit of a weak reason," Ellegaard mused. "I mean, at this point in time, there probably wasn't that much you can all do to help us out... but it's a reason."

"Jesse probably has a bit of an external reason- she probably wants to go track down Ivor," Soren noted, pointing at Jesse.

Olivia nodded herself, curls bouncing around. " _Yeah, we have to go find them!_ "

Jesse looked around at the rest of the hybrids. " _So we escape tonight. Everyone who agrees says 'aye'!"_

There was a resounding 'aye' from the other hybrids, all of them putting their hands into the air and waving it.

The screen switched back to Jesse onstage, reaching out and putting a hand on Soren's shoulder. " _Without their befriending us, and without the time they spent with us, we wouldn't have cared enough to_ want _to leave- no offense,_ " she added, shooting the Order a quick grin. They returned it sheepishly. " _So for that, at least, I applaud them._ " She lifted one hand and shot a strand of string, the silk slamming into place around Ivor's wrist. The man blinked down at it, before she retracted it with a flick and literally _dragged_ him across the stage to the front. "All _of them,_ " and she gave Ivor a grin.

Ivor huffed a bit as several members of the audience tittered a bit, being careful to hide the spreading smile on his face.

There was a grudging round of applause from the crowd at that, before the Order gave Jesse grateful smiles and walked off again, the cheers growing louder as Jesse nervously stepped forward. " _Um, I know you think I'm up here because I saved the world. But- the truth is, I couldn't have done it alone. I had my friends with me,_ " and she gestured at them. " _My_ best _friends,_ " and she gave them a grin which all of them returned.

"Aww, ya big sap!" Petra joked, reaching over and giving Jesse a noogie. Jesse ducked out of the way with a giggle.

" _Axel... Olivia... Petra..._ " Jesse saluted playfully to the ocelot hybrid standing in the crowd, who rolled his eyes and returned the salute, " _Lukas... they all stood by my side, right from the start._ " She paused for a moment in thought. " _And they made fun of me, when I deserved it,_ " she laughed a bit, " _but that's just how we are._ "

" _Darn right we are!_ " Axel grinned and nodded.

" _And it's... crazy, to think that my friends and I started out in a_ treehouse, _not even knowing what we really were... and now look!_ " She spread all six arms out, a smile forming on her face, " _we've been to some of the weirdest places in the world!_ "

"Yeah, we went to the Nether-" Petra began.

"Then Boom Town-" Axel picked up.

"- and Redstonia- not that it's _weird_ -" Olivia quickly said, her cheeks flushing pink when Ellegaard just gave a warm laugh at the accidental insult.

"- The End-" Lukas noted.

"And the Far Lands," Jesse finished up the list.

" _I mean,_ " Jesse shook her head with a laugh, " _we went to the_ Far Lands!" The crowd started cheering again. " _There was this huge_ wall, _and this crazy maze, and- well, you just... kinda had to be there,_ " and she smiled at her friends again. Once again, they returned it.

" _And, yeah, we're hybrids. But... in the end, it's the exact thing that saved our lives, over and over again, and the world,_ " Jesse added, giving her extra arms a glance, before her smile faded a bit. Her lowest set of arms went to her hips, the middle set crossed over her midriff, and she hugged the elbows on her upper set. " _In the end, though... what really mattered the most to me was Reuben. He was probably just a pig to... most of the people here,_ " she nodded a bit at the crowd, " _but... he was one of my best friends. He was so much more."_ She took a deep breath, before shaking her head and saying softly, but still audibly, " _And in the end, he's the one who helped me save the world._ "

A clap.

Jesse and Jace looked around at Lukas, who was slowly starting to clap, a small smile on his lips. Petra joined in, then Axel, and Olivia, and then Maya and Gill, and soon the whole audience was applauding the little pig. Even Aiden was clapping a bit, shaking his head with a strange smile, and Hadrian and Mevia, and Em and Nell and- well, the whole room was echoing with applause. Jace paused in his applause to hold Reuben into the air, the little pig letting out a cheerful squeal at this.

Onscreen, Jesse raised a single hand in the air, letting all of her arms drop except for that one, and pumped it once with a small smile. " _For Reuben!_ "

The crowd erupted in cheers, making Jesse wince with a small smile as she covered one ear. The rest of the Order came back on stage, Gabriel and Magnus exchanging a conspirational grin, before Magnus came forward and held out a shining, purple-gold star that gleamed dangerously. " _Jesse,_ " he spoke dramatically, " _this is the Nether Star that dropped when the Witherstorm was destroyed._ "

Ellegaard gave her eyes a slight roll. " _Nice narrator voice,_ " she told him softly as Jesse carefully took the star.

Magnus grinned. " _Thank you,_ " he whispered back, dropping the dramatic voice, before raising his voice again, " _You wanna do the honors?_ " And he gestured at a huge structure made of iron, gold, and obsidian just behind her.

"What _is_ that?" Petra mused.

Stepping forward to the dark blue block in the center of the structure, she carefully set the Nether Star down. She quickly backed up as the star started spinning, faster and faster, before eight stained-glass blocks burst into glowing light, sending beams of red, green, white, turquoise, and dark blue soaring into the sky. Gasps of amazement came from the audience, Stampy leaning forward with sparkling eyes and Cassie giving her head an impressed shake.

" _Whoa!_ " Gill grinned. "That looks _awesome!_ "

"Can't wait to see that in real life," Axel grinned.

Gabriel pulled the amulet out, Jesse blinking at it before back up at Gabriel. " _Did Soren and Ellegaard finish the thing they wanted to do with it?_ " she asked, quietly.

A smirk spread over the warrior's face. " _My friends,_ " he announced loudly, ignoring Jesse's question, " _I am proud to introduce to you..._ "

"Is he going to do what I think he's going to do?" Dan asked, eyes widening. "He's gonna do what I think he's gonna do, right?"

"What do you think he's going to do?"

Gabriel placed the amulet into Jesse's hands, and immediately it lit up brighter than stars in the night sky in her hands, making Jesse step back a moment in shock as the amulet glowed brightly, " _The new Hybrid Order of the Stone!_ "

The audience gasped.

"That's radical, dudes!" Nell exclaimed, whipping around to see the group sitting on the floor and blinking at the screen in total bemusement.

" _We_ ," Olivia spoke slowly, staring at the screen in shock, "get to be in the _Order of the Stone?_ "

"Awesome!" Axel exclaimed, high-fiving everyone on the floor. Lukas patted Jesse on the back gently.

"Congrats, guys."

Petra frowned a bit. "I wonder why you weren't up there with us. You _did_ help us out," she said, slowly.

Lukas shrugged. "Well, adventuring's not really my strong suit. Besides," and he shot Aiden, Gill and Maya a faint smile, "I'm already an Ocelot."

The three of them shot up straight in their seats, before they exchanged a quick glance- the first time they'd made eye contact in a while.

The crowd cheered onscreen again. Jesse's voice came onscreen again, even as she smiled at the crowd. " _Tomorrow's a new day. And it might be a bit harder going through it without Reuben. But... I think I'll be ready for whatever it throws at me._ "

Jesse's lowest set of hands went into her pockets, her smile fading again as her eyes flickered down.

" _... just as soon as I go do this._ "

The screen faded to black.

"Do what?" Maya mused, squinting at the screen a bit. "Jesse, what are you going to go do?"

Everyone looked at the black-haired girl.

Jesse just shrugged a bit, looking a bit bemused by the whole affair herself. "How am I supposed to know?"

* * *

 **A/N: Oh boy. The feels train pretty much went away this chapter, but you guys better be ready for it to come back next chapter.**

 **Episode 5 is undergoing the most plot changes from the actual Hybrid story. Also, some dialogue changes. Just be forewarned.**

 **Also, note to myself: grab that notebook with all of my story ideas and planning and stuff out of my Chinese school backpack...**

 **RQTC: How badly do you all procrastinate?**

 **Terribly. I don't know when my habit of procrastinating started, but it's really debilitating now.**

 **S4SH4L4SH4theGaMeR101: (laughs) Glad to see you liked the chapter.**

 **NinaNaranja: Ahh I'm sorry / (laughs) PARTY! And thanks, Nina!**

 **Emily The Avenger: I'M SORRY (dives under the desk) (bangs my head) Ow**

 **AquaK13: Thanks! :3 / (blushes) That was... a lot harder to write than I was expecting, to be honest. / (laughs) Yes, yes he did. / Thanks, dude! It's no problem, I don't need congratulations- I just need to know that you all enjoy my story.**

 **Nefera: Thank you! I don't think I've ever met you- in which case, welcome to the HCM story! Thanks again!**

 **J.M.M.: :3**

 **LittleAngelbun: I'M SORRY I'M MAKING PEOPLE CRY**

 **LunarStarsMoons: (laughs) / Yeah, all of the fluff xD**

 **SofiaTheWriter88: It really _was_ hard, it took me forever to write and figure out what to say xD / Thank you! I'm glad to hear you like it so much. / (blushes) Depending on how old you are, I might be your sempai/senpai then xD**

 **Beli0304: (laughs) Yep. / Thanks!**

 **homeworkoverload: (laughs) I update really, really fast unless something comes up in my life. / I've tried to stick it in, but I AIN'T GOOD AT IT xD / (whistles) Yeah, that'll be interesting.**

 **the indecisive bird: Thanks! / Oh, I had the general backstory up. I just had no idea how to write it, I've never written anything as dark as child abuse. xD So I really didn't know what I was doing there xD**

 **Meow Shadow: (laughs) I love sliced bread. / Yeah... / (laughs) I hope so too! And thanks! / (blinks) Ummm... I call snickerdoodles, I guess. xD**

 **RapidSammi: (gives you a cookie) I'M SORRY SAMMI (dives under desk)**

 **RebekahTPE: (laughs) I'm glad you liked it. / (laughs) / SORRY! (dives under desk) (bangs head) ouch. / I'd rather be a vampire. I have no idea why, though xD**

 **Darkbeast Dend: (laughs) / Thanks!**

 **CrystalTearsofFaith: (laughs) Well, I'm glad the Lukesse and Jetra cheered you up a bit... if it did... xD**

 **Rabbits rule: (sheepishly sidles off) / He is _just_ an old friend. No quotation marks around it. They were around 13 when he died, and had been friends since they were 7. **

**Kaos Ruin: Ahh, cool. (thumbs up)**

 **x.X. A.L. X.x**


	79. In Which A Lot of Shouting Happens

The screen came back on to show Jesse walking quietly through the woods, her hands in her pockets.

After a few seconds of this, she suddenly came to a halt, backtracked three steps, leaned down to pick up a stick and moved aside some of the ivy, stepping through it cautiously, before going down some rocks and coming to a stop in a clearing.

The audience all gasped a bit. The clearing was beautiful. There was a waterfall that was about three times in-game Olivia's height, and knowing that height, that made the waterfall pretty damn huge- with clear, clean blue water that flowed into a spring, surrounded by trees that almost completely hid the clearing from view, except for some sunlight that filtered through the leaves.

Petra noticed Jace's expression growing more solemn as he stared at the screen. "Jace? Is something wrong?" she asked.

"What?" the mocha-haired boy asked absentmindedly, still staring at the screen. "No, nothing's wrong." But the way his eyes had started to brim with tears again said otherwise.

Jesse spoke up, making a lot of the members of the audience look at her. "In... that time, I said I met Reuben near a waterfall... is... this...?" She trailed off, seeming unsure what to say, before pointing at the screen.

Jace's head finally dipped in a nod.

Everyone's head snapped around to face the screen again. Petra's mouth formed a silent ' _oh_ '.

Onscreen, Jesse took a slow inhale of air and stared at the water quietly.

An image flashed over the screen- almost like a glitch- of Reuben lying on the ground, horribly pale. The screen switched back not a second later to show Jesse clutching at her head, panting heavily as she stared into the water, eyes wide with her hands ensnarled tightly in her hair, shaking with each rattling breath.

Lukas's arm gently tightened around Jesse.

Finally, Jesse's breathing settled, and she slowly straightened up again, hands still shaking. Carefully, she stepped into the spring, before wading further into the water, towards the waterfall. After a moment, the water was waist deep. Jesse stared blankly at the water for a second, before taking a deep breath and submerging herself in the water.

She emerged from the water in a little cave, behind the waterfall. It was a fairly shallow cave, but there was a space behind the waterfall that was dark and quiet and looked as though no one had been in it for a while. Her hair was starting to drip into her eyes, and the moment Jesse had fully climbed out of the water, she paused and looked down at herself.

"... _I'm wet._ "

No one laughed at this extremely obvious statement.

Jesse reached into her pocket again, rummaging around a bit, before pulling out a pink wool block and setting it down. After that, she took a carrot, and then a poppy, and placed it at the base of the pink wool block, staying perfectly silent for a few long moments... then-

" _I miss you, buddy..._ " she said softly, her knees pressing into hard stone and her hands resting on her knees as she stared at the block blankly, eyes looking suspiciously liquid.

A lot of sympathetic glances were shot in Jace's and Jesse's direction. The two of them did their best to ignore the glances, since they were fairly certain if they did they would start crying again.

Jesse finally pushed herself to her feet, walking forward a step and placing her hand on the pink wool block for a long moment. She stared at the block for several, long moments. " _See you later, alligator..._ " A faint, sad smile quirked over her lips, and she removed her hand before walking back into the water.

She paused right before she was about to submerge herself again, pausing and glancing over her shoulder at the pink block.

There was a long pause, before Jesse let out a slow sigh and turned back to face the front again, disappearing into the water.

A full minute later, she was climbing up the rocks again, past the ivy, turned left to head back, walked twelve paces- and then ran straight into someone.

" _Oh!_ " Jesse's eyes flew open in surprise, and the screen zoomed out to show that she'd just run straight into Lukas. " _Jesse, I-I was looking for you!_ " The ocelot hybrid smiled at her, ears twitching.

Jesse didn't return the smile- she still seemed a bit distracted.

Lukas's own smile faded, and he tentatively began, " _Um... Jesse?_ "

" _Yeah?_ " Jesse asked, sounding a bit short. This was probably not a good beginning, but if you were a good judge of behavior- or even if you _weren't_ \- it was fairly easy for all of the members of the audience to tell that Jesse's shortness was mainly from distraction.

" _Why are you wet?_ "

" _Reasons._ "

Lukas's brow furrowed a bit at the short response, but he said nothing about it. There was a long pause, before he tentatively picked up again, " _Um, so... I think the other Ocelots are mad at me._ "

Maya blinked, and twisted around to face Lukas. "Why?" she asked.

Real-Lukas shrugged, looking just as confused. "How would I know?" he replied.

There was no response from the spider hybrid. She just arched her eyebrow, the only outward sign of _emotion_ on the spider hybrid's face. The conversation was going even further downhill than before.

"I'm not sure I like how this is going," Harper murmured, low enough that only Ivor could hear her. He nodded but didn't say anything.

Lukas's brow furrowed. " _I... think they're mad at me for not going to save them._ "

"But- but you _were_ trying to save us!" Gill protested. "In a bit of a roundabout way, but if you hadn't defeated the Witherstorm, coming to rescue us might not have even _done_ anything!"

Onscreen, Lukas waited for Jesse to respond. Still nothing. Ever the patient one, Lukas continued hesitantly, " _Well, I mean, I don't really mind... I'm glad I came with you. Really I am._ " Another pause as he waited for something- _anything_ \- from Jesse.

Still nothing.

" _Jesse, is this about Reuben? Because honestly, I- I think you just need to calm down and... well, maybe... get over it-_ "

Jesse and Jace's head snapped around to see Lukas, but the blonde looked absolutely _mortified_ by what onscreen-him had just said.

Onscreen, Jesse's head snapped up, eyes beginning to turn red. " _What?_ " Her voice was dangerously low.

" _I mean-"_ Lukas furiously backpedaled and fumbled his words, obviously screwing up what he was attempting to say (it was pretty clear even to the people who didn't know him very well that he was fumbling what he was attempting to tell Jesse), " _I know he was- he was like your be-best friend, but in- in the end, he's just a pig-_ "

If Lukas had looked mortified before, he now looked as if he wanted to die on the spot.

Jesse let out an angry cry that was a strange mix of rage and sorrow. " _Do_ not _say that Reuben's just a pig! I can't believe you, Lukas!_ " she snapped.

" _I-I'm just saying,_ " Lukas backpedaled again, " _i-it's been a week, m-maybe you should start- start letting g-go-_ "

"Wow, that _is_ awfully cold of you, Lukas," Olivia said, frowning at the screen.

"That's not what I mean! I don't even know _what_ onscreen-me is trying to say anymore!" Lukas protested, flailing at the screen, still looking as if he wished to just die on the spot.

" _You want me to just 'let go' of one of my best friends?_ " Jesse wasn't quite yelling yet, but her voice was raised and getting louder and angrier by the second.

" _No, I'm_ not _saying that, I'm just saying, it's okay for you to move on-_ "

" _It's only been a week, I'm not_ ready _to move on, of all the people I could've talked to about this,_ " Jesse's voice was the loudest and the angriest any of them had ever heard her, " _I thought_ you _of all people would've gotten it-!_ "

" _I'm not_ saying _you should move on all at once, I'm just saying-_ "

" _Yeah? Well stop then, it's not your strong suit!_ " Jesse shot back immediately, eyes definitely blazing red right now.

Real-Jesse winced apologetically at Real-Lukas, who still looked as if he wanted to die on the spot from what he was saying onscreen. He returned it.

Lukas's eyebrows descended angrily. His pupils had narrowed into slits, and his tail was flicking around in agitation, the spider hybrid and the ocelot hybrid currently glowering at each other, standing barely two feet away from each other. " _Jesse, I'm just trying to help-_ "

" _THEN JUST STOP!_ " Everyone jumped. Jesse was _definitely_ yelling now, and none of the members of the audience had ever imagined that Jesse could look or sound so angry _or_ so loud, " _Just stop and go be with your friends- go be with the friends you wanted to risk your life to save, because you just **can't just tell me to MOVE ON OVER MY BEST FRIEND!** "_ And all six of her arms lifted into the air and slammed into Lukas's chest in a violent shove.

The audience gasped. Real-Jesse and Lukas exchanged a mortified glance with one another, apology written over both of their faces.

Onscreen, Lukas toppled backwards and landed on his bottom, eyes wide in surprise as he stared at Jesse.

The surprise turned to anger a moment later, eyes narrowing as he leaped to his feet. " _Fine,_ " he snapped, voice sharp with anger, " _fine! Forget I tried to help you. Forget about everything I've been doing to try to help you. Just forget it, okay?!_ " And he whirled on his heel and stormed off.

" _I will. **We don't need you, anyway!**_ " Jesse shot back, and she turned her on her own heel and bolted into the forest, running away from the spot.

"Oh..." Jesse's face was red with embarrassment now, the accidental insult to Reuben completely forgotten in her own utter mortification. "Lukas, I am so, _so_ sorry-"

"No, I mean- I shouldn't have-" Lukas looked mortified himself, his cheeks also tinted bright red. "I'm sorry, I really didn't mean to say-"

The two of them looked at each other for a moment, every apology that they wanted to say to each other written clear as day over their faces. Finally, they both nodded a bit, silently accepting the other's apology, before turning back to the screen.

Jesse was still charging through the forest, although she was finally starting to slow down. Jesse finally came to a halt, taking in a deep, shuddering breath, her angry expression melting to one of hurt. She blinked once, and a waterfall of tears started cascading down her cheeks.

She dropped into a sitting position, pulled her knees to her chest, and cried.

The screen faded to black. A minute later, the title screen came back on.

"That was..." Sparklez glanced from Jesse to Lukas to Jace. "That was..." He trailed off again. He seemed to be at a loss for words.

All of them were.

Jesse finally stood up, gently letting Lukas's arm drop off of her shoulder, dusting herself off and avoiding everyone's gazes (although Ivor was fairly certain he saw a sparkling as she dipped her head to avoid everyone's eyes), she said in a fake-light voice, "Well, we should probably eat some dinner."

There was a long pause, before she headed for the living room door, mumbling something about, "I'll prepare it, I guess..."

There was another long pause, before the audience slowly broke up, trickling through the doors and exiting the room in little trickles.

For once, none of them had _anything_ to say.

* * *

 **A/N: So... this happened. xD**

 **Next few chapters should be mostly happy fillers, if that cheers you up. xD**

 **Also, since I'm changing up some of Hybrid's events, I'm now getting headaches from trying to figure out how I want the next four episodes to go. Episodes 5 and 6 have the most changes as of right now, but Episodes 7 and 8... honestly don't have much of a change xD Most of the changes were from the end of Episode 3 to the end of Episode 6.**

 **Be glad that I'm as obsessed with writing this story as you are with reading it lol xD**

 **Emily The Avenger: Omg thanks fam x3**

 **Meow Shadow: Hyperactivity's fine xD / Annnnd here comes the 'making-people-upset' train again. xD / (laughs) I get the same feeling. / Lol same here**

 **LunarStarsMoons: (laughs) Was it really? / (shrugs) Okay. / (laughs) Yeah, looks like Mevia has some decency. Hadrian has less of it... but, y'know, he's still human.**

 **MissyMattingly: Same here tbh xD**

 **DarkPrincess2001: Yep xD**

 **Darkbeast Dend: Dragon. Dragons are awesome. xD / Thanks!**

 **AquaK13: (laughs) / I know, right x3 / Haha, I'd just loftily stroll away. Or something. xD / Yeep! / Lol xD**

 **S4SH4L4SH4theGaMeR101: (winks and grins) Your vagueness is appreciated.**

 **LittleAngelbun: (laughs)**

 **Rabbits rule: Ah. I see.**

 **LegoGirl794: 'Eyyy we have something in common x3**

 **RebekahTPE: Yep xD / Maybe more like faces of utter mortification for Maya and Gill. And maybe mild discomfort for Aiden. xD / Tree. I'm less likely to be in public xD**

 **the indecisive bird: Ahh, I see. / Yee :3 / (laughs) Yep. / Thanks!**

 **J.M.M.: I watched the theme song. It made me laugh xD**

 **RapidSammi: (gives you some more cookies)**

 **NinaNaranja: (laughs) / I don't get writer's block... but what I do get is the habit of waiting until a chapter is done to do my homework -_- / (laughs) Well, glad to see you like it!**

 **x.X. A.L. X.x**


	80. Ghostly Memories, Part 1

Dinner was a tense affair. Jesse didn't look up at anyone for the entirety of dinner, nor did she say anything except for "Could you pass the salt, please?" to Cassie, who happened to be sitting next to her.

The brooding mood she was in settled over the entire table, and people spoke to one another in whispers, if they spoke at all.

So, dinner was composed of picking at their food, silence except for whispering, and awkward looks among each other. Lukas was sitting next to Jesse on her other side, but she didn't look at him.

Not because she was mad at him or anything- he'd apologized to both Jace and Jesse at least seven times while the three of them were trying to cook (well, Jace and Lukas were trying to cook; Jesse was just cutting vegetables and things) and Ivor was setting the table.

(The actual total number was something more like thirty, but Ivor had lost count at seven.)

Jace had shrugged it off the second time, and Jesse had patted him on the back with a faint smile before resuming that moody look and going back to preparing dinner. Not that Ivor was extremely surprised- after a day like today, she was bound to be in a strange mood.

He'd gone ahead and mentioned this to Harper when she walked in, sans Olivia and Ellegaard (they were still getting cleaned up, apparently), and she'd nodded. "Yes, she's had a very stressful day. Getting punched in the face by Aiden in the morning, having some very... nasty memories dragged up, watching Reuben die... the best thing to do would just be to leave her alone."

So they had. Just letting Jesse pick at her food and stare at her plate as if it was a plateful of rocks.

After dinner, they assigned Magnus and Axel to dish duty (and then appointed Gabriel to keep an eye on the two), before all of them trickled off in their respective groups towards their rooms.

And Ivor couldn't sleep.

Insomnia was annoying at the best of times. Not to mention, Ivor had the _worst_ nightmares when he didn't have a calming potion before bed.

Also, sleep paralysis was a bastard.

Actually, no wonder he had insomnia.

Ivor usually brewed himself a calming potion before dinner, but he'd forgotten today (as he had yesterday), and he tossed and turned for half an hour after he went to his room before giving up and heading back to the kitchen.

So far, no one had bothered moving the brewing stand (which was good, because it was a heavy duty one and annoying to lug up the stairs. Actually, it was a bit of a wonder that the person who owned this house even _had_ a heavy-duty potion stand. They must _really_ like brewing potions. That's the only reason _anyone_ would have one of these. They were hard to get, too.).

Once again, he found that he wasn't the only one still up.

Jesse had come back to the dining room, sitting in one of the chairs in that set of gray pajamas and staring off into space. Her back was to Ivor, so he cleared his throat gently to signal to her that he was there.

Apparently _too_ gently, because she didn't even notice.

"Jesse?"

The black-haired girl jumped a bit again, spinning around and nearly knocking the chair over. "Oh-!"

Ivor leaped forward and grabbed the back of the chair, quickly settling it back into place so that the front legs clunked loudly into place on the ground. She sighed and leaned back a bit. "Ahh, that was a near miss. Thanks, D-" she paused, her cheeks turning faintly pink in the dim light. "- Ivor."

"You can call me that when no one else is around," Ivor replied, giving her a slight smile before going back to pull the potion stand onto the table. "Did you need one of these again?"

"Yeah, if you don't mind... Dad," Jesse said slowly, as if testing out the last word on her tongue.

Ivor gave her another faint smile and went about making the potion. "Same flavoring as last night?"

"Yes please, if you don't mind," Jesse replied, smiling faintly again.

He nodded and added the sugar and golden apple to Jesse's, before going ahead and adding some to his. He hadn't eaten candy apples in a while. Sticking both potions on the brewing stand, he leaned back and slumped into the chair with a sigh. "So... how are you doing?"

Jesse had gotten distracted, so jumped a bit when he addressed her again. "Wh-? Oh. Um, alright, I guess."

Ivor stared at her for a moment, eyes half-lidded, before one of his eyebrows arched.

Jesse blushed again, looking embarrassed. "I-I am! I know I was a bit, er, moody during dinner, but I was just kind of deep in thought."

He kept staring for a moment before simply grunting a bit and dropping his gaze. She was telling the truth- he could tell by the way she'd been making perfect eye contact with. Besides, her voice had a ring of truth to it.

The gentle clinking of potion bottles drew his attention again, and he turned around to check on the potion.

What he saw next made him bolt upright, eyes widening. He chanced a glance at Jesse to make sure he wasn't hallucinating, but her mouth was hanging open as well and her green eyes were reflecting the ghostly blue light.

Almost right _next_ to where the brewing stand was another one that was ghostly blue. The same girl who'd been in the earlier... _whatever_ it was... was the one playing with the potion stand, scratching a note into a notebook that happened to be sitting next to her as she played around with it. (Her name was Arima...? No, Ariza, that was her name.) She was wearing glasses this time, presumably to see the potion stand and the ingredients more clearly.

"Ariza? You're still up?" A boy walked into the room this time, one wearing glasses and with brown hair that had blue frosted tips. He had a creeper hoodie haphazardly pulled on.

The girl glanced at him out of the corner of her eye, although most of her attention was still focused on the potion stand. "Oh, hey Toni. What's up?" she asked, in a faintly distracted voice.

"You and me. Isn't it about time for us to head to bed?" Toni asked, pointedly.

"I'm almost done with this potion experiment," she murmured, returning her gaze to the brewing stand, staring intently at the bubbling pale gray liquid in the flask.

"Ariza, you've been 'almost done' for six hours now."

A long pause, in which Ariza's hand paused above the flask, an eyedropper dripping three drops of liquid into the gray thing.

She moved her hand again a few seconds later and tilted her head back to look Toni in the eye, a faintly surprised look on her face. "What time is it?"

"It's two o'clock in the morning," Toni responded flatly, arching his eyebrow at her.

"... is it really?" Ariza sounded faintly surprised, glancing at the nearby clock on the wall as if to try to prove Toni wrong. "... ah. I see." There was another long pause, before she went back to the potion.

Toni sounded exasperated when he spoke next. "Ariza..."

"I swear, I'm nearly done. Just twenty more minutes."

Toni put his hands on his hips in a faintly feminine manner, although his scowl was definitely more masculine. "Did you even _eat?_ "

"Don't mom me, Toni."

"I'm not _momming_ anyone, that's your job." Toni grinned a bit as he dodged the blob of old magma cream she threw at him, letting it sail harmlessly into the trash can, before dropping the smile to give the girl a more severe look. "I'm making sure you're not starving."

"Well, I'm not starving. I grabbed an apple to eat twenty minutes ago. You can go back to bed now."

Toni slapped a hand to his forehead and then dragged it down his face in irritation. "... what are you even working on that you're so insistent on finishing?"

Ariza tapped the notebook page. Toni trotted over and leaned over to get a look at the page she was on, reading it over. His eyebrows went up. "... not bad."

"See? And I think I'm onto something by using purified milk instead of just regular milk. But I don't wanna have to start the potion over again tomorrow morning, because it'll congeal if I leave it alone for too long." With that, she added another drop of something using the eyedropper. "It should only take another twenty minutes."

"... you have thirty minutes to finish this before I get you some coffee and drug it with one of your Brews of Sleeping." Toni left the room, an amused smirk quirking over Ariza's mouth as another breeze blew through the area, dispersing the particles that made them up.

There was a long silence where Ivor and Jesse were just staring at the spot where the two of them had been, before Ivor got up and went over to the heavy duty brewing stand. The potions were pretty much done by now, so he gave it another twenty seconds before pulling them off of the stand, noticing vaguely the faint breeze that gusted over him.

"That's... did that just happen?" Jesse asked softly, glancing at the dark-blue eyed man curiously, as Ivor handed her her potion and uncorked his, taking a quick sip of his and feeling his shoulders relax almost immediately from the potion.

"Yes, I think it did. It's the second time it's happened, too," Ivor added mildly, the bottle of calming potion resting in his hands.

"Oh." A long pause as Jesse processed this, sipping at her own potion. "When was the first time?"

* * *

The morning was considerably calmer than the day before. No yelling, no fighting, no getting punched in the face. The tense atmosphere from dinner had almost completely disappeared, too, Jesse coming into the kitchen where Harper and Otto had woken up early and were making breakfast and greeting them cheerfully.

Jesse had excused herself from breakfast before anyone else had finished, saying that she was going to get a head start on exploring the mansion. Breakfast lasted another twenty minutes after that, before the whole group split up to go exploring some more.

Cassie and Aiden led Soren, Ivor, Otto (who simply looked incredibly interested by this) and Lukas to the library they'd discovered the day before, Harper, Ellegaard, Stampy, and Olivia headed towards the basement towards that 'Redstone Heaven' place, and Jesse went trotting off to go explore the place on his own, Reuben happily accompanying him. Petra and Gabriel headed to the armory to do some sparring.

This left a good deal of the people with nothing to do except pop outside to go explore, or just sit around.

Which is what Hadrian and Mevia were doing.

"Well, so far being here has been... _interesting,_ hasn't it Mevia?" Hadrian mumbled, slipping back into his announcer voice by accident. It was just a habit now, he'd noticed. He just tended to slip into acting very official and sports-announcer-y. So did Mevia, for that matter.

"Indeed, Hadrian, although some of the drama is a _little_ too much," Mevia agreed, sitting on the other end of the couch extremely professionally. "I actually would prefer watching the Games. At least we know _why_ the drama is happening."

Hadrian would've replied with something along the lines of "Actually, I rather like the drama, it keeps things interesting" (but, you know, in an announcer voice), but was interrupted by a glowing, blue... _thing_ bouncing off the floor near his feet. "No..."

The two of them looked up to see a short girl with pale hair that was in a braid that went a few inches past her shoulders, hazel eyes (that was the only part of her that was not a glowing blue shade), a pair of glasses, and wearing a t-shirt, jeans, and sneakers chucking books over her shoulder.

Another girl watched from nearby, a girl with an oval face, almond-shaped brown eyes, and thick, shoulder-length brown hair. She wore a knitted sweater that was darker at the shoulders, before fading to white at the bottom. She also had gray sweatpants and leather boots on.

She also happened to be sitting directly between Hadrian and Mevia on the couch.

The two Old Builders exchanged faintly wide-eyed glances before looking back down at the two of them.

This girl's face was extremely amused as she watched the other girl throw books over her shoulder. Finally, she asked, voice tinged with amusement, "Why in the name of Notch are you throwing books everywhere, Becky? You know Ariza's going to be annoyed that you're tossing her books all over the floor."

'Becky' didn't respond, muttering as she kept throwing books over her shoulder. A rather large pile was starting to form on the floor. "No... no... argh, have I _read_ all of these by now?!" she grumbled at length.

The other girl simply shrugged and chuckled a bit. "Well, you do read a lot."

"But, Cho, I can't have read _all_ of these books by now, there's like over a thousand..."

'Cho' arched her eyebrows at Becky. "With your reading 25/8, you've probably already read every book in here, _and_ in your private library- yes, I know about that," she nodded when Becky whipped around to look at Cho, " _and_ Ariza _does_ have better things to do than buy books every other weekend." Cho paused after a moment. "... well, I don't think she _minds_ going to buy those books. But anyway, you've probably already read every book in here about six times over already."

"Seven times."

"And Toni's not even done with his first round. Besides, Ariza's next book run isn't for another week."

"But I need more reading material," Becky grumbled, going back to chucking books over her shoulder. Cho just shook her head in amusement again.

"Have you tried the basement?"

Becky dismissed that. "Yeah, but they're all like potion books or redstone encyclopedias or whatever. I want stuff like The Petals of a Bloody Rose..."

Cho got up from the sofa and went over to the shelf, poking through the books herself, trying to help Becky find a book that may not have been read yet. "Hey, have you seen this one yet? It looks like it's practically untouched-" she began, pulling said book off of the shelf and giving the cover a glance.

"... oh. Never mind. You don't want to. Don't read this one."

Cho was now the one to chuck the book over her shoulder in the direction of the fireplace, which was pretty much right next to the couch Hadrian and Mevia were sitting next to, but missed and hit the mantel instead.

Becky went over to go pick up the book. "Why not? What's so bad about this book? Don't waste a good book-" She leaned down and picked it up, giving both herself and Hadrian and Mevia a good look at the cover.

Which read 'Fifty Shades of Redstone'.

"... oh." Even though the two figures were glowing blue, it was pretty clear to see that Becky was starting to blush rather heavily. There was a long pause as the two of them started to vanish from sight.

" _Gommie what the actual f**k_ -" Becky was cut off as she completely dissolved, along with the huge pile of books and Cho, who was also blushing rather heavily.

"..." The two Old Builders stared at the spot where the two of them had been. Hadrian finally looked at Mevia, more out of the corner of his eye than anything. "Did you see that, Mevia?"

"Yes, Hadrian. Yes, I did."

* * *

 **A/N: Hmm, another two things! Looks like we know what N.I.B. from that little library means now, huh?**

 **Wonder what's going on with these ghosts, though?**

 **Next chapter is also a filler. :3 Basically the 'part two' of this chapter.**

 **RQTC: Are you flattered when you see someone including you or something you've mentioned before in a story, or are you offended? Just wondering.**

 **It depends. If they've asked me for permission or credit me, then I don't mind at all (actually, I'm really flattered). If they pretend that they wrote it (or basically rip off the story without asking and then pretend it's theirs), I get really, really pissed about it.**

 **OH! Also, don't forget that you can start voting for ships in the second part of the story now. Ships that you CANNOT vote for due to their already being in the story:**

 **Lukesse (duh)  
Jetra  
Magnugaard  
Harvor (it just hasn't been incorporated much yet)  
Bromance!Luktra (I've been trying to include it but it's difficult xD)  
Axelivia (just hints, since I don't know how to write it yet)**

 **S4SH4L4SH4theGaMeR101: (laughs) / Yep x3 / Yay!**

 **Kaos Ruin: (points at Chapter 42 and 43's A/N and comment replies) Yep xD / Yeah, it's a bit difficult to include.**

 **LittleAngelbun: (laughs)**

 **NinaNaranja: (laughs) Yeah, I procrastinate so bad. / True xD / :3**

 **RapidSammi: (grins) Glad to see you like the cookie.**

 **Darkbeast Dend: (laughs) Glad to hear you like it. / Um, I'm okay with school, but it's not my favorite thing. / Aww, well, I'm glad you like my story! / Uh, Enderman hybrid. Endermen are awesome.**

 **Emily The Avenger: (grins) / (laughs) Yeah, I was like "Do I make this chapter super upsetting or super cheerful or what?" xD**

 **LunarStarsMoon: No, that was intended to be amusing xD / No spoilers xD You can tell the future.**

 **RebekahTPE: Yep xD / The feels train is usually just a really strong emotion that's not laughter for me. So I don't know xD / Phoenix. Phoenixes are amaaazing xD / Lol same tbh**

 **sailor . mikuchan: I'm pretty sure you're not the only one there xD**

 **Rabbits rule: (pats her on the back) / (laughs) No, no it wasn't, Kylik.**

 **the indecisive bird: (laughs) I know, right?**

 **CrystalTearsofFaith: (winks) / The headache was just because I was trying to think of ideas and do homework at the same time, to be honest xD Episodes 5 and 6 are now some of the ones I'm most hyped up to write. (bounces around)**

 **J.M.M.: (laughs) Yep.**

 **x.X. A.L. X.x**


	81. Ghostly Memories, Part 2

"Hey, Cassie, what are you reading?"

Aiden wasn't the _biggest_ fan of reading, but he really liked some of the books in this library.

Noticeably, a lot of them were not from this library- there was a _very_ large box of notebooks which had a sign that said "UNFINISHED STORIES" scrawled on the side. It had been left near the door. There was a separate one that had _A.L._ written underneath that, and they were doing their best to check the initials scratched into the spines so they didn't chuck the books into the wrong boxes. (Not that they were _chucking_ the books back into the boxes, they were- you know what, forget it.)

Some of the unfinished ones- for example, Movie Mode- were stuck on the shelves by accident, so they were now sorting through the books to stick them back in. Cassie had two or three notebooks in her arms, and one finished book that had a sleeve wrapped around it. She was currently reading the finished book.

Most of the people in the room were actually distracted from the 'sorting' and reading the books. Lukas had his face buried in one called ' _Decibels_ ' (although, once again, it was a notebook), Ivor had started reading one called ' _October Progeny_ ', and Soren was reading the notebook called " _Elements'_ in interest.

Cassie looked up at him, green eyes flashing from under her black-rimmed glasses. "Hm? Oh," and she lifted the notebook to show him. "The Hybrid story. Novelized."

Aiden blinked at her as several of the room's occupants looked up at that. "Aren't you-"

"Spoiling myself? Nope. The pages are actually blank, at least up to the point where we haven't watched. It only goes up to the end of Episode 4."

"Ah. What are the other ones under your arm?"

Cassie pulled them out and looked at them. "Um, one's also the Hybrid story-" she held up the first notebook, "but it's a rewrite and only has a few minutes of the first episode finished up, so there's only about three pages filled." She switched it out for the next one. "Um, this one's called ' _Minecraft: Hide and Seek Mode_ ', there's quite a bit of this one filled out but it's still stopped. It refers to the Movie Mode notebook at the point where it's stopped," and she pointed at said notebook. "I haven't read it yet... and this last one's called ' _Tower of Minecraft'_. There's also a character called Aiden in it. And Jesse. And- well, a lot of people have the same names as people here, so I found that kind of interesting."

"Huh. Which crate did they come from?" Aiden asked, heading back over to the crates.

He would never admit it in a million years, but he was getting _really_ interested in all these books.

Though he was pretty sure it was becoming pretty clear to everyone in the room.

"All of the books that I'm holding came from the crate with the ' _A.L._ ' thing on it. Although Soren has the Movie Mode one right now, it's by someone called Toni42 or something..." Cassie paused thoughtfully. "... ooh, and I'm pretty sure I spotted another one called ' _The First Guests_ ' by GirlOfTheirOwnWorld or something like that, it's on the shelf by Ivor's head, I think..."

* * *

Two wooden swords clanged together rather harshly, making the clacking of wood ring out loudly in the room. They connected again and struggled, both of them quivering, before one of them was flung backwards.

Petra grunted and leaped back to her feet. She wasn't going to get taken down by the warrior that easily.

Gabriel parried another strike from the redhead, before ducking back as one of them came close to smacking into his side. "Heh, not bad," he managed through a few pants, getting back into a defensive position.

Petra grinned at him, eyes glinting in amusement. "Oh, you haven't seen anything yet!" she called out, through some more panting. This was _fun_. She hadn't had a challenge like this in _quite_ a long time.

The two of them stayed at a safe distance from one another, before suddenly, out of the corner of Petra's eye, she spotted another blade heading at her. Automatically, she whirled around and brought her blade up in a parry, prepared to catch the blade and knock whoever was coming at her back- only to stumble a bit as her blade went right through the other blade, a blur of pale blue darting past her- no, not past her- _through_ her. She gasped and stumbled a bit.

The clack of wood on wood rang out, and Petra spun around to see the person who'd just darted through her- a girl with dark-ish looking hair that was in a high ponytail and a pair of luminous red eyes that were rather blank, a few freckles spattering her face, like cinnamon on cinnamon toast. She appeared to be wearing a shirt and shorts as well as a pair of sunglasses resting on her head- fighting another person. This guy- it was a boy- had gray eyes that flashed red a bit as he dodged and ducked into different lighting, wearing a t-shirt and jeans.

She glanced at Gabriel to make sure that she wasn't just hallucinating, but Gabriel had completely stopped fighting and was staring wide-eyed at this scene.

"C'mon, guys, you can do this!" Another figure that Gabriel seemed to recognize was standing a little ways away, watching the two of them spar. She had dark, curly hair with a separately-colored streak through it, dark brown eyes glinting in interest. She also was wearing a leather jacket, but that was all Petra could spot through the clashing, glowing blue blades. "Red, Rapid, just find the other person's weak spot, it's simple as that!"

"Uh, yeah, Gom, sometimes it's _not_ that simple!" the boy shouted.

The girl seemed to spot an opportunity and lashed out rapidly. The sword flicked out and smacked painfully into the boy's elbow, making him jump and grab at it, taking his eyes off of the girl. "Ow! Rapid, what the-"

He never finished, as the girl lashed out again and knocked him onto his back. The utterly blank look on Rapid's face turned into a victorious one as she bounced around in a hot fervor. "I got him!" she shouted, bouncing around like some sort of giant bouncy ball, "I got him!"

Gommie laughed and applauded, walking over to the two of them. "Splendid work, Sammi." She paused for a moment. "It's weird calling you Sammi because I'm also named Sammie," she added to herself.

A short pause.

"Ahh, never mind that. You two did great! Red, the number one thing about fighting is that you can never get distracted, that's one weakness in everyone," Gommie instructed the boy.

'Red' rolled his eyes playfully. "Yeah yeah yeah, I got you, Sensei Gommadon." He gave her a mock-bow, but an amused grin was plastered over his face.

Gommie wiggled her eyebrows in return and bowed back. "My pupil, you still have much to learn," she joked, before the three of them burst into laughter.

Petra's eyes flickered back to Gabriel's face, but Gabriel was still wide-eyed and staring at the group in stunned surprise.

"And the only way we can learn is through practice, right?" Red asked, once the group had stopped laughing so much.

"Yep. So, Sammi, since you beat Red-"

Sammi pumped her fist with a triumphant grin, Red shaking his head in amusement.

"You duel with me."

Sammi's smile faded a bit as her eyes widened, before a triumphant grin came over her face, and she placed her hand on her hip. "Ready to get your butt kicked, Sensei?" she teased Gommie.

"The question is, are you ready to get _yours_ kicked?" Gommie replied, swiftly grabbing a practice sword and twirling it expertly.

Rapid bared her teeth in a mock-wicked grin. "We'll see about that!" And she ran forward, lashing out with the wooden blade in a low, sweeping blow.

Gommie flung herself backwards into a limbo move, the sword sailing straight over her, before she straightened back up. "Another type of fighting style-" and she started dodging the slices, jabs, stabs, and sweeping blows Rapid tried to strike on her, simply sidestepping or leaping over a blow without attempting to retaliate, "- is the Art of the Silent Fist," she finished. "Instead of fighting your enemy-" Another dodge, "have your enemy fight themselves."

Rapid narrowed her eyes, and she stopped attacking for a moment, contemplating the situation. She stood stock-still for a minute, before lunging forward and attempting to tackle Gommie's legs. She only succeeded in getting one, as Gommie attempted to leap out of the way at the last second.

"Ow, you got my ankle!"

Rapid immediately jumped off of Gommie, a faintly anxious expression coming over her face. "Oh! I'm sorry, Gom. Do you need me to get Ariza to make you a healing potion?"

Gommie suddenly sprang into action from where she was lying on her back, kicking upwards and sending the sword spinning out of Rapid's grip. The kick launched her lower body up into the air, and she did a backwards somersault and came to her feet, sword pointed at Rapid. "Nope."

Rapid grinned sheepishly and flicked her sword back into her hand. "Ahh, I let my guard down." The sword levelled straight at Gommie. "My bad."

"Never give mercy to your enemies until you know for _certain_ that they're down," Gommie instructed, before shooting forward like a bullet at Rapid, sword darting everywhere in a flurry glowing blue, before the wooden blade swung up, poised to hit Rapid.

At the last second, Petra spotted the cracks going through the wooden sword. They were extremely faint, but for a girl who traded and went to far more dangerous places to get the items, and who was accustomed to checking the weapons she used in case they were low on durability, the cracks were extremely visible. "Wait!" she shouted, before remembering that that was no use- these people were- she didn't know- hallucinations or something.

Rapid deflected the hit rapidly, her wooden blade making the one in Gommie's hand _crunch_ loudly as she snapped right through the old wood. Gommie's eyes widened for a moment, before she darted left, right, up, down, dodging the onslaught of attacks that Rapid proceeded to deliver.

Then came a moment where Rapid overcompensated and lunged a little too far- and Gommie struck. She grabbed Rapid's wrist and twisted it, making the other girl yelp and drop the sword straight into Gommie's waiting palm. The blade twirled expertly before flicking to point straight at Rapid's throat, the point pausing hardly an inch from Rapid's neck.

There was a momentary silence where Gommie was staring at Rapid evenly, before a grin came over her face. "I win."

Red applauded as Gommie had with him and Rapid, while Rapid gave a good-hearted groan about her loss. When it was clear that the battle was over, Gommie let the sword point at the floor. "Whew- good fight, Sammi, you're getting way better," Gommie said lightly, an easy grin coming over her face. Arching her eyebrows, she added, "Now, hows about you help me with dinner?"

A breeze gusted through the area, blowing the particles that made them up away. Petra stared at the spot where they'd been, before glancing at Gabriel, to see the same look she had on her face mirrored on his. "So, um..." she began, tentatively.

Gabriel finished the thought. "I... wasn't the only one who saw that, right?"

"No, no you weren't," and Petra shot the spot where they'd been an uneasy look. There was nothing left of them now, of course- nothing except a chilly breeze. She raised her practice sword, deciding to worry about it later. "A-anyway, you wanna keep going?"

Gabriel nodded, raising his own, a faintly distracted look on his face. "Yeah. Yeah, let's do that."

* * *

Jesse had walked for such a long period of time that she was now in one of the corners of the mansion that hadn't been explored yet. It was a nice hallway, but it was very sparsely decorated for such a long hallway- about 14 vases of flowers. That sounds like a lot, but they weren't big vases, and they were spaced out in a very distant way.

She now came to a halt outside a door at the end of the hallway. It was right next to a huge window that showed the grounds below, light filtering in through the stained glass to make stains of color on the floor that were extremely beautiful.

She tried the doorknob. Locked. Of course the door was locked.

There seemed to be a password, but it was about 14 letters long. There were... well, with 10 numbers and 26 letters to choose from, there were over 100 combinations for this password, and she didn't really want to waste the whole time standing in front of the door trying to guess a 14-letter password.

... wait...

Jesse turned around and regarded the flowers in the vases. They were all fairly tall flowers, and the vases were fairly tall as well, so they were well at eye-level. Was that a hint, somehow?

Slowly, Jesse backtracked to the nearest vase, standing in front of it. Were the flowers bent over naturally... or were they in the shape of an 'A'?

Jesse backtracked to the beginning of the hallway and looked at each vase for a few minutes. There was a P... and then there was a lowercase _h_...

The black-haired girl carefully made her way back to the door, 'reading' each vase, before carefully entering into the doorway a P, then an H, then an A... when she'd finished entering the number, she ended up with a very long word that she was _fairly_ certain was made up.

 _PHANTASMAGORIA._

Feeling sure that she was wrong, she experimentally tapped the 'enter' button under the 14-letter password.

To her surprise, there was a very audible clicking sound, and the door eked open a bit. Experimentally, she placed her hand on the door and pushed it open.

"... oh."

The soft gasp of amazement was quite unbidden; nor had she exactly expected what this room looked like.

There was a fair wall of bookshelves on the other side of the room, and tucked in between a desk that was under a window and the wall that the door was on was an armchair that looked as if it had been overstuffed to a point- especially since there was a bit of stuffing coming out of it. The window had a dark curtain drawn over the window, keeping most of the light out of it.

On the left side of this wall was a dresser, as well as a shelf at the head of a bed (Jesse grinned at the unintentional rhyme), with another door crammed between the foot of the bed and one of the bookshelves, as if it were an afterthought. But none of these were why she was amazed.

The entire room was a dark blue color, except for the walls along the bookshelves- those were painted to look like cities, with little glowing windows that switched on and off, travelling along the desk. Once it reached the armchair, the 'scenery' changed to look like a rolling countryside, with hills and little trees dotted everywhere and a farm building making up the shelf at the head of the bed. There was more 'countryside' scenery next to the bed.

And the ceiling... the 'sky' above the painted darkened countrysides were dotted with little lights that glowed and twinkled, like stars. So was the ceiling, and Jesse stared around the room. A lot of effort had obviously gone into painting it.

Tentatively, she ventured into the room and looked around, hardly daring to breathe at the sight of it.

She trod gently, being careful not to disturb anything except the soft, dark-blue carpet. There were a lot of various things on the desk, but she left those alone as well as she kept looking around the room, her breathing the only audible thing in the whole room.

Jesse kept looking around the room, staring around herself in wonder. Whose room _was_ this? It was beautiful. She slowly realized that she was sitting cross-legged on the floor, staring at the 'sky'.

She got up, getting ready to check the clock and then head back towards the main part of the house.

Jesse paused, still staring into the rest of the room. She glanced out into the hallway, the door still open. The clock said it was still 7:45. They still had another 15 minutes until their decided 'meet-up' time.

She hesitated. Thought for a minute. Got up and carefully shut the door.

Then she carefully settled back into her seat on the floor and went back to staring at the ceiling, a faint smile coming over her face.

* * *

 **A/N: Aahh, a peaceful moment for once. xD**

 **RQTC: What ships do you wish to see in the story? Keep in mind, I will not even CONSIDER it if they don't get 7 votes by Chapter 85.**

 **Also, the ships that you CANNOT VOTE FOR BECAUSE THEY ARE ALREADY IN THE STORY ARE:**

 **Lukesse, Axelivia, Magnugaard, Harvor, Jetra, Bromance!Luktra, Family!Ivoresse**

 **So far the votes for the shipping goes something like:**

 **Aidassie: 2, Danzie: 1, Stampcy: 1, Misa: 2, Hadrevia: 1, Bromance!Maiden (Maya x Aiden): 1, Friendly!Aidesse: 1, Jessie (Jesse/Jace x Cassie): 1.**

 **So VOTE, people!**

 **Emily The Avenger: (laughs) / Yay! Glad to see you didn't die of boredom xD**

 **the indecisive bird: (winks) Ahh, you know me so well / Yeeeaaah, that's true. x3**

 **Darkbeast Dend: Ah, I see. I'd rather be a squid hybrid. (Don't ask why, I don't know xD) / Nice prank, Sam.**

 **Meow Shadow: (laughs) Ah, thank you! But I ain't telling you xD / (grins evilly when it says you'll never have the privilege) / (waves a bit) Hello. I'd like to be in your story x3**

 **SofiaTheWriter88: Hehe xD / Yes :3 / (laughs) Yep, that was fun. / ... those are all the ones I said you... can't vote for...**

 **homeworkoverload: Alright, cool! / My 'ghost' says 'hi' back xD**

 **S4SH4L4SH4theGaMeR101: (looks at ceiling) I'm not saying if you're correct, but you're warmer when referring to Recode Reality. / (nods) Just asking, by the way, how would you feel if _I_ included you in a story? / (laughs) me too, dude**

 **LunarStarsMoon: (grins wickedly) / Aww xD / Ikr xD / Wow! Good job, dude!**

 **sailor . mikuchan: Cool :3**

 **Kaos Ruin: (laughs)**

 **RapidSammi: (points at chapter) And now the wondering is over xD**

 **NinaNaranja: (nods) Cool. / Also, same tbh. I'd just be super polite about it xD**

 **RebekahTPE: (laughs) Alright, cool. / I'd rather have the slow-at-start-up computer as well. I can just plan while I do it xD**

 **CrystalTearsofFaith: (nods) I see. / Haha, that's cool too! / (taps chin) ... besides Isa and Soren being an Old Builder, Petra having gold eyes, and Ivor having dark blue eyes? No, none that I can think of off the top of my head.**

 **J.M.M.: (laughs) / Hm, I'll think about it.**

 **Rabbits rule: I did, that was on purpose. 'sans' means without.**

 **That one guy: Alrighty! x3**

 **x.X. A.L. X.x**


	82. Regret and the Fourth Wall

It took a good while, but after a while everyone made it back to the living room, where Hadrian and Mevia were quietly discussing something on the couch. After Aiden ran back to the private library and stuck the book he'd accidentally carried out back inside, and after Jesse came in and plopped onto the floor, eyes looking starry but not explaining why, and after Cassie and the others washed off all the redstone- when, in short, they were ready, Cassie picked up the remote and pressed the button to 'wake the screen back up'.

The title screen for the next episode came back on, and Jesse's shoulders immediately froze, while Ivor flinched as if he'd been slapped.

Ivor, Petra, Lukas, and Jesse were standing on a tiny island that was floating in the sky. Ivor looked as if he were about to fall _off_ the island backwards, Jesse lunging forward to catch him with wide eyes. Lukas was squinting into something in the distance, ears pricked up, and Petra was gaping over the edge with wide eyes.

"That's- um- that is _not_ comforting," Olivia declared, looking incredibly anxious. "How'd you even end _up_ in that situation?"

"Well we will find out," Ivor said, although it was pretty clear from the way his eyes narrowed a bit that he was getting a bit anxious himself.

"Oooh, I don't like the look of that screen," Harper mumbled.

Just to get the discomforting image off the screen, Cassie pressed the play button again. Jesse's voice spoke up. " _Previously on Minecraft: Hybrid Mode._ "

Instead of the narrator's voice coming on and speaking, Jesse and Lukas's fight came onscreen, making both of them wince a bit visibly. " _Jesse, I'm just trying to help-_ " Lukas was saying.

" _THEN JUST STOP!_ " Jesse roared, eyes brimming with unshed tears, " _just stop and go be with your friends- go be with the friends you wanted to risk your life to save, because you just **can't tell me to MOVE ON OVER MY BEST FRIEND!**_ " And she shoved him down.

Lukas toppled backwards onto his behind, staring at Jesse in shock, before his own expression hardened into anger. " _Fine."_ He got to his feet. " _Fine! Forget I tried to help you. Forget about everything I've been doing to try to help you. Just forget it, okay?!_ " And he whirled on his heel and stormed off, tail flicking around angrily.

" _I will. **We don't need you anyway!**_ " Jesse snapped, before whirling around on her heel and tearing off.

Real-Lukas winced and gave her hand a squeeze. There was a long moment of silence where Jesse was simply staring into the distance, before she carefully squeezed his back.

Onscreen, Jesse slowed to a stop, taking in a deep, shuddering breath, tears brimming in her eyes as she blinked, sending a cascade of tears flowing down her cheeks. She dropped into a sitting position, buried her head in her knees, and started crying quietly.

The screen faded to black, the words _ONE MONTH LATER_ coming over the screen. It faded back in to show Jesse sitting on a couch, reading a book rather blankly. She turned the page, before turning another one not even a full ten seconds later.

The narrator picked up. " _In one month, Jesse, Petra, Olivia, and Axel have been on lots of adventures, if their treasure room's any indication._ " Short pause. " _But seriously, some of the new treasures are pretty cool, like the Eyes of Ender-_ "

Jesse huffed snappishly, staring at the book still. " _Hey, narrator, stop trying to cheer me up and just get on with the story, will you?_ "

The whole group blinked. "... did... did you just break the fourth wall?" Hadrian asked, pointing at the screen a bit.

"... yes, I think I did," Jesse said slowly, her lips twitching a bit in amusement.

" _Well, alright then, Miss Grumpy Cat._ " Jesse flinched a bit at that for some reason. There was a momentary pause. " _The weird Puffer-fish thing is cool, too-_ "

" _Moving on,_ " Jesse said pointedly, looking up from the book to look at the ceiling.

" _Alright,_ alright. _Jesse hasn't seen Lukas after the fight. Everyone knows that they've had a bit of a falling out, but they don't know why. Jesse doesn't plan on dragging the situation back up._ "

Jesse looked up from the book again, frowning at the ceiling. " _Well, of course I don't. After all, we don't need Lukas._ "

Real-Jesse's hand slapped over her mouth, making everyone look at her. The girl looked utterly _mortified_ as she glanced at Lukas, who quickly composed the flash of hurt that had come over his face back into a more regular look. Not that it mattered, anyway.

Everyone had seen it.

There was a long silence from the narrator.

" _I mean it. He's a great asset to the team, but without him, we work just as well. I certainly don't mind not having him around,_ " Jesse insisted to the ceiling.

Another long silence from the narrator.

"... _stop giving me that look._ "

" _What look? I'm not giving you a look. I'm just a talking voice-_ "

Jesse shook her head and kept frowning at the ceiling, her brow furrowing a bit as she waved one finger in the air almost admonishingly. " _No no no, don't give me any of that, I just_ know _you're giving me a look from wherever you are-_ "

" _Well, yes, because you keep lying to yourself-_ "

" _I am most certainly NOT-_ "

" _Just admit it._ "

" _Admit what? There's nothing to-_ "

" _ADMIT IT._ "

" _Like I said, there's nothing to admit-_ " Jesse protested, but her eyebrow was twitching angrily now.

" _JUST ADMIT IT."_

" _ALRIGHT, I WILL, I MISS HIM, OKAY?!_ "

There was a long silence after Jesse's loud snap at the narrator, where Jesse was glaring at the ceiling, before the angry expression fell right off her face and she slumped into the chair, an unhappy look coming over her face. " _I've been trying to convince myself, but... truth is, I'm really,_ really _sorry that I shouted at him. I wasn't in the greatest state back there, and I_ do _know that Lukas isn't the greatest speaker of all time or anything._ "

"That's true," Lukas said, looking incredibly relieved to see that Jesse wasn't holding a grudge against him. "I'm not."

" _I mean, his writing's not half bad, but when he talks he kinda messes up what he wants to say a lot,_ " Jesse mumbled, staring at her book again and absentmindedly flipping a page.

" _He probably meant it well,_ " the narrator prompted.

Jesse shrugged, wincing a bit as all of her shoulders simultaneously shrugged, " _He did, and I've been wanting to apologize since, but Lukas kinda went off the grid and hasn't really showed up since._ " She looked back down at her book. " _... I need a distraction, all I've been thinking about for weeks is how I'm going to say I'm sorry._ "

Lukas shot Jesse a glance out of the corner of his eye. The black-haired girl was just staring anxiously at the screen.

" _Yes, you've thought about hugging him, begging for forgiveness-_ "

Jesse looked up again, a faintly irritated look creasing her brow. " _Okay, you don't have to explain_ exactly _what I've been thinking-_ "

Lukas grinned playfully at Jesse, making her roll her eyes with a faint grin, the anxious look mostly gone now.

" _\- just saying 'sorry' and leaving it at that, spilling out this long cascade of words that involves some form of apologizing-_ "

" _Yes, yes, I_ know _what I've been thinking, now shut it, please-_ "

" _\- and wasn't one other option just throwing up on the carpet?_ "

Real-Jesse felt her face turn bright red as Lukas stifled his laughter, grinning at Jesse. He wasn't the only one; many other people in the room had started giggling. Ivor in particular was desperately trying to hide the way his lips were twitching.

" _... yeah, but I've decided since that that's not a great way to say sorry,_ " Jesse mumbled, slumping back into her chair and staring at the book that she'd been 'reading' the whole time, turning another page absentmindedly, as if waiting for a distraction.

Thankfully- or, well, perhaps _not_ so thankfully- that distraction came in the form of a loud BANG.

Isa jumped a bit in surprise. "What was that?" she wondered.

" _Ahh, there's my cue to leave,_ " the narrator spoke, before a silence fell over the room. Somehow, that silence was different than the other silences he'd given- it was empty, meaning that- for now, at least- the narrator really was gone.

Jesse stared at the page of the book again, before setting it down and sticking a bookmark in there, and trotted downstairs.

A lot of yelling became audible as she opened a door at the base of the stairs, and she stepped down the last stair into a sort of kitchen, before she turned a corner to see Ellegaard shouting at Magnus at the top of her lungs, Axel and said King-of-Boom-Town roaring on the floor in laughter, Olivia pinching the bridge of her nose with a broad grin spreading over his face, Petra and Gabriel in _stitches_ from where Gabriel was bent over laughing and Petra was nearly rolling on the floor, and Soren biting his thumbnail and nearly crying with laughter. Behind them was a rather large pile of ashes and burnt wood.

The real Order wasn't doing much better, even Ivor grinning a bit and stifling his own chuckle.

"Where's Ivor?" Harper wondered, making everyone glance at her. She shrugged when she noticed. "It's a valid question; he's not there."

" _What in the name of Notch were you even_ doing?! _"_ Ellegaard demanded, although a broad grin was on her face as she tried to fight giggles, " _I think the whole TOWN felt that one!_ "

" _Forget the town. Guys, you might want to make a bigger explosion next time, I don't think the people in the Far Lands felt it,_ " Jesse said, a wry grin coming over her face. The others turned to see her and grinned upon seeing her.

Gabriel straightened up, still laughing. " _I- I think Magnus was trying to t-teach Axel how to- how to use fireworks destructively,_ " he gasped, before doubling over again, laughing helplessly.

" _Well, they certainly succeeded. Is that one of the couches?_ " Jesse asked, looking at the charred pile of ashes and wood.

" _No, that's the coffee table,_ " Soren replied, choking back some laughter.

Petra was nearly in _tears_ from how hard she was laughing. Jesse watched the Blaze hybrid, gold sparks spitting off of her and drifting lazily through the air, before a relieved sort of smile snuck onto her face.

Jace let out a relieved sigh and tightened his arm around Petra, the redhead giving him a grin.

"Glad to see your Wither Sickness is totally gone," Maya said, and indeed she sounded rather relieved. Petra grinned at her, too.

Another explosion rang out in the room, this time from the basement, rattling a few pieces of glassware off the table. Jesse's lower arms caught them automatically, the spider hybrid not even looking in their direction, and replaced them where they'd been on the table.

"That was righteous, dude!" Nell cheered, pumping her fists in the air. Jesse shot Nell an amused look.

"Um, thank you...?"

The door next to the steps Jesse had come down from banged open a second later, Ivor coming out of it. His face was covered in soot, and his robes were making a little trail of them behind him as he drew level with Jesse. He pointed accusingly at Magnus and Axel. " _You two need to test your explosions somewhere else; I dropped in the wrong amount of Blaze Rod powder and nearly blew the whole house sky-high._ "

" _You keep doing that by yourself,_ " Soren murmured in return, a broad grin fixed on his face.

Both Real-Ivor and Onscreen-Ivor fixed their respective Soren's with a withering stare. Both Sorens managed to survive without being too terribly withered.

" _Maybe you should move out or something if it bothers you so much,_ " Ellegaard added, although her jokey tone of voice was very clear.

A thoughtful look came over Ivor's face. " _... hm, that's an idea._ "

" _D'you need help cleaning up?_ " Jesse asked Ivor, a bit more sympathetically than Soren or Ellegaard.

Ivor shook his head, sending another cascade of soot onto the floor. " _No, it's alright. By the way, I spotted something you four would probably be interested in. I spotted a mention of an old temple and possible treasure in it in this old text,_ " he noted, dusting some of the soot off his face.

"Ooh, more treasure," Real-Petra leaned forward, looking faintly interested.

"You're worse than that giant crab in Moana," Jace joked to the redhead.

She smacked him.

Onscreen, Petra stopped laughing, straightening up and blinking at the potionologist, a faint smile still on her face. " _Really? Where is it?_ " she wondered, interested now.

Ivor pulled out a scroll and handed it to Jesse, who flattened it out on the table to show a map. Ivor leaned over the map, dark blue eyes squinting at the map as he dusted some more soot off of himself. " _Alright, let's see, the text said that it was about..._ " He trailed a finger over the map, before decisively tapping a spot. " _There._ "

Jesse peeked at the spot. " _Hmm, it's not too far. We could probably make it back in two days if we go on foot,_ " the spider hybrid mused.

Ivor handed her another piece of paper, which the spider hybrid opened to reveal words written in a sort of poem. " _There was a poem that said would lead directly to the temple once you reach that spot. I copied it down word for word exactly as it was written in the text."_

" _Oh! Thanks, Ivor,_ " and Jesse looked up and grinned at him, which the potionologist returned with a faint smile. She glanced over at her friends. " _Well, should we head out?_ "

Olivia stretched, long arms nearly grazing the ceiling. " _Sure. I'll just go grab some stuff._ "

" _Same here,_ " Axel said, dusting himself off as he stood off, " _so are we meeting back here or what?_ "

Jesse looked at Petra. Petra arched her eyebrows at her in response, a faint smile coming over her face. " _Why're you looking at me? You're the leader, right?_ " she teased.

"... _oh. Right. Um, sure,_ " Jesse said, blinking innocently at Petra and then the rest of the group. " _I'll go grab some of my own stuff, too._ "

"Seriously, you don't look like you could hurt a living being," Stampy said, shaking his head at the screen.

Lukas patted a playfully-pouting Jesse on the back sympathetically, attempting to hide the grin on his face with little success.

As Jesse headed towards the stairs again, she heard Ivor saying, " _Well, in that case, I can get started on my house._ "

" _Oh- for Notch's sake, Ivor, I was_ joking," Ellegaard laughed, shaking her head at Ivor in amusement.

" _Well, I'm not,_ " Ivor replied contrarily, a faint smile coming over his face when Ellegaard rolled her eyes at him.

With a smirk and a chuckle, Jesse swung the door shut behind her, making the screen black out.

Axel grinned, making a lot of people look at him. "This should be interesting," he stated, amusement heavy in every word he spoke.

* * *

 **A/N: (laughs) So this chapter was the filler chapter from Hybrid, but with a lot of changes to it and a lot of breaking the fourth wall. xD This is probably the only instance this will happen in the story, but you know. xD**

 **RQTC: What ships do you guys vote for? They CAN be platonic FRIENDships xD**

 **So far the voting goes something like this:**

 **Aidassie: 7, Danzie: 4, Stampcy: 4, Misa: 9, Hadrevia: 3, Bromance!Maiden (Maya x Aiden): 2, Friendly!Aidesse: 1, Jesse/Jace Rose (Jesse/Jace x Cassie): 2, Bromance!Pexel: 2, Bromance!Jaclivia: 2, Dancat: 1**

 **So far, there's only two being considered, and that's Misa and Aidassie (no surprise there xD).**

 **Emily The Avenger: Alrighty, cool x3**

 **NinaNaranja: Hehehe xD / Peacefulness is great xD / Yay!**

 **Stary Girl: That is a loooot of ships xD / Alright, thanks!**

 **Beli0304: I think it's more like _my_ mansion, but the others just stay in the house with me xD I don't know, that's just how I think of it. / Yay! xD**

 **LunarStarsMoons: Well, thanks for the votes! / I'd rather completely be an animal. I don't want my loved ones dying.**

 **S4SH4L4SH4theGaMeR101: (laughs) I see. / Ahh, gotcha! (Don't worry, I ship Misa too. But I have no idea why xD)**

 **Rabbits rule: I know that's what you were thinking, because that's what I thought some of the readers would be thinking xD / I think it's more of _my_ mansion, it's just that the others stay in there. I don't know why, but that's how I feel about it xD **

**Guest: Alright!**

 **homeworkoverload: (whistles) Okay! / That's cool! / (laughs) They say hi back xD**

 **the indecisive bird: True xD / They can be FRIENDships xD / I have no idea xD / Thank you!**

 **Slayer88: No, I was just trying to make a point xD / (laughs)**

 **sailor . mikuchan: (grins) Alright, I see.**

 **Meow Shadow: (laughs) / True xD / (shrugs) I like cliffhangers xD**

 **Darkbeast Dend: (grins) Glad to hear it sounds so nice. / (shrugs) Ummm... I have no idea. Godzilla?**

 **Mac: Alrighty!**

 **RapidSammi: (laughs) Glad to see you're so happy.**

 **Guest: Sure thing!**

 **CrystalTearsofFaith: (laughs) / No spoilers x3 / I would love to, but can you just send me the link or something on Quotev or Deviantart or something?**

 **Misa: I see you want Misa xD**

 **ChoyofBonk: Haha, yeah, hi! / (cracks up) Well, good luck with that. x3 / Remember how Becky started cussing Gommie out before they disappeared? xD / Cool (thumbs up)**

 **SofiaTheWriter88: I thought it was really funny that that was all of the ones I said NOT to vote for xD / Alright, thanks!**

 **x.X. A.L. X.x**


	83. Aesthetically Cool Temples

The screen came back on to show the night sky, illuminated by the moon. It panned down over the treetops (which appeared to be jungle trees, with vines that dangled down) and to the ground, where there were a couple ocelots roaming around.

"Hey, it's Maya and Lukas!" Axel said, pointing at the screen. "Hi guys!"

Maya snorted, and Lukas arched his eyebrows at the burly boy, a tiny unwilling smile twitching on his lips. Jesse giggled a bit as well, the dark mood that had begun to settle back over her disappearing.

The ocelots looked around, hearing an odd sound, before darting offscreen again, the screen zooming out and following them to show their path, before stopping next to the edge of a tree and panning up again. Jesse poked her head around the tree, looking around as she checked for mobs. She carefully started moving, tiptoeing around the tree and continuing through the forest.

The screen switched to show a creeper walking by, and the girl dropped to all eights again, crawling around several more trees before whipping back upright and flicking out a new enchanted sword, the blade catching flashes of light as it went, before running forward, the screen zooming out to reveal hordes of monsters and a beautifully built building behind it that looked a lot like a temple.

"This is gonna be good," Magnus said, under his breath so Ellegaard was the only one who could hear. She shot him a nod and a small smile.

Olivia let out a low whistle. "That is a _lot_ of monsters."

Jesse slashed her sword, sending a wave of zombies flying and making them puff into smoke. Then she spun around and hit another group, slicing through their rotten flesh and making them explode into smoke in a single blow.

"Radical, brah!" Nell cheered, pumping one fist in the air. Jesse grinned at the blonde girl.

Jesse grinned at the zombies a bit, before an arrow went hissing past her ear, barely missing the spider hybrid (and making several members of the audience jump). Petra's voice rang out loudly. " _Look out!_ "

Jesse whipped around to see two skeletons aiming their bows at her, before looking up. The screen panned up to show Petra standing in a tree, wearing a set of gold armor that seemed to glow even in the darkness. She whipped out her own enchanted sword and leaped down with a yell.

"All right!" Petra grinned, smiling so widely that her teeth showed.

"They must've gotten you some armor, too," Jace hummed, leaning forward and grinning at the screen a bit.

Petra landed squarely on one skeleton, driving her sword through its head swiftly and making it explode into dust, before whipping back upright and lashing out with her sword with another yell, sending it flying in Jesse's direction. Jesse grinned a bit and flicked her sword up and then twisting her wrist rapidly, slamming into the skeleton's ribcage and knocking it into a pile of bones, which then burst into dust.

Lukas grinned a bit, patting Jesse on the back. "Hey, you guys get good at this," he grinned.

She beamed at him. "Hey, thanks," she said cheerfully.

Meanwhile, Petra thumbed the corner of her mouth thoughtfully as she regarded Jesse. Hm, that was an idea...

" _Thanks_!" Jesse called to Petra onscreen, the redhead grinning back at her.

" _Hey, Jesse, check this out!_ " Jesse turned at Axel's call to see the burly boy squeezing two zombies under his arms by the neck. " _And, three, two, POP!_ " He squeezed, and the two zombies burst into smoke and rotten flesh.

"That was awesome!" Slab cheered, pumping his fists in the air with a grin.

Axel grinned back at the gladiator. "Right?"

Jesse smirked at Axel onscreen, before her eyes widened. The screen switched to show a zombie lurching up behind the creeper hybrid.

"Behind you!" Harper cried out.

" _DUCK!_ " Jesse barked onscreen, charging at him as she flicked her sword into a fighting position. Axel immediately leaned over, crouching down at the same time, and the spider hybrid vaulted over his back and swung the sword in a wide, horizontal arc. The zombie flew backwards into a makeshift wall, before vanishing in a puff of smoke.

Axel grinned as he straightened back up, Jesse turning around to face him with a grin. " _Dude, you're getting pretty good at this!_ " and the creeper hybrid reached out and ruffled Jesse's hair, making her pout playfully at him before laughing and readjusting her hair.

" _You guys are working way too hard,_ " Olivia called out onscreen, the screen switching to show her leaning on something. A mischievous grin came over her face as she got up, the screen zooming out to show a fair _wall_ of dispensers, before she jogged a button with her elbow and discharged a hail of arrows on a bunch of hapless monsters, killing them all before any of them could even think about fighting back.

"Told you Ellegaard didn't know what she was talking about!" Jesse said, before quickly putting her hands up in surrender and shooting Ellegaard an apologetic look. "Ah, no offense."

"None taken," Ellegaard said, a smile on her lips as she shook her head, "I'm actually a bit glad that you told her that."

Jesse rolled her eyes at the Enderman hybrid onscreen, a smile playing on her mouth. " _You're always looking to one-up us, aren't you?_ " she called out to Olivia, as a zombie lurched up to her.

Lizzie gasped. "Look-"

Still smiling, and not even looking behind her, Jesse tossed the sword blade so that it flipped, her hand catching it by the hilt as the blade faced backwards, and jabbed it backwards, stabbing it straight into the zombie, which froze before poofing into smoke.

"Oh. Never mind."

Jesse put her lower arms on her hips and looked up at the temple. The roof was at about the same height as the treetops, but even so- at night, with glowing torches illuminating the vine-covered stone, it was one of the most aesthetically impressive temples that many members of the audience had ever seen.

Hadrian's eyes narrowed a bit at the screen. "Is that what I think it is?" he whispered to Otto and Mevia, both of them nodding a bit when they'd heard him.

"That _is one of the nicest temples I've ever seen,_ " Jesse hummed mildly up at it.

" _Yeah, points for Ivor, I guess. This was a good tip,_ " Petra said, raising her eyebrows at the temple.

Jesse threw her arm up into the air, swinging the sword up to point directly at the temple. " _Onwards!_ " she joked, making the other hybrids giggle or snicker a bit at her, before the group walked into the temple.

"Why don't you just charge straight in?" Dan wondered, tilting his head at the group on the floor.

Petra raised her finger, arching her eyebrows at him. "Booby traps are a thing."

"True."

The three walls that weren't part of the entrance had structures with lava being bottled up by pistons that were blocking the lava from flowing into channels on the floor and the walls, levers next to the structures on the walls, and a large indent in the center of the floor. The three structures were identical, save for being on separate walls.

"Is this seriously _another_ puzzle?" Em groaned, rubbing her head as if she had a headache. Judging from the exclamation she'd just made, she probably did.

Silently, the spider hybrid walked forward, staring at the three walls thoughtfully. She walked to the one on the left and stared thoughtfully at it for a moment, before flipping the lever. The pistons had barely slid open when they slammed shut again.

" _Okay, so that can't be right..._ " Jesse trotted over to the one in the middle and repeated the process. The piston had barely come open when it slammed shut again, blocking the lava channels off. " _Alright, so that one's wrong too._ "

She approached the last one on the right and experimentally flipped it. The pistons undid themselves, lava flowing out into the channels and continuing into the one on the floor. This time, they didn't slam shut almost immediately.

" _Ah, there we go, we're getting somewhere! ... sort of,_ " Jesse said to the others, all of whom grinned and split up to go poke around the temple some more.

Her comment prompted several snorts from the audience.

Heading over to the structure on the center wall, she flipped that lever. The pistons undid themselves again, letting lava flow into the channel. Once again, they didn't slam shut automatically. The first structure's, however, slid shut again.

"Such a complicated puzzle," Ivor mumbled, so quietly that only Harper could even catch the faintest bits of it. "I wonder how they constructed it..."

Jesse was about to beeline straight to the last one when she paused, green-and-red eyes narrowing. "... _there's no way the puzzle would be_ that _easy, right? So... there must be some sort of trick to it...?_ "

"Yeah, that's a good point," Jesse said mildly, leaning forward a bit. "After all the puzzles we've been having to do, I don't trust that this one would just be flipping three levers and then the temple reveals its secrets or whatever."

Hadrian's eyes widened a bit, but they almost immediately went back to normal.

Casually, he leaned over and murmured to his cohorts, "She might be naïve, but she's smart. We can't underestimate her."

They nodded in return, glancing at the black-haired girl sitting on the ground with the blonde's arm wrapped protectively around her as she watched the screen intently.

Lukas let out a small hum as he nodded. "Yeah, Jesse has a good point there."

Slowly, Jesse backtracked to the first lever, staring at it, before tentatively reaching out and flicking it back on. The pistons unlocked again, this time allowing both the lava in both the first channel's and the second's to flow freely. " _Ah! There we go, definitely getting somewhere now._ "

Trotting back over to the one on the left, Jesse hit that lever. All three lava structures allowed the lava to flow freely. The floor began to open up, slowly, revealing three lavafalls that combined in the middle and poured down into darkness, a spiraling wooden staircase surrounding it with vines creeping down the walls of the passageway.

" _You know,_ " Axel said, peering over the edge, " _I think I actually would've been DISAPPOINTED if the floor_ didn't _open up into a dark, creepy passageway._ "

Stacy nodded a bit, still staring intently at the screen. "He's got a point there."

Petra peeked into the hole, before hopping over the edge, making several members of the audience shout out in alarm. Blaze Rods blinked into existence, and the Blaze hybrid started lowering herself into the hole, ignoring the way that she occasionally drifted backwards into lava- she'd just drift back out, watching as the others descended the staircase in a more conventional way. (Well, except for Olivia- she teleported down the stairs.)

"Oh. Yeah. I kinda forgot she was a Blaze hybrid," Jace said, trying not to look too relieved, letting his arm loosen from where it had tightened around Petra's shoulders. The redhead grinned wickedly and poked him in the cheek.

"Aww, was Jace _worried_ about me?" she teased.

Jace's cheeks flushed pink in embarrassment. "What? Of course I am. I mean, I was. I mean- stop making me stutter!" he spluttered, smacking Petra on the shoulder and making the redhead grin wickedly in return.

" _This kinda reminds me of when we first found the Order's temple,_ " Petra said as she drifted down, before chuckling a bit. " _We were such a scared bunch of noobs back then._ "

Jesse raised one eyebrow at Petra, a grin coming over her face. " _Petra, that was about two months ago._ "

"Wow, only _two months-_ wow," Soren muttered, shaking his head a bit in wonder.

" _Exactly- things have changed a LOT since two months ago,_ " Petra shot back, shooting the spider hybrid a cheeky grin.

Olivia teleported so she was standing in front of Jesse, who didn't even blink at the sudden appearing act. (The audience certainly did, though, and jumped about five feet into the air when she appeared all of a sudden.) " _And to think, that was just the beginning,_ " she said nostalgically, before bleeping out of sight and reappearing several flights of stairs down.

" _Yeah!_ " Axel chimed in. " _That was before we'd fought Witherstorms, hung out with Endermen, reunited the Order... so crazy._ "

"I wonder if I'm still having nightmares about the, uh, 'hanging out with Endermen'," Lukas mused. Soren snorted when he heard the comment.

Jesse looked around a bit cautiously as they emerged from the bottom of the tunnel, peering out into the darkness. " _Stay on guard, guys- if there's anything I've learned from the practice exercises back at the lab-_ " an uncomfortable look crossed her face, Petra wincing a bit while Olivia visibly flinched and Axel's jaw twitched, "- _it's 'don't walk into a creepy passageway without expecting booby traps'._ "

"What in the world happened in that lab that made you have that reaction?" Gabriel wondered, frowning at the screen.

Jesse shrugged after a few moments. "Well, we will find out." A pause. "I think."

Stampy suddenly couldn't stop 'coughing'.

The 'cavern'- that was really the best way to describe it- was extremely vast, looking almost foggy after the light from the lava faded. The lava flowed straight into a hole in the ground and kept going, without pooling or anything. Petra landed on the edge of the hole and turned around to look into it with a musing expression. " _Wonder how deep this hole goes for the lava not to pool._ "

" _Here's an idea- let's not try to find out,_ " Olivia said, raising her eyebrows at the redhead.

Petra punched the Enderman hybrid on the arm, which was about as high as she could reach, grinning a bit. " _Relax, Olivia, I'm not stupid,_ " she joked, gold eyes almost glowing in the lava-light.

" _Ouch_ ," was Olivia's response.

Jesse had to bury her face into Lukas's shoulder to hide her laughter.

Onscreen, Jesse looked around before spotting four chests on the ground. " _Bingo!_ " she called out cheerfully, walking over to the chests and opening the first one, peeking straight into it.

"Treasure ho!" Lizzie joked.

"Aye, that there looks like a fine haul of booty!" Jesse said, adopting a pirate accent and pointing at the screen, curling her index finger so that it looked like a hook.

All she got were some rather blank stares, upon which she dropped the accent and rolled her eyes. "Everyone's a critic..."

The others went to a chest themselves and started poking through it themselves. The first thing that Jesse pulled out was... a cake. " _Oh, hey, it's a cake!_ " Jesse said, sounding a bit surprised. She poked it, a bemused look coming over her face. " _And it's in... phenomenal shape._ " There was a long pause. " _... you know what, I'm not going to question it._ "

Axel was staring at the cake hungrily. " _Man, you're lucky,_ " he said, blinking at the cake. " _My mouth's kinda watering from just looking at it._ "

"Mmmm," Facemeat said, his mouth _actually_ watering from the sight of the cake (Slab and Clutch scooted away about half an inch, which was about as much as the couch would allow them to get away from Facemeat, who was in the middle), "caaaake."

Jesse looked down at the cake in her hands, before trotting over to him and holding it out with a cheery smile. " _Here, you can have it!_ "

Axel's eyes lit up, and he leaped to his feet in a hot excitement, making Jesse start back a step and look him over. When she seemed satisfied that he wasn't flashing white, she handed him the sugary treat. " _Oh man, oh MAN! Oh man, thank you!_ "

Real-Axel threw his hands into the air. "YES!"

Olivia patted Axel on the back nicely, doing her best to hide the broad grin forming on her face.

Onscreen, Jesse shot Axel a bright smile and kept poking through the chest. " _Hmmmnn... a pumpkin. Not bad. And, looks like we've got one more thing in here, it's..._ " She trailed off, staring into the chest, before reaching in and then drawing out a flint and steel with a cyan glow.

Cassie's eyes widened. The key.

Ivor gasped in excitement, making everyone look over at him. The man was actually _bouncing_ where he was sitting in his armchair, eyes practically sparkling with excitement. "Is that-? It is!"

"... oooookay?" Ellegaard spoke slowly, glancing at Magnus. The King's expression was both amused and concerned, if one could be both at the same time.

"Uh, you okay there, man?"

Ivor made a bunch of hushing noises and flailed an arm in his direction, as if telling him to be quiet. Harper hid a smile carefully as Soren and Gabriel glanced at each other. Soren shrugged.

" _What'd you find?"_ Olivia asked, shutting her own chest and coming over to Jesse as the black-haired girl retreated to a clearer area, staring at the flint and steel intently.

" _What are you talking abouuuwoah! That's super cool!_ " Axel declared, grinning at Jesse.

The black-haired spider hybrid looked up from the flint and steel in her topmost set of hands. " _That glow... is it an enchantment?_ " This question she directed to Olivia.

Olivia shook her head a bit, crossing her arms. " _I don't know. I've seen people put an Unbreaking enchantment on flint and steel before... but that's not Unbreaking._ "

Petra inclined her head at the flint and steel. " _You could give it a shot and find out,_ " she suggested.

Jesse shrugged a bit at the suggestion, kneeling down a bit and holding the flint and steel towards the ground. The rest of the group backed away from her a bit carefully- everyone knew that was standard procedure when trying to make sparks with a flint and steel.

She clicked the flint and steel together.

A white-hot spark erupted between the two items, a shockwave of energy rippling through the cavern as the screen switched to show the extent of the glow- which illuminated the hordes of zombies that were approaching them.

"Uh-oh," Gill said slowly.

" _Whoa!_ " Jesse gasped, sitting back on her heels a bit in surprise and scrutinizing the find with wide eyes, " _well... I have DEFINITELY never seen a flint and steel do_ that _before._ "

" _Uh oh,_ " Petra said.

Jesse blinked up at the Blaze hybrid from where she was kneeling, before turning to see what Petra was staring at. A second later, she sighed and put a hand to her face.

The screen switched to show the millions, and millions, and _millions_ of zombies that were now surrounding the hybrids.

"That, um-" Stampy scrambled backwards a bit and attempted to hide behind Dan and Stacy (and failing miserably), "that's a _lot_ of googlies."

* * *

 **A/N: Good god, I just realized how bad at planning I am... I have to copy and paste over 80 chapters to Wattpad, Deviantart, and AO3.**

 **... yeah, I didn't plan this out well. xD**

 **On a brighter note, everyone liked the fourth wall breaking last chapter, so I might do it more! (Ahemahem)totallywilldomoreofit(ahemahem)**

 **RQTC: Which ships do you want? Two more chapters until voting ends!**

 **So far the voting goes something like this:**

 **Aidassie: 10, Danzie: 6, Stampcy: 6, Misa: 12, Hadrevia: 5, Bromance!Maiden (Maya x Aiden): 4, Friendly!Jaiden (Jesse/Jace x Aiden): 4, Jesse/Jace Rose (Jesse/Jace x Cassie): 2, Bromance!Pexel: 2, Friendly!Jaclivia: 2, Dancat: 3, Bromance!Axesse: 1, Bromance!Ivoren: 1, Friendly!Soregaard: 1, Friendly!Regisa (Reginald x Isa): 1**

 **So far, the only ones that are being considered are still only Misa and Aidassie, so vote! Get your friends to vote! Ask your mom to vote! Or your coworkers or whatever! Just vote! xD**

 **Just kidding, you don't have to ask everyone if you don't really care. xD**

 **LunarStarsMoons: Lol yep xD**

 **RavenBlaze4850: (laughs) Yeah, it does. / Fair enough.**

 **Kaos Ruin: (laughs) / Well, I guess we get some friendly Jaiden xD / (laughs) Same here, dude.**

 **Immapotado: Whooooaaaa you're excited for Misa! xD / I'll cast your votes for it anyway x3**

 **GirlOfMyOwnWorld: Whoa you commented xD / Sure thing, dude!**

 **Emily The Avenger: (laughs) That was the intention. Decided to be more cheerful after all the doom and gloom in the last several chapters xD**

 **SofiaTheWriter88: (laughs) I was just bored and thought that'd be funny. / Jace is referring to Petra, but yeah! xD I've only watched part of Moana, so DON'T SAY ANYTHING ABOUT IT xD**

 **the indecisive bird: Alrighty :3 / Lol xD**

 **Meow Shadow: (cracks up) Reasons. Yes, okay. / (laughs) Really? I was just kind of bored. / Oh- thank you! I'm glad to hear you like it!**

 **AquaK13: (laughs) Never watched Deadpool. / You'd better believe it xD / Well, their house is relatively soundproofed. I say relatively because it doesn't apply to explosions. xD / (laughs)**

 **Darkbeast Dend: I don't know what you're asking, sorry...**

 **NinaNaranja: (laughs) / (cracks up) I don't think you're the only one who forgot the ships, child!**

 **homeworkoverload: (points at Chapter 61's A/N) / (laughs) Oh, you won't believe what I have in mind for that...**

 **S4SH4L4SH4theGaMeR101: (laughs) Neither can I.**

 **CrystalTearsofFaith: Okay, thank you! / Yep xD**

 **Guest: (grins and doesn't say anything)**

 **Rabbits rule: No. xD She isn't aware that she's in a story... or, well, a movie- you know what I mean!**

 **LittleAngelbun: So is I! (flails arms as well)**

 **Lady J 765: I'm glad to hear you liked it! / (scratches head) The story is... well, a lot of people have had the same idea, so you should try to attach a twist to it somehow, I think, though I like how it is currently going. I left you a review, so you might want to check that out. :3 / Ummm... well, I don't really know how that works. I just watched StampyCat play and wrote was happening, up until Episode 8, which I played through myself and then just watched. So I'm... not sure what the 'best way' to watch a video is...**

 **Shadow: No problem! I'm glad you lot like it x3**

 **Dancer: Okay!**

 **J.M.M: (shrugs) Okey. / (laughs) Well, I hope you had a good breakfast.**

 **Beli0304: (laughs) It was a bit hard to incorporate naturally, but I think I did okay. :3**

 **Sugarcone: Okay!**

 **The pigeon: Okey!**

 **Hello: Alrighty!**

 **Weasel: Okay, cool!**

 **x.X. A.L. X.x**


	84. Spider Jesse and the Temple of Doom

Jesse sighed and passed the flint and steel to her lower arms. " _Looks like some zombies have a death wish,_ " she said mildly, grabbing her sword and flicking it out of the sheathe on her back. The way her left eye started glowing red belayed the calm tone of her voice, though.

Petra whipped out her own sword, flames dancing across the enchanted blade, Blaze Rods blinking into existence around her and her gold eyes beginning to glow dangerously. The gold armor she was wearing with silver edges began to heat up until it was almost blinding from how red-hot it was.

Axel grinned and tensed up a bit, his eyes dilating so that his the whites of his eyes were almost totally eclipsed by dark gray irises and black pupils. Green mottled skin began to creep into more obvious places, creeping up his neck and down his hands.

Olivia went ramrod straight, her height shooting up a few inches and both eyes brightening as her arms sprang perfectly straight. A grin that showed suddenly knife-sharp teeth crept over her face.

"That looks awesome!" Nell crowed.

There was a moment of silence where the four hybrids regarded the hordes of zombies around them, before Jesse suddenly broke the frozen tableau as she flung an arm up. A strand of silk shot out of her hand and attached itself to the ceiling. She retracted it as she charged forward at the hordes of zombies, flipping herself in midair so that she landed on the ceiling. Tensing her knees again, she shot at a zombie and did another flip, landing right on it and stamping it into smoke. Without a single pause, she lashed out with her sword and separated a zombie from its head.

"THAT- WAS- AWESOME!" Nell nearly screamed, jumping up and down and making Em bounce a bit on the couch. Em shot her a scowl, but there was a small smirk twitching at the corner of the brown-haired girl's mouth.

Jesse was bouncing too, eyes gleaming with excitement. "I know!" she nearly _squealed_ in excitement.

" _Duck!_ "

Jesse flung herself down to all eights, and an arc of lava went soaring over her head, splashing onto a crowd of the zombies and making about a fourth of them at _least_ burst into flames. Petra then vaulted over Jesse's head into the fiery mess and began to wreak even more havoc among the zombies, making wreathes of flames shoot out from the group and shoot outlying zombies.

"That is _awesome!_ " Stacy exclaimed, grinning.

Axel charged in a different direction, flashing white, and Petra flung up a huge wall of blazing flames that flared up right in front of Jesse, the spider hybrid letting out a little yelp and rolling away to avoid getting charbroiled. Half a second later, she was nearly knocked straight back into the flames as a white-hot explosion blasted outwards, sending zombies and rotten flesh everywhere.

The wall of flames Petra had thrown up vaporized many more of the flying zombies on the spot, before dying down to show Petra slicing off the head of some hapless zombies.

Olivia bleeped into sight in a group of zombies, grabbing a zombie and throwing it behind her into the lava. Bleeping out of sight again, she lashed out with her long arm and bowled over a few more.

Jesse stood up and backed straight into Petra, Axel dashing back several steps so that his back was up against theirs, his body sending curls of smoke floating everywhere. Olivia bleeped into sight right next to him and Petra, looking around at the approaching zombies. Even with at least a third of their numbers devastated, there were still _thousands_ of zombies approaching.

"That is- that's a lot of monsters," Isa mumbled, wincing a bit as she scooted away a step or two. Reginald gave her a comforting pat on the back.

" _So what's the plan?_ " Axel asked, the camera beginning to circle them, " _if you ask me, it's about time we use a secret handshake._ "

Lukas was not the only audience member to blink at this. "What?"

" _Yeah- so let's use the Redstone Rap. Obviously!_ " Olivia exclaimed, sending another zombie flying as she swung one of her long arms.

"The Redstone- what now?" Stampy asked, blinking a bit.

" _Uhh, I think Olivia meant the Warrior Whip, there!_ " Petra said, kicking away a zombie and setting it on fire as it tried to grab her.

"Do that one! That sounds awesome!" Gill called, pointing at the screen.

" _Oh come on, it was my idea!_ " Axel complained, " _so let's do the Griefer Grab!_ "

"No no no, go for that one!" Magnus shouted, nearly knocking him and Ellegaard off the couch.

Jesse paused, before glancing back at Petra. " _Warrior Whip, go!_ " she shouted.

Magnus, Axel, and the gladiators all let out disappointed groans.

Onscreen, Jesse grabbed ahold of Petra's arms. Petra gave the black-haired spider hybrid a grin. " _C'mon, Jesse, make this good. Just like we practiced-_ "

Jesse started spinning around, the speed of the spin lifting Petra's feet off the ground. " _-_ _whoooooaaaaa!_ " Jesse released Petra after a moment, and the Blaze hybrid went flying. She spun in midair and killed several zombies using her sword, flipping around and landing on another zombie, killing it by stepping on it, before lunging forward and sending her weight into the next blow, killing the last zombie.

"You guys get _really_ good at this!" Nell cheered. "You could almost be as good as Tim!"

Jesse glanced at Jace. He shrugged.

Jesse sheathed her sword again and raced for the stairs, straightening up when Petra blasted back over. The two of them high-fived, before Petra blasted up the shaft as fast as she could, making a wind ruffle Jesse's hair. Jesse braced herself for a moment, before running up the stairs, Olivia teleporting up at random intervals as quickly as possible.

A doorway that none of them had noticed before opened up on the staircase, more zombies lurching out from the doorway.

Jesse let out a loud groan. " _Oh, come_ on!" she complained, before whipping out the sword again and charged up the staircase. Olivia pulled out a bow and shot a few zombies that were following them, a few fireballs from Petra taking out zombies before they could reach the group on the stairs. One zombie lurched towards Jesse from above, and Jesse lashed out with the sword, chopping straight through its legs and then sending it over the edge and into the lava, before the group continued bolting up the stairs.

An arrow impaled the ground in front of Jesse from the side, making the spider hybrid skid to a halt rapidly, before twisting and looking up just in time to see two skeletons get taken out by a lavafall, the lava burning the bones and bows into oblivion.

" _Ha! The lava took them out!_ " Axel cheered.

" _And... there go the stairs,_ " Olivia added, watching the lavafall set the wooden stairs on fire.

Jesse rubbed her forehead. "With a lavafall, having a _wooden staircase_ may not have been the best idea... we're lucky it didn't get set on fire _before_ the monsters came to attack us."

" _We need to get out of here!_ " Onscreen-Jesse barked, " _now!_ "

Olivia bleeped out of sight, and Jesse and Axel started double-timing it up the stairs.

" _Look out!_ " Petra yelled.

Jesse looked up to see a lavafall heading her way, and dropped to all eights, shooting forward like a bullet and lunging for a stair. Her fingers slapped into the edge of the stairs as the stairs she'd just been standing on disappeared, more and more lava taking out more and more sections of the stairs, trapping Axel in a corner of the tunnel.

"Ooooh boy," Stampy groaned, grabbing at his stomach. He looked a wee bit pale.

" _The vines! Climb the vines!_ " Jesse shouted to Axel, before jumping on herself and slamming all eight of her limbs onto the wall. With that, she started crawling up the wall rapidly while Axel clambered up the vines and Olivia teleported to the top, Petra hovering in the tunnel in case Jesse or Axel fell off and she had to catch them.

Yet _another_ opening in the wall opened up, and cave spiders started climbing out.

Petra let out a groan from where she was hovering. " _Cave spiders..._ why _did it have to be_ cave spiders?"

"What's wrong with cave spiders, exactly? I mean, you know- besides being a cave spider," Dan said quickly, looking around at Petra.

Petra rubbed her forehead. "Cave spiders, when killed, apparently have the tendency to pop like a balloon and splash blood everywhere, despite being smaller than regular spiders. They have a surprising amount of it, too."

"Glad I asked," Dan murmured, turning back to the screen with a decidedly queasy look on his face. Lizzie was looking a bit green, too.

Onscreen, Jesse's eyes narrowed, and she hissed loudly- " _Hey, back off!_ " - subtitles popping across the bottom of the screen to show what she'd just said to the spiders.

The cave spiders regarded the spider hybrid for a moment, before moving out of the way of both the creeper and spider hybrid.

"That was awesome!" Nell exclaimed.

Onscreen, Jesse gasped as the tunnel opening began to eke shut, piston by piston. " _The tunnel's closing!_ "

"Not so awesome!"

Olivia bleeped out of sight, throwing blocks into place to try to block the progression of the pistons, but the tunnel walls were persistent and simply smashed right through the blocks.

Jesse's eyes suddenly lit up, and she drew her sword again, hauling it back in a preparatory motion before winging it right at the tunnel's opening. Just before the floor clanged shut, the sword flew into place, keeping the tunnel open as the walls made odd grinding sounds, trying to shut itself again.

"THAT- WAS- AWESOME!" Nell screamed again, actually jumping out of her seat again and doing some sort of war dance.

"So cool!" That was Axel.

"I can't believe you just pulled that off!" Lukas nearly shouted, leaping to his feet and twirling the black-haired girl around in a hug in his excitement, making her squeak as he actually lifted her off the ground. When he realized the entire audience was now staring at him, he blushed and set her back on the ground, sitting down with a soft cough.

Harper and Ivor exchanged amused looks with one another.

Hadrian and Mevia exchanged glances too, though neither actually said anything.

" _I can't believe I just saw that!_ " Onscreen-Axel exclaimed, his voice having gone a pitch or two higher in excitement. " _That was amazing! Why is no one freaking out?_ "

" _Freak out on the inside, Axel,_ " Petra called, lowering as every muscle in her body tensed in concentration, a smirk making its way across her face, " _we gotta move!_ "

With that, she shot through the opening of the tunnel like a bullet, Axel squeezing through a moment later. Jesse drew her arm back and shot a strand of string through the quivering opening, and launched herself through. Doing a flip in midair, she landed on the ceiling, before dropping herself a bit and grabbing the hilt of her sword. She tugged at it, retracting the string at the same time, and the sword slipped out of the crack and allowed the floor to slam shut hard enough to make the temple's floor shake.

The screen switched to show the four hybrids emerging from the temple, panting heavily and grinning like a maniac from the adrenaline rush they'd just gotten. " _Holy_ crap, _that was_ fun!" Jesse said, grinning at Axel with wide eyes.

" _I know what you mean. Fighting off monsters, finding_ sweet _treasure,_ " Petra said, grinning slightly, bouncing on the balls of her feet from the adrenaline rush.

" _Like that flint and steel thing- you have to try it again!_ " Axel exclaimed, flailing his arms at the spider hybrid.

Ivor make a soft sound that was _something_ akin to a squeal, making everyone look at him as he bounced up and down, eyes sparkling. "I can't believe you found it!" he nearly whispered in excitement.

"The last time Ivor got this excited was when Soren got him that super old potion tome for Christmas," Magnus said lazily, leaning back on the couch.

"In his defense," Soren spoke up when he saw Ivor turn around to glare at Magnus, "it _was_ extremely old and _extremely_ rare. I think there might be only three or four copies left in the worlds, not that that many existed in the first place."

Most people seemed satisfied, although Harper, Otto, Mevia, Hadrian, Cassie, Isa, and- surprisingly- Jesse noticed the way he said 'worlds' instead of just 'world'. (She let it go, though- probably was just a slip of the tongue.)

"Oh- I wonder if that Ariza girl would have that book, then," Jesse suddenly spoke up, tapping her chin thoughtfully.

"Why would she have it?" A short pause. "Or, um, why would she have had it?" Petra wondered, looking over at the black-haired girl.

Jesse was about to explain when Olivia interrupted, "Maybe we should watch the episode so we don't miss anything."

"Oh. Yeah. That'd be bad," Jesse said sheepishly, quickly turning around to face the screen again, grinning sheepishly at the dark-skinned girl.

Onscreen, Jesse shrugged and pulled out the cyan flint and steel, the glow making her red eye turn purple and her green eye appear the same shade of green-blue that Lukas's eyes (in the episodes) were.

Going over to a nearby tree stump, Jesse knelt down, extending the flint and steel out, before clicking it together carefully.

A pillar of blue flames shot up within inches of Jesse's face, making her yelp and jump to her feet to hop away a step or two in surprise, all of their mouths wide open as they gaped at the blue flames. " _WHOA!_ " the four hybrids chorused, eyes widen.

And then a voice spoke up, Jesse's excited grin falling into a surprised look as she turned to look in the direction of the voice.

" _Well, well._ " The screen switched to show the enchanted sword, travelling up the armored legs and the enchanted blade to show the hand resting on the hilt of the sword. " _Where'd you get the new toy?_ "

* * *

 **A/N: (sighs) I'll just post the rest of the chapters to DeviantArt and Wattpad later. Like... a lot later. ... maybe not until _after_ Spring Break is over. Those two are more inconvenient. (Although AO3 is also rather inconvenient...)**

 **But whatever! We'll worry about that later. :3**

 **Eeeeee I'm so excited to write the next chapters x3 (bounces around)**

 **RQTC: What ships do you vote for? (I find it amusing that absolutely _no one_ voted for Gilya this time around xD)**

 **So far, the voting goes like this:**

 **Aidassie: 10, Danzie: 8, Stampcy: 7, Misa: 13, Hadrevia: 8, (Bromance!)Maiden (Maya x Aiden): 6, Friendly!Jaiden (Jesse/Jace x Aiden): 6, (Friendly)Jesse/Jace Rose (Jesse/Jace x Cassie): 4, Bromance!Pexel: 5, (Friendly!)Jaclivia: 5, Dancat: 8, Bromance!Axesse: 5, Bromance!Ivoren: 4, Friendly!Soregaard: 3, Friendly!Regisa (Reginald x Isa): 4, Sibling!JessexJace: 5, Reubenedict: 1**

 **The parentheses just mean that someone voted for romantic and not just platonic :3**

 **So far, the ones being considered are Aidassie, Misa, Danzie, Stampcy, Hadrevia, and Dancat.**

 **People- VOTE. (Keep in mind that I will probably include some of the platonic ships as well, but that depends.)**

 **pensuka: (grins)**

 **S4SH4L4SH4theGaMeR101: (laughs) Oh yeah. Completely forgot about that. xD**

 **RapidSammi: (laughs) / (squeals with you)**

 **NinaNaranja: (laughs) Don't worry, we're all a bit crazy.**

 **LunarStarsMoons: Yay! / Oh, that's- that's a lot of friendly votes xD**

 **Emily The Avenger: Good god, a lot of people want Hadrevia xD / YEET YEET!**

 **Kate's a cat: That's just the voting so far. xD / Okay! :3 / I have no idea, but I ship it too. xD**

 **AquaK13: Woot! (steals your popcorn) / (laughs) That's a new one! Sure. / (laughs) True. Okay, I'll add your vote.**

 **Coral: Okay :3**

 **Guest: Sure!**

 **LittleAngelbun: (sticks my head into magical vortex) Ooh! Potatoes. (grabs one and zips back out)**

 **CrystalTearsofFaith: (laughs) I couldn't stop laughing while writing that part.**

 **Darkbeast Dend: Why are Hadrian, Mevia, and Otto in trouble?**

 **DarkPrincess2001: (grins)**

 **J.M.M.: That's good to hear!**

 **homeworkoverload: xD / Okay! / Nope. Never watched it xD**

 **RebekahTPE: OH GOD xD (pops in and starts voting) / (laughs) Good to hear. / (laughs) / I DUNNO EITHER! xD / Yes. I can always buy another pillow xD**

 **Flwer: Okay! :3 Thank you for voting!**

 **Rabbits rule: No spoilers xD / (stunned silence) (bursts out laughing) Aboun, that was- wow, I never realized that! xD**

 **Guest: Thank you!**

 **Guest: Okay!**

 **Cool: Um, okay!**

 **Snuffles: Alrighty!**

 **x.X. A.L. X.x**


	85. Aiden and the Pussycats

Maya's big smile immediately fell, an anxious look coming over her face. She glanced at Gill, whose smile had also fallen into a frown, the two of them exchanging a glance before looking in Aiden's direction. The celery-green-eyed boy leaned onto the arm of the couch a bit, his expression so blank that it was unreadable.

Onscreen, Aiden hopped down from the ledge he'd been sitting on, the screen panning up to show his face. A nasty smile curled over his face. " _Looks a little, ah,_ sophisticated _for you, Jesse,_ " he continued.

" _Order of the Losers,_ " Maya sneered, coming up from behind them.

" _Yeah, losers,_ " Gill added, grinning at them cruelly as the two of them came up behind Aiden.

Maya's expression turned into an ashamed one as she winced and looked at the group sitting on the floor. "I am _so_ sorry..." Gill didn't say anything, but his facial expression made it abundantly clear that he felt the same way.

"It's alright, guys," Jesse said immediately, giving the two of them a reassuring smile.

"We're not friends in this version of events," Jace finished, the two of them raising their hands and fist-bumping one another without even looking at each other.

Reassured, Maya and Gill relaxed a bit, although Maya still looked a bit worried. "But why are we being such jerks after helping you guys out last episode...?" she mumbled, looking a bit unsettled.

Onscreen, Jesse simply let out a very long sigh. " _Are... you here to make trouble? Because... it's past midnight, you're all wearing armor, and you're here in the middle of nowhere and insulting us. I'm honestly not bugged by that, but I would... really like some sleep after my adrenaline rush wears off. Can you please make this quick?_ "

"You're being very polite," Olivia noted.

Jesse shook her head wryly. "I'm sure I'm just trying to defuse the situation. I bet you guys all twelve iron that it's not going to work, though."

"No one's taking that bet, Jesse."

" _Oh, I see,_ " Aiden sneered, " _the '_ Hybrid Order of the Stone _' is so_ special _they can't talk to anybody anymore._ "

" _What are you_ Ocelots _doing here anyway?_ " Olivia asked, crossing her arms over her chest and saying the name of the group in a mocking tone, avoiding direct eye contact with any of them.

Lukas frowned. "I like Ocelots."

Aiden chuckled. " _The Ocelots were_ Lukas's _gang. We ditched that name just like we ditched_ him."

Lukas's eyes widened, hurt coming over his face as he stared at the screen. Maya's hand flew to her mouth as she glanced at Lukas, tears springing into her eyes. Gill glanced over at Aiden fast enough to see Aiden flinching, a strange expression that nobody could read coming over his face- a mix of regret, sadness, and... maybe shock coming onto his face.

"You guys kick me out."

The sentence that came out of Lukas's mouth was so quiet that almost nobody heard it, and he felt as if someone had just kicked him in the chest. Sure, he and Aiden hadn't exactly been getting along great here, but in this version of events, they hadn't even _seen the episodes_.

And yet he'd still gotten kicked out.

Jesse looked at him and put her arms around him, giving a tight squeeze. He returned it, still staring at the screen blankly, until Jesse spoke up. "Well, we're not planning on leaving you alone," and she extracted one arm to gesture expansively at Petra and the others, Reuben giving Lukas a grin.

Lukas tore his eyes from the screen to glance at Jesse, who was giving him a hopeful smile. " _I'm_ not planning on leaving you alone," she said, her voice dropping into a lower volume.

Slowly, the blonde managed a small smile.

Onscreen, Jesse's eyes widened, before they narrowed. Her eyes were beginning to glow red in anger.

Jesse knew how her onscreen-counterpart felt.

Maybe she'd had a falling out with Lukas.

But he was still her friend, and there was no way in hell that Jesse was just going to let a flippant comment like that pass without saying something- _anything._

" _Yeah, we rebranded!_ " Maya turned around to reveal two Blaze Rods on her jacket (onscreen, Petra scowled a bit), " _We're the Blaze Rods now!_ "

Gill frowned. "I liked Ocelots better."

Onscreen, Gill threw his arms into the air. " _Blaze Rods!_ " he cheered.

Aiden glared at Gill. " _Shut up, Gill,_ " he snapped, the bearded man giving Aiden a sheepish look.

Jesse crossed all of her arms, shuddering slightly as all of them did so. " _Oh, that's too bad. I thought Ocelots was way cooler,_ " she replied, giving a nonchalant shrug.

" _That's what I said!"_ Gill said, waving his arms a bit as he grinned at Jesse.

Aiden glared at Gill again. " _Shut_ up _, Gill!_ "

Turning back to Jesse, he gave her a sarcastic, almost cruel grin. " _Where's Lukas, huh?"_ he asked, stalking towards Lukas and walking past her a bit, " _the minute the Order decided you were cool-_ "

" _For whatever reason-_ " Maya interjected.

" _\- he wouldn't stop sniffing around you like a tamed dog. Ironic, since he's an ocelot hybrid,_ " and Aiden sneered at Jesse.

Several people glanced in Aiden's direction.

"I am going to _shove_ my pickaxe up his-" Lukas cut Petra off, laying a calming hand on her wrist.

"Petra, stop. He's not worth it."

"Maybe he isn't," Jace spoke up, as Petra settled back into position reluctantly.

Jesse finished the sentence for him automatically. "But you certainly are." And this was accompanied with a smile.

Lukas blinked at Jesse, before letting out a soft sound and burying his head in her back, making her go "Oh" softly in surprise.

Onscreen, Petra growled a bit, Blaze Rods beginning to form around her. " _You take that back!_ " she snapped.

A barely concealed look of disgust finally made its way over Jesse's face, having reached her last tether, eyes beginning to glow red. " _Lukas wanted to leave us to risk his neck and save you guys-_ for whatever reason _,"_ she mimicked Maya angrily, " _and_ this _is how you talk about him?!_ "

There was a moment of silence, before Aiden waved at her arms, the lower ones still keeping ahold of the flint and steel. " _You probably think that flint and steel and your 'being a hybrid' and all that makes you_ so special."

" _No, not really._ "

The flippant comment made several people grin behind their hands, Lukas hiding a smile as he emerged from where he'd been hiding in Jesse's back for the past few minutes.

" _Classic Jesse,_ " Aiden sneered.

"Classic- _how_ is that even _close_ to Classic Jesse?!" Petra muttered angrily, making some very sharp gestures. It was pretty clear that she would've rather made a rather _obscene_ gesture, preferably in Aiden's direction.

Onscreen, Aiden stamped his foot, an angry look coming over his face. " _You take all the best stuff and never give anyone_ else _a chance._ That _should've been_ ours!"

"Does that seem like a very... _petty_ reason to you guys?" Olivia asked quietly, mostly to the group on the floor.

Lukas squinted at the screen a bit, before nodding. "Yeah, Aiden's- he's not _that_ petty. Or _that_ materialistic."

"Maybe he's unhinged or something?"

Everyone glanced at Jesse- well, everyone sitting on the floor, at any rate.

The black-haired girl shrugged a bit. "I mean, think about it. Being stuck in the Witherstorm and getting amnesia, and then watching the people he bullied get to be heroes... I'm not sure _anyone's_ mental state would be _okay_ after that. That combined with his usual... uh, personality," she gestured a bit at real-Aiden, making several of them grin slightly, "might explain why he's acting this way."

Axel reached out to clap Jesse on the back, before remembering and patting her on the head instead, making her pout playfully at him. "You should be a psychologist," he told her with a grin.

"I'll stick to being a wallflower, but thanks," Jesse joked.

"Maybe you should be a pirate," Petra joked, making the grin on Jesse's face widen.

Onscreen, Jesse arched her eyebrow. " _The flint and steel? Sure, I'll rewind time and you can go solve a difficult lever puzzle, fight through about a billion mobs, run up a staircase while it's being set on fire and disappearing, avoid lavafalls, climb up a vine-covered wall without plummeting to your death, throw your sword at the tunnel opening while climbing up the wall so you're not trapped for all time in the Temple of Doom, and yank your sword out before it breaks and without smashing your hands. Do you want to do that?_ "

There was a short pause, before she said, in a gentler, less sarcastic tone, " _Aiden, we earned this fair and square._ "

Aiden leered at that. " _Nothing you've done has ever been_ fair and square, _Jesse._ "

Real-Jesse winced a bit. Real-Aiden winced a little as well but said nothing.

" _You forget all the times you beat us at the Endercon Building Competition._ " A short pause. " _And the fact that you tried to destroy our build two months ago by pouring lava everywhere,_ " Jesse pointed out.

This prompted a round of snorts from the audience.

Aiden's fists clenched, nearly _trembling_ with rage, before he drew his sword and levelled it right at her face, glaring at the spider hybrid. Behind him, Maya and Gill also drew their enchanted swords. " _Hand over the flint and steel, Jesse. Don't make me ask again._ "

Jesse blinked at the sword, before raising her head a bit to look at Aiden and arching her eyebrow. " _I'm going to have to say no._ "

The flippant comment made several people grin.

" _It's not enough you got to save the world-_ "

" _What?_ " Jesse interrupted, finally looking fed up with the dark-brown-haired boy, " _No. No no no. Ex_ cuse _me. Saving the world wasn't as fun as you think it sounds. Do you know how downright_ terrifying _it was? I wouldn't be entirely surprised if all of us got diagnosed with Post-Traumatic Stress Disorder. You think it sounds fun? Fine. Next time a monstrous Wither decides to spawn and it can't be destroyed except with a special weapon, I'll let you go handle it. You can see how fun it is while you're being petrified out of your wits half the time and nearly dying the other half,_ thanks _very much._ "

"Jesse has a point," Ellegaard murmured, "I wouldn't be surprised if the whole lot of them came out of that situation traumatized."

"I'd honestly be surprised if they _didn't_ come out of that situation traumatized," Gabriel spoke up.

"Touché," Soren agreed.

Aiden jabbed his sword at Jesse again, glaring at her. " _Give. Me. The flint and steel._ "

" _I'm tired to listening to your jaw flap,_ " Axel hissed, before charging right at Aiden. Aiden spun around and kicked the creeper hybrid in the stomach, knocking him to the floor with a sneer.

" _Don't touch me._ "

"Axel!" Olivia gasped, tightening her grip on the burly boy's arm. Axel winced and rubbed his stomach. That was going to hurt.

Jesse turned to look at Axel with wide eyes. The sound of a sword being drawn made her spin around to see Petra extending her sword in Aiden's direction, flames flickering along the length of the blade. Olivia's arms straightened, and she glared at the Blaze Rods through glowing eyes. Axel clambered back to his feet and began to hiss, eyes dilating again.

"Yeah!" Clutch cheered. "Beat the crap out of those punks!"

"Uh-" Sparklez and Stampy winced, although Sparklez was the only one speaking. "How about we _don't_ do that?"

Jesse looked among her friends, a reluctant look on her face. " _Guys, come on, let's just go home,_ " she said placatingly, " _these 'Blaze Rods' aren't worth it._ "

Aiden looked from the hybrids, all of whom were ready to fight- except for Jesse, who simply looked reluctant to fight at all- and then at his own team, wearing minimalistic armor and holding a single enchanted weapon each, before gritting out a single word: " _Fine._ " He sheathed his sword, all of them relaxing and putting away their own weapons at that.

" _Some hero you are, Jesse,_ " Aiden smiled nastily, " _you couldn't even save your own dumb pig._ "

Jesse visibly flinched, stumbling back a step and staring at Aiden with a mingled expression of hurt, anger, and sorrow.

Real-Jesse flinched as well, making Lukas's arm gently tighten around her protectively. Real-Aiden looked away a bit, his lips tightening.

Was he really that big of a jerk?

" _What hope do we have when 'heroes' like you are throwing your weight around like this?_ " Aiden continued, " _It's not always gonna be this way though."_ And he grinned, a grin that promised something that none of them could place, pale green eyes glinting. " _Come on, guys, let's get out of here._ "

Maya left the clearing first, followed by Aiden. Gill paused and threw his arms up in the air with a grin. " _Blaze Rods!_ " he cheered, turning around- only to get shoved by Aiden, nearly getting knocked over altogether as Aiden's celery-green eyes flashed with fury.

" _I told you to_ shut up! _"_ he nearly _snarled_ at Gill.

Real-Aiden could feel Gill and Maya's gaze practically burning into him, but he carefully avoided their gazes. He wouldn't look at them.

Couldn't, really.

" _Hey, Aiden, one more thing,_ " Jesse spoke up again onscreen in a slightly shaky way, making the brown-haired boy turned to face her with anger written all over his face. The screen switched to show an almost _cold_ look written over Jesse's face. " _If you can't say something nice,_ don't say anything at all _._ " And she flicked a finger at him, sending a blur of white flying in his direction.

The web splashed over his mouth, effectively gagging the bully right as he opened his mouth to say something.

Several audience members giggled a bit at this.

He grabbed at the web, getting some of the sticky white silk on his hands before managing to rip it off and shake the web onto the floor. He sent a death glare in Jesse's direction. " _Look out, Jesse,_ " he nearly snarled, before stalking after the other Blaze Rods, Gill rubbing his chest where Aiden had just shoved him.

The cold look faded into a concerned one, and Jesse crossed all of her arms and turned to look at her friends. " _Okay... I'm officially starting to get a really bad feeling about Aiden,_ " she said, shooting a look in the dark-brown-haired boy's direction. " _Threatening people, enchanting his sword... he's different. Scarier, in a way. ... I really hope he doesn't hurt anyone._ "

Petra nodded, shooting a wary look in Aiden's direction. " _Yeah... we need to keep an eye out._ "

" _Man, and all because he wanted that flint and steel thing,_ " Axel spoke up, making Jesse turn to him, " _what are you going to do with it?_ "

"Take it to me, take it to me, take it to me," Ivor chanted under his breath, attracting some very concerned glances from the audience- chiefly those of his old friends.

Jesse shrugged. " _I think I'm going to take it to Ivor and see if he knows anything about it. He WAS the one who told us about the temple in the first place._ "

Ivor threw his arms into the air in excitement. "YES!"

"Alright, what is _up_ with you? You're seriously starting to freak me out here," Magnus told the man, blinking at him a couple times in concern.

Ivor just made a bunch of hushing sounds in his direction.

Onscreen, the Hybrid Order of the Stone turned around and started walking, the screen going up to show the temple glowing behind them, the lava structures on the center wall glowing brightly.

The screen blacked out.

Jesse turned to look at Ivor. "Are you _fanboying?_ " she asked, looking as if she was trying not to laugh.

Lukas 'coughed', hiding a big grin behind his hand. He wasn't the only one to do so- a little 'coughing' epidemic had just gone through the room, and Milo had his head buried in his hands, shaking a bit while he laughed.

Ivor scowled at them, but the pink blush that was spreading over his face did much to offset the scowl.

* * *

 **A/N: Oh-ho-ho I can't wait to write the next chapter xD**

 **RQTC: Favorite non-Order-of-the-Stone character in MCSM?**

 **It's a tie between Isa and Harper. (They're both awesome xD)**

 **The final voting polls go something like this:**

 **Aidassie: 11, Danzie: 9, Stampcy: 8, Misa: 14, Hadrevia: 8, (Bromance!)Maiden (Maya x Aiden): 7, Friendly!Jaiden (Jesse/Jace x Aiden): 9, (Friendly)Jesse/Jace Rose (Jesse/Jace x Cassie): 5, Bromance!Pexel: 7, (Friendly!)Jaclivia: 7, Dancat: 9, Bromance!Axesse: 7, Bromance!Ivoren: 5, Friendly!Soregaard: 4, Friendly!Regisa (Reginald x Isa): 5, Sibling!JessexJace: 8, Reubenedict: 4, Gilya: 2**

 **The final ships that made it into the story are:**

 **Misa (NOTCH-DAMN THE NUMBER OF PEOPLE WHO VOTED FOR IT xD)  
Aidassie (so many people voted for it xD)  
Hints of Hadrevia (I don't really know how to write it)  
Friendly!Jaiden (because why not?)  
Sibling!JessexJace (this one shot up to eight votes in like three days xD)  
Platonic!Gilya (I'm already hinting at it so I might as well xD)  
** **Hints of Dancat (It was the most-voted-for ship among the YouTubers, tying with Danzie)**

 **And of course we already have Lukesse, Platonic!IvorxJesse, Axelivia, Magnugaard, Harvor, and Jetra.**

 **I'm not including the other ones that reached 7 votes because THIRTEEN DIFFERENT SHIPS make it way too difficult to keep track of any more, I'd just end up losing track of all of them xD**

 **S4SH4L4SH4theGaMeR101: (laughs) / Yay!**

 **Mewgirl Anna: (laughs) I'm just asking for people's opinion. The voting is to see which ones I'm _considering_ putting in- basically it means that you could've already voted for a ship and gotten it all the way to like, 19 votes or something, but there's a chance I'm not going to keep it in because I don't really like the ship, or am just bad at writing it. x3**

 **NinaNaranja: I wouldn't know, Olivia keeps from making direct eye contact with anyone that isn't a hybrid to avoid that possibility- she doesn't know either xD / I hate Ghasts too xD / (laughs) Yeah, no. Those are- no. xD**

 **LunarStarsMoons: :3 / Well, that's just for the considering stage. But yeah xD / Ahaha, yeah, no xD**

 **Marco: Okey-dokey!**

 **Mari: Agh! Okay! xD**

 **Emily The Avenger: Okay! :3**

 **Beli0304: Haha, sadly not. I changed it up a bit, the original was a bit too choppy for my taste xD**

 **Guest: Okay!**

 **Lilly: Uh, okay! I nearly counted your vote twice by accident xD**

 **AquaK13: (laughs) / Nope, I just like popcorn. (eats some more) / Yep! / I picture her as a little kid as well. Black or gray eyes, wearing a sort of white dress-robe thing, and a little red medal. Also, the crown xD She also has black or red hair, I'm not sure which xD. I don't know why I picture her like that, I just do xD**

 **RapidSammi: Did you know that FFN censored the 'pussy cats' when it sent the email to me? xD / (laughs) / Oh lord, are those votes? I'm assuming those are votes. xD**

 **Chlosky: I think I said that was a ship that you can't vote for... since it's already included in the story...**

 **sailor . mikuchan: x3**

 **RebekahTPE: Yay! / I think I already put your vote down for all of them, but I'm not sure xD / Bow and arrow. Then I'd be a Ranger! xD**

 **Emily The Avenger: (laughs) I might just include it anyway, but I'm not sure.**

 **J.M.M.: I'm honestly surprised nobody else noticed it xD**

 **Guest: Thank you! And okay :3**

 **homework overload: (laughs) / Okay :3**

 **Guest: But why are they in trouble? That reasoning's... not complete. / Ender hybrid, because they're cool :3**

 **x.X. A.L. X.x**


	86. Long Live Lava

The screen came back on to show a set of gates leading into town. It panned down a bit to show the group of heroes trotting along the path towards it.

" _Finally starting to recognize stuff again,_ " Axel sighed gladly as they went towards town. " _Feels good to almost be home._ "

Jace, Petra, Lukas, Reuben, Axel, Olivia, Gill, and Maya stared at the screen sadly. "Oh yeah," Maya sighed, a sad look coming over her face as she stared at the screen. "I nearly forgot."

" _Cheers to that,_ " Petra said tiredly, shaking out some of her short red hair and twirling a bit of it around her finger.

Olivia shook her head a bit as she frowned and walked along the path. " _I just can't shake what Aiden was saying about us back there. We_ do _get a lot of treasure. And I guess- sometimes we might throw our weight around._ "

"Ahh, the classic 'heroes get arrogant' trope," Sparklez said wisely, "although I really can't see any of you getting like that." He paused, eyes flicking to Axel momentarily. "Most of you, anyway."

" _What? No!_ " Axel protested, " _Aiden's got a bad case of treasure-envy, pure and simple._ "

" _Well,_ " Jesse interrupted musingly, reaching one of her upper hands back to touch her chin, " _I suppose we_ do _always try and get the best treasure..._ "

" _Yeah, but that just means we have good taste, not that we're like, bullies or something,_ " Axel pointed out as the gates opened, allowing them access. The screen switched to show the area above the town, showing Reuben's monument, a small pool, the huge beacon that they'd lit up at the end of the previous episode, and a large building with a gold symbol above it, although the screen switched out too quickly for them to really identify it.

At the sight of the monument, both Jace and Jesse glanced at Reuben, who was nuzzling into their hands (which were resting on the top of his head), blissfully ignoring the screen. Both of them raised their eyes to glance at each other and nodded slightly.

They were going to save him. No matter what it took.

" _Mmm, you have a point,_ " Jesse murmured onscreen.

" _Well, no matter what Aiden thinks,_ " Petra spoke up, pulling off the gold helmet she'd put on to reveal her blue bandana, a guarded expression coming over her face, " _there's one thing I know._ "

" _What's that?_ " Jesse asked, twisting to face the redhead.

Petra raised a hand and raised her eyebrows. "They _think we're awesome._ "

She was nearly cut off as a voice shouted out, making Jesse look around and the screen zoom in on a couple of civilians jumping up and down as if they'd just won the lottery, " _They're back! You guys, they're back!_ "

Real-Jesse blinked, exchanging a glance with everyone on the floor.

" _Run!_ " the other one squealed, " _tell everyone our heroes have returned!_ "

"That's, uh," Jesse nodded at the screen, looking as if she was at a bit of a loss for words, "that's new." Her cheeks were already starting to turn red in embarrassment.

Onscreen, Jesse seemed to share the same sentiment, looking off to the side awkwardly and scratching the back of her neck, the same tint of red beginning to flush in her cheeks. She seemed pretty unused to the attention, too.

The man was shown running through the streets, his feet pounding against the stone walkways, and thousands and thousands of people stuck their heads out of the windows of buildings. Within moments, the man had an entire crowd behind him, all cheering and screaming in excitement. One man appeared up close, waving his hands above his head and yelling.

"They're, uh," Sparklez adjusted his sunglasses a bit and cleared his throat, "they're _really_ happy to see you."

" _Yep, Hybrid Order of the Stone is back in town!_ " Axel said cheerfully, shooting his spider hybrid friend a grin. She returned it, although it was more of an embarrassed one.

" _I'm still not used to this. And I honestly thought there would be a stronger reaction to us being hybrids,_ " she whispered to him.

Axel shrugged in response, patting her on the back. " _Well, we saved the world because of it,_ " he whispered back to her, " _I guess they just think it's cool._ "

" _Mmm,_ " Jesse conceded, before walking forward through the crowd. Her cheeks were growing redder and redder by the second as she kept walking, and it was just like the end of the previous episode. You could hear bits and snatches of the conversation and the cheering through the overall tumult of the crowd.

Real-Jesse and Real-Jace's face were turning bright red. Lukas and Petra exchanged mischievous grins.

" _Look at what you've done with this place!_ " Jesse called over the crowd, her cheeks still tinted pink, " _it looks freaking awesome!_ "

More cheering, and one fan jumped high enough that she could be seen over the rest of the crowd, screaming at the top of her lungs. Jesse winced with an awkward smile, continuing to walk through the crowd.

" _Welcome back!_ " the fan who'd squealed about them being back practically sang, rushing up to them and holding up her hand to Jesse for a high-five.

Jesse gave a little shrug and returned it, an awkward smile fixed on her face.

The girl ran over to someone on the sidelines as Jesse kept walking forward with a shy, awkward smile, giving another person in the crowd a tiny, shy, incredibly awkward wave, " _Did you see that?! Jesse high-fived me! Me! ... it actually hurt a bit. Wow._ "

And with that, Jesse glanced over her shoulder just in time to catch the girl's eyes rolling into her head with a silly grin on her face and the girl collapsing to the ground, making her wince and rub her head awkwardly.

Nell chuckled. "You brahs get, like, totes famous!"

"Yep, that's us," Petra grinned, gesturing at the now fire-engine-red face of Jesse. (Jace was just rather pink.)"Jesse the Tomato-Head and the fearless Hybrid Order of the Stone!"

Jesse buried her face in Lukas's chest, mumbling something about Petra shutting up that absolutely nobody caught. Lukas blinked down at her, before feeling his own face grow hot and resolutely staring at the screen, ignoring the way the audience was starting to titter a bit.

A terrified scream suddenly rang out over the screen, making the four of them stop and look around.

" _That... wasn't a 'happy to see us' scream,_ " Olivia spoke slowly.

Real-Jesse emerged from Lukas's chest to see what in the world was going on.

The screen zoomed around to show a... _structure_ that was reminiscent of a skull. With vines that looked like tentacles dripping down the surface and from underneath it. And having a lavafall coming out of its mouth.

Milo gaped at it in astonishment, completely speechless. Isa and Reginald exchanged a wary look.

" _Wow. That's new,_ " Petra said flatly, coming up to stare at it, before cocking her head to one side. " _It_ somehow _manages to evoke skulls and tentacles..._ "

" _While still doing the whole 'barfing lava' thing,_ " Olivia agreed, shaking her head a bit. " _Yeesh._ "

"It's magnificent!" Ivor protested, attention finally diverted from the flint and steel.

"Yeah, that's the coolest build I've ever seen!" Magnus agreed exuberantly. Axel, Slab, Facemeat, Clutch, Nell, Soren, Dan, Gill and Milo nodded their agreement to the sentiment as well.

Ellegaard met Isa's eyes by accident. Isa glanced at the screen and then back at the engineer, raising her eyebrows. Ellegaard just shook her head a bit, an amused smile curling her lips up.

" _It's, uh,_ " Onscreen-Jesse blinked at it in bewilderment, seeming a loss for words. " _It's certainly something._ "

" _NOT MY FAULT!_ " Ivor's voice rang out loudly onscreen.

"Was that Ivor?" Lizzie asked, narrowing her eyes at the screen.

"That explains it," Gabriel muttered under his breath.

" _Look out!"_

 _"Help!"_

The four hybrids exchanged a look before bolting towards the skull build, coming to a halt at the bottom.

" _Oh, stop your whining!"_ Ivor snapped, " _what are your pathetic injuries in comparison to my majestic tower?_ " The screen zoomed out, showing Ivor poking his head out of one of the skull's eyeholes.

"It's definitely a tower," Jace spoke slowly, blinking at the screen. "Majestic is... debatable."

Ivor scowled at him a bit.

Onscreen, Jesse blinked. " _Ivor?_ "

Petra sighed. " _Of course._ "

Ivor looked down, spotting Jesse, and grinned, waving his arms like pinwheels. " _Oh, Jesse- you're back! Don't listen to a word these_ fools _tell you,_ " and he shot an irritated glance at the rest of the crowd.

A woman standing a good distance away from the spider hybrid turned to face her, putting her hands on her hips. " _It's a fire hazard!_ "

" _And your face,_ " Ivor called down, " _is an_ ugly _hazard! So I suppose we're even._ "

Real-Jesse buried her face back in Lukas's chest, making a lot of little choking noises that sounded suspiciously like she was furiously repressing her giggles. Lukas followed suit, yanking the sleeve up to smother his own face. Everyone was doing their best to keep from laughing, Milo going so far as to climb over the back of the couch and duck down.

Ivor scowled at them all, a pink blush making its way over his face.

"Was that-" Gabriel made an odd 'coughing' sound. "Was that really necessary, Ivor?"

" _Uh, Ivor,_ " Jesse called up to him warily, gesturing at the skull build, " _what exactly is this?_ "

Ivor put his hands on his hips proudly. " _It's my new house!"_

The Order all blinked. "... what now?" Ellegaard finally asked, flatly.

" _And, my, uh, contribution to society. If anyone wants free lava, this is the place to get it. You're welcome!_ " he shouted down the crowd, a lot of angry muttering ensuing.

Gabriel facepalmed.

The crowd that was gathered around the bottom looked at Jesse expectantly, hands on their hips, brows furrowed. The spider hybrid hesitated, looking up at the build, then back at the crowd unsurely.

" _Jesse, all I wanted was what any man wants,_ " Ivor said. " _A little house of my own._ "

Real-Jesse blinked. "That's oddly sentimental, coming from-"

" _With loads of lava pouring off of it,"_ he finished.

"... never mind."

Lukas coughed a bit, arching his eyebrow at the potionologist. "I'm, uh, I'm not sure everyone wants that."

"I do," Milo said meekly, raising his hand like a schoolboy.

"It's so awesome," Magnus whispered loudly in agreement.

Onscreen, Petra walked up to Jesse with a frustrated look on her face, Axel and Olivia moving closer to get a better look at the build. " _Ivor. I know you mean well. But your 'house' wants to_ kill _people!_ "

Real-Jesse got a fit of the giggles.

" _Dude,"_ Axel called, kneeling next to the lava pool and looking at it admiringly, " _you made a killer house!_ "

" _Exactly!_ " the woman snapped, " _'Killer'_!"

" _What about just moving it somewhere else?_ " Jesse suggested meekly, " _I'm sure-_ "

" _Move it?_ " Ivor cut her off. "Way _more lava is going to spill out if we do that!_ "

Jesse winced a bit, the crowd once again turning to stare at her expectantly. " _Well? We have to tear it down!_ " the woman exclaimed, hands still on her hips.

"No no no, don't do that!" Clutch groaned.

" _We can't let that monstrosity stand!_ "

Ivor leaped down from his tower, the woman looking a bit startled, and ran right up to Jesse, who stepped back a bit with wide eyes. " _It's my house, Jesse,_ " Ivor nearly _begged_ her, " _I have just as much a right to build something as all these people, don't I?_ "

"I'm pretty sure none of them built a giant house that vomits lava on people," Hadrian replied sarcastically, indicating the screen.

Jesse burst out laughing, burying her head back in Lukas's chest to muffle it, although the blonde had also started shaking with laughter. Jace had literally _fallen over,_ cracking up so hard he was nearly crying, while Petra was nearly choking on her laughter. Olivia had her own head buried in Axel's chest in an attempt to stifle her laughter, the burly boy doubled over and cackling with laughter. Reuben, Benedict and Winslow were all 'laughing' as well.

Aiden was nearly in tears right now, the first emotion he'd visibly shown in a while bursting out in a raucous laugh, while Maya had collapsed onto Gill and was hooting with laughter. Gill was cracking up as well, trying hard to stop laughing and failing miserably. Magnus had nearly fallen off the couch and dragged Ellegaard with him, although she wouldn't have been much help either- she was now nearly _crying_ with laughter. Soren was stepping on the instep of his foot to try to keep from laughing and failing miserably anyway, while Gabriel had just dissolved into a fit of helpless laughter.

Milo, who'd been about to re-emerge from behind the couch, dove behind it again, Isa shaking with silent laughter on the couch and Reginald burying his face into a couch cushion. Cassie was fighting the biggest grin ever as she paused the episode to give everyone a chance to collect themselves, while Stampy had actually fallen off the couch and was now wheezing on the floor. Dan was right next to him, face buried in his arms as he nearly cried with laughter. Sparklez had dissolved into a fit of the giggles, while Stacy and Lizzie had tears rolling down their faces.

Harper had a pillow shoved up to her face, shaking with laughter while Ivor was laughing too, bent over at the waist and allowing his long hair to flip over and hide his face. The gladiators were in stitches, Em and Nell couldn't stop laughing, while Otto was chuckling and couldn't stop. Mevia was openly laughing, clutching at her stomach as she struggled to breathe, while Hadrian was also starting to fight a grin.

At last, the laughter calmed down enough that most of the members could at least pay attention to the screen without dissolving in a fit of giggles, and Cassie pressed the play button again.

Jesse paused onscreen, before shrugging and dropping her voice so that only Ivor could hear her. " _Ivor, why don't we_ remove _the lava, move the house somewhere a bit less... public, and_ then _put the lava back in?_ " she suggested.

The man paused, a thoughtful look coming into his blue eyes. "... _that actually seems like a good idea,_ " he said at last.

"Yes!" Real-Ivor threw his arms into the air with a grin. "Long live my lava house!"

A ragged cheer rose from the audience, the members of the audience who weren't cheering either halfheartedly pumping a fist in the air or simply sitting in silence with a grin on their faces. Jesse smothered a grin.

" _Good!_ " Jesse raised her voice again. " _We'll move the house out of the way so that we don't have to deal with a house that's, um, dripping with lava,_ " she called, most of the crowd seeming appeased now and trickling off.

Ivor turned to Jesse, patting her on the shoulder and making the spider hybrid grin. " _Glad to see you're a natural diplomat. Haven't seen you in a while._ "

" _And by a while, I assume you mean two days?_ " Petra asked sardonically.

Ivor shot Petra a look. " _Ha ha._ " He then turned to Jesse again, a smile coming over his face. " _So, what can I do for you?_ "

Jesse grinned at him. " _Ivor, we found something at that temple you told us about!_ " she exclaimed, cheerfully.

Ivor jolted forward, grabbing ahold of Jesse's shoulders and making the spider hybrid start back in surprise. " _What? You did?_ " He seemed to realize what he was doing a second later and let go, clearing his throat awkwardly as a blush came over his cheeks. " _Ah, yes, ahem... well, come here._ " And he extended his arms in a hugging motion.

"Wait- you're offering her a _hug_? When was the last time he hugged us, that one Christmas?" Soren asked, looking at the other members with an exaggeratedly shocked expression.

"Mmm, yeah, might've been that night he got massively drunk-" Magnus agreed, grinning and resolutely ignoring the way the teenagers in the audience were starting to giggle.

"I-in my defense, _you_ were the one who challenged me to a drinking contest while we were both rather tipsy already-!" Ivor argued back.

"Yeah, didn't you both pass out on top of each other after- what, seven dozen beers?" Gabriel jumped in a little too eagerly, a grin on his face as the giggles turned into full-blown laughter. "You were both completely sozzled after that-"

"Can we discuss drinking habits _after_ we finish watching the episode?" Ellegaard interrupted, barely able to repress a grin as Ivor spluttered incoherently where he was sitting.

Onscreen, Jesse gave Ivor a quizzical look, before shrugging and moving into the hug.

He started talking in her ear, her long hair blocking his mouth as he muttered rapidly into her ear. " _Meet me in the Treasure Room. Ten minutes. And bring the thing you found._ " With that, he released her, gave her a pat on the back, and walked off again.

"Huh. You can be subtle. Who knew?" Magnus hummed.

Ivor threw a pillow at him.

Jesse blinked twice, arching her eyebrow as Petra came up behind her, before turning to look at the redhead. " _I wonder why Ivor wants us to meet him in the Treasure Room..._ "

" _Oh, did he say that?_ " Petra asked, looking slightly surprised at this.

Olivia spoke up, making the others all look at her. " _Well, if we're going to move this, I'm going to go see if Ellegaard, Magnus and Soren can help us out. We'll be right back._ "

" _See you later!_ " Jesse said cheerfully, playfully saluting to the Enderman hybrid. The Enderman hybrid rolled her eyes with a grin, saluted right back, and the burly male and the tall female walked off side by side.

"Ishipit," Gill coughed, before clearing his throat. "Sorry, I _really_ need some water."

Maya hid the huge grin spreading over her face.

" _Well, let's go find Ivor, I guess,_ " Jesse said mildly to Petra, the two of them exchanging a smile, and the two of them walked off in the other direction.

The screen blacked out.

"Aww, I hope we catch up with you soon," Axel said, pouting a bit.

Jesse shrugged, giving the burly boy a solid pat on the back. "Well, it's not like anything _that_ interesting is going to happen while we're gone."

"Yeah, it's not like we'll be running into a bunch of fire squids or something," Petra joked.

The screen faded back in to show a large hall with a huge statue of the amulet on the ceiling, even better than the ones back at Soren's fortress. Jesse and Petra trotted along a long red carpet, passing by dozens of treasures and posters, the most precious ones at the end. The amulet, the Witherstorm's Nether Star, the suits of armor Ivor had had, and a few empty pedestals.

"Wow," Stacy shook her head admiringly, "you guys've been busy."

"Amazing," Soren breathed in interest, "that's even more impressive than the original Order's treasure room."

" _Wow, this place is really shaping up,_ " Petra whistled, looking impressed, before she turned back to the front- and her eyes widened. The screen switched to show someone's back as he stared at the treasures on the pedestals.

Jesse gasped. "Hey, it's Lukas!"

Several other members of the audience's heads snapped around to face the screen, eyes widening.

" _Whoa! Lukas! I don't believe it!_ "

The screen switched back to the spider hybrid. Jesse's green and red eyes widened in shock, the relaxed smile falling off her face, and her head snapped around from looking at the redhead just in time to see Lukas whip around to see them, his own blue-green eyes wide.

* * *

 **A/N: Let there be fluff... next chapter. xD**

 **RQTC: Did anyone notice the Indiana Jones reference a few chapters back?**

 **Who's ready for all the ADVENTURE to start in a few chapters? xD**

 **Meeeeeee!**

 **Also, guess who just realized that there's only 14 chapters until we reach the 100-chapter milestone (gapes)**

 **Emily The Avenger: Woot woot!**

 **LunarStarsMoons: (shrugs) Sorry... :3 / I know, right? xD I just love a few of them more than the others.**

 **CrystalTearsofFaith: I'm not sure that makes sense... knocking someone off the edge and then catching them... ... eh (shrugs) Interesting idea, though. :3**

 **S4SH4L4SH4theGaMeR101: (laughs) Very true. / Probably stay the same. I'm not sure it'd make sense for them to suddenly change into a human. xD**

 **DarkPrincess2001: Is he? xD**

 **AquaK13: He's a tree hugger! (grins) / (whistles) Nice :3**

 **LittleAngelbun: (pokes the wrapped box) Is this going to explode in my face? / Also, glad you're happy about the new chapters x3**

 **Darkbeast Dend: (grins) Yep.**

 **NinaNaranja: Nope, not just you xD / Yeah, I feel bad too (frowns) / Hehe, yeah Harper's great x3 / Oh, it is? (checks) HOLY SH-**

 **SofiaTheWriter88: Yeah, that's true :3 / Hehehe xD I didn't even realize that until you pointed it out. / He did xD And I agree. / If I could watch anime on PAMA... ohoho xD**

 **RapidSammi: (laughs) / (is excited with you) (glomps you)**

 **Beli0304: (cracks up) / I'm glad you liked it!**

 **J.M.M.: Let's see if they did! xD / How do you mean?**

 **Rabbits rule: Very true (nods) / (blinks) ... I- okay... / Thanks, Fluffy! / (laughs at that) / Wow, that was- that was kinda cold, Fluffy. / LE GASP! Kylik! ... you're getting along with people, good for you x3**

 **the indecisive bird: (laughs) / (cracks up) Lol dude. / (winks)**

 **Chlosky: (grins)**

 **x.X. A.L. X.x**


	87. Making Up

" _Hey,_ " Lukas said, a bit awkwardly, as he turned around fully and batted at his ears nervously. The ocelot ears atop his head flicked anxiously as he did so, blue-green eyes darting everywhere anxiously as he glanced away from Jesse. " _You guys are back. How's, uh... how's it going?_ "

Several members of the audience shot the two of them faintly worried glances, before looking away again.

" _Hey,_ " Jesse said sharply, eyes narrowing as she raised a finger to point at him, before she let her arm drop, and a softer smile came over her face. " _You came back._ "

Lukas was still batting at his ears and fidgeting with his tail anxiously, still avoiding her gaze. It didn't take a genius to tell that he was nervous. Yet he somehow managed a weak smile at that. " _Yeah. I, ah... thought I'd show my face again._ "

The tension between the two hybrids was so thick that it seemed to be making the very air surrounding the two of them solid.

" _Well, it-it's great to see it!_ " Petra exclaimed, looking from the tense face of the spider hybrid to the anxious one of the ocelot hybrid. " _Your... face I mean._ "

Her attempt at releasing some of the tension flopped miserably.

Real-Lukas shifted uncomfortably, shooting the black-haired girl sitting next to him an uncomfortable look. Their eyes happened to meet as she did the same, before they both looked back at the screen in perfect silence.

Onscreen, another silence stretched out as the two of them just stared awkwardly at one another, the air around them turning to bricks as they regarded the other.

Lukas finally let out a sigh and stepped down the stairs as he walked towards Jesse. " _Listen, Jesse, I'm- I'm not going to beat around the bush here. The last time we saw each other? With- what I said... I'm not happy about how things went down, and I... want to patch things up. I'm tired of us not talking to each other, so... I'm sorry,_ " he finished, standing only arms' length away from the spider hybrid.

The spider hybrid stared at Lukas for a moment, her red and green eyes widening a bit, before she shook her head a little.

Real-Lukas winced and looked down at his lap at the sight of that, but Onscreen-Jesse wasn't finished. " _Hey,_ " she spoke, all of her arms crossing a bit, " _I'm the one who's sorry._ "

Onscreen, Lukas's eyes widened a bit. Real-Lukas's head lifted so that he was looking at the screen again. " _I wasn't in a very good... emotional state back there,_ " Jesse continued, slowly, " _and, well... it's not how I wanted things to end._ "

She'd barely finished when she found herself being enveloped in a warm hug by the ocelot hybrid, his eyes squeezed shut. She blinked for a minute, before a soft smile twitched over her features and all six of her arms lifted up to return the hug. " _You're a good friend, Jesse,_ " Lukas whispered into her ear, " _that... means a lot._ "

Real-Lukas glanced at Real-Jesse, worry and hope dancing in his eyes. She put the worry to rest, reaching out and giving the blonde a comforting smile and a squeeze on the wrist.

"You two should seriously just kiss already."

Gill got a pillow to the face this time around.

Onscreen, the two hybrids stepped apart, giving each other lopsided grins.

" _You two sound like you broke up or something,_ " Petra hummed absentmindedly.

Both of them gaped at her, hot pink.

Real-Petra shot them both a smug grin when they both turned to stare at her, their own faces bright pink as well. This prompted a small round of giggling from the audience.

Jesse shot Jace a pleading glance, but he just put his hands up in surrender and shook his head a bit, a big grin plastered over his face. The message couldn't be clearer- _You're on your own there._

Onscreen, Lukas cleared his throat, looking away from them both awkwardly. " _It's, um, it's, uh... good to be back._ " His eye caught something, and his eyes widened as he walked towards the wall. The screen switched to show a little picture of Reuben with a framed pork chop on the wall. " _Oh, wow. You framed it- um, him._ "

Jesse simply nodded once. " _Yeah,_ " she replied simply.

Jesse and Jace ignored the sympathetic glances shot in their directions, and did their best to ignore Isa and Cassie's empathetic gazes especially, since they were both starting to feel tears welling up in their eyes.

Isa was frowning at them both, seeing them scoot closer to the little pink pig seated between them on the floor. Before becoming the Founder, quite a few people (she glanced at the couch that held Hadrian and Mevia) had made fun of her for having her pet- her best friend- be a chicken. Seeing the two of them, and the same relationship they had with Reuben that she had with Benedict, even if the girl had only met them both a few days ago, it was no wonder that she'd already developed a liking towards the two.

Onscreen, Lukas's expression grew sadder as he hesitantly asked her, " _How... are you doing?_ "

Jesse stared blankly for a moment, before the corner of her lips twitched, and her shoulders sagged as she lowered her head to stare at the floor, hands clenching into trembling fists at her sides. " _I... I really, really miss him._ "

Jesse and Jace exchanged a glance. Jace honestly would've been okay if it was just the group on the floor watching this scene, since he knew Jesse was pretty much going to spill out her guts for everyone to see, but he barely knew the others. He found it hard to remember all their names. He'd hardly even spoken to any of them before, for that matter. But it wasn't like he could just tell them to leave.

So he just turned back to the screen after a minute, reaching out blindly for some comfort.

He found Petra's hand and intertwined his fingers with hers, pressing his palm to hers and squeezing a bit.

After a short moment, she squeezed back.

Jesse glanced into Lukas's sad blue-green eyes, before she squeezed her eyes shut and turned away again. " _Every morning, I wake up, and- just for a minute, or a few seconds, I pretend that he's just in another room, or rooting outside looking for carrots._ "

Lukas pulled the black-haired girl into his chest and squeezed gently, trying to convey his sincerest thoughts without actually saying anything. Judging by the way she didn't just try to shove him away and just stayed there, starting to tremble a bit, he'd succeeded. Jace let his head drop into his hands, Petra pulling the mocha-haired male into a warm hug. Axel shifted closer to the rest of the group, wrapping an arm around Olivia, who'd started sniffling a bit.

Soren closed his eyes and glanced away, Gabriel frowning and lowering his head to stare at his lap uncomfortably. Ellegaard turned around and buried her head in Magnus's chest, the Rogue leaning forward and hugging her as he surreptitiously dashed his hand over his eyes. Ivor gave Jesse a sad look, the black-haired girl not spotting it from where her head was buried in Lukas's chest. Harper stared down at her lap, before she instinctively reached out and grabbed a fistful of Ivor's sleeve, tightening her grip on it as she tried to get a grip on her feelings.

After a moment's pause, the woman not looking up from where she was staring at the floor and therefore missing the way his eyes darted to her in surprise, he carefully rotated his arm so that he could grasp at her forearm gently.

Maya wiped her eyes, Gill wrapping an arm over her shoulders. Aiden glanced away from the screen, an awkward look entering his eyes. Cassie pulled Winslow to her in a tight hug, burying her face in his fluffy warmth. Sparklez pulled off his sunglasses to hastily wipe at his eyes, and Stampy buried his head in Dan's shoulder, the other male comfortingly patting him on the back. Lizzie and Stacy exchanged sad looks.

Milo took off his hat in respect, while Reginald closed his eyes and bowed his head a bit. Isa picked Benedict up and gave the chicken a tight hug (not too tight, mind). Slab sniffled, while Facemeat scrubbed at his eyes and Clutch blew her nose. Em and Nell exchanged uncomfortable looks before returning to the screen, Otto simply shutting his eyes a bit. Hadrian exchanged a glance with Mevia, but to his surprise, the blue-haired woman appeared rather uncomfortable as well. He watched her for a moment, before turning back to the screen.

" _For a moment, I get to forget what happened to him, and I do."_ She took in a deep breath, before letting it out in a soft, sad sigh. " _And then, every morning, I get to wake up, and remember all over again that he's... gone._ "

There was a short silence, before Lukas stepped forward and wrapped his arms around the spider hybrid again. " _I'm so sorry,_ " he told her, voice a mere whisper.

Jesse just squeezed her eyes shut, lips trembling.

After a moment, he gently released her, rubbing his head with a sigh. " _Okay, guys, I didn't just come back here to bum everyone out._ "

Real-Jesse let out a soft, watery laugh at that, extracting herself from Lukas's tight hug.

Onscreen, Jesse's lips twitched up in a faint smile.

" _I actually came back because I have to tell you guys something... it's about this weird run-in I had... with Aiden,_ " Lukas finished, his expression turning from sorry and sad to deadly serious in the span of a few seconds.

"Oh, here we go," Petra grumbled, making Jace chuckle a bit as he re-emerged from her hug, wiping his eyes a bit.

Maya and Gill exchanged worried looks.

Onscreen, the faint smile on Jesse's lips fell right back off, and she let out a sigh. " _Yep, we saw him too. The Hybrid Order of the Stone and the 'Blaze Rods' are just as friendly as ever._ "

" _That's an understatement._ "

Petra's sarcastic comment made the room perk back up a bit, a few people letting out amused chuckles.

Onscreen, Jesse shared the same sentiment, smiling a bit, as Lukas continued with a frown on his face, " _He's been so jealous of you and the rest of the Order ever since you saved the world from the Witherstorm. Convinced that_ he _was supposed to be a hero..._ "

Real-Jesse frowned. Her 'diagnosis' on this version's Aiden was that he'd become unhinged. If he'd been unhinged before she'd heard this, she was now fairly certain he'd started becoming schizophrenic.

" _Ever since he took over the Ocel-_ " Lukas stopped himself, clenching his eyes shut for a moment and looking as if he'd been slapped or something, before correcting himself, " _the 'Blaze Rods', it seems like he's just gotten... meaner. Pushing Maya and Gill around._ "

"We noticed," Maya mumbled, only loud enough so that Gill could hear her. He nodded.

" _Jealous?_ " Onscreen-Jesse asked, looking incredulous. "Why? _Does he think it was_ fun _having to run for my life in terror?_ "

"Jesse's got a point," Otto mumbled, only loud enough so that Mevia, who was seated right next to him, could catch an inkling of that. She nodded but said nothing in response.

" _No... he..._ " Lukas hesitated for a few seconds, before blurting, in the manner of someone who had something unpleasant to say and wanting to get it off his chest as quickly as possible, " _he thinks you're a big bully, Jesse, looting and keeping all the good stuff for yourself._ "

Real-Jesse flinched, and Onscreen-Jesse froze, eyes widening in shock. Her lips moved as she mouthed what Lukas had just said to herself.

Aiden had flinched a bit as well, but it was such a small reaction that no one had noticed, except Cassie, who glanced at him before glancing away again.

Onscreen, Petra let out a near feral _snarl_ , making Jesse look at her in surprise as the Blaze hybrid's expression darkened, sparks spitting off of the Blaze hybrid. Petra was downright _pissed_ right now. " _That little piece of- I swear to Notch, I'm going to snap him in half next time I see him._ "

Aiden surreptitiously tried to scoot away from Petra a bit more.

Jace patted Petra on the back, a faint smile coming over his face as he laughed nervously. "Uh, Petra, I appreciate the sentiment, but... can we maybe... _not_ do that?" Next to him, Jesse nodded in agreement.

Petra stared at him for a minute, deliberating this, before simply shrugging. "Maybe."

This probably didn't do anything to reassure Aiden.

" _Uh, maybe... don't,_ " onscreen-Jesse replied weakly, raising one finger into the air and wincing slightly.

Lukas spoke up again, making her look at him as Petra attempted to calm herself down and swatted at some of the sparks spitting out everywhere. " _So, what'd you find that got Aiden so excited, anyways?_ "

Jesse grinned a bit as she reached into her pockets, pulling out the glowing flint and steel. " _Check it out!_ "

" _Wow,_ " Lukas said musingly, walking right up to it and staring at the cyan glow in fascination along with Petra, " _what a weird glow..._ "

" _Yeah, I'm supposed to show it to-_ "

" _YOU FOUND IT!_ "

Ivor literally seemed to appear out of thin air right next to Jesse, making the three hybrids let out a loud yell and jump away. The audience had similar reactions, at least half of them jumping out of their skin and three-quarters of the entire audience letting out a loud yell. Reuben let out a loud squeal, jumping into Jesse's lap and knocking the already-off-balance girl into Lukas and toppling the three of them to the floor. Dan and Stampy clonked foreheads and let out a twin yells as they grabbed at their heads. Benedict let out a loud squawk and flapped her wings furiously, making a storm of feathers fly into the air and hitting Isa and Reginald as Milo flinched and nearly toppled backwards off the couch. Winslow let out a loud yowl, making Cassie yelp inadvertently as the cat scrambled onto her head, digging his claws into her blue beanie.

"Ivor!" Soren was clutching at his heart in a panic. "How- what- _why?!_ "

Onscreen, Lukas put his hand over his heart as Petra yelped, looking ticked off, " _Dude, what's_ wrong _with you?!_ "

Jesse gave Petra a look as Ivor actually started _bouncing up and down_ in excitement, dark blue eyes nearly glowing, " _This is the greatest find of our time!_ " He clapped his hands together near his mouth as he kept bouncing, eyes starting to _sparkle_ with excitement. _Sparkle,_ I tell you. It was unreal. " _I can't believe you actually..._ "

"You _are_ fanboying!" Jesse exclaimed, pointing at Ivor.

"What-? No, I'm definitely not- I have no idea what you're talking about," Ivor said loftily. This would've had more effect if his face wasn't already starting to turn bright red.

"I don't have any clue what that thing is," Nell said, leaning over and resting her elbow on the couch arm, "I mean, it's like _super_ cool and all, but it kinda has to _do_ something, or else fanboy over there wouldn't be so excited."

This almost lazy comment prompted a round of giggles from the audience.

Onscreen, Jesse arched her eyebrow at him, smiling at his antics. " _Alright, spill, what's it do?_ " she asked, although his excitement appeared to be infectious, since she was starting to grin now.

Ivor looked up at Jesse, a huge grin spreading over his face. " _That glow... that enchantment is the work of a very old group of builders- a group so old that they existed even before the Order of the Stone!_ "

Harper frowned a bit. "He's... going to say it, isn't he?"

At this, Otto, Mevia, and Hadrian groaned, making several members of the audience glance at them in confusion. A bit more subtly, Soren's jaw tightened, Isa's jaw _twitched,_ and Cassie leaned one arm on the couch arm and kneaded her forehead a bit.

None of them bothered to explain the reactions, though.

* * *

 **A/N: (puts hands in the air) Woo! We're about to get this adventure going! x3 So excited! Can't wait to write out all those changes I've been planning x3**

 **RQTC: What do you think my personality's like? I'm actually curious to see what people think of me. x3**

 **By the way, the Indiana Jones reference is in the title of Chapter 84, to those of you who didn't spot it. x3**

 **Emily The Avenger: Woot! (puts hands in air)**

 **the indecisive bird: That's alright :3 / Yeah, it's long xD The rewrite's... probably gonna be pretty long too, now that I think about it. ... I'm super good at planning (hangs head) / Yay!**

 **RWBYSTRQ: Thanks!**

 **S4SH4L4SH4theGaMeR101: (laughs) Well, here you go! / Pfffft yep xD**

 **NinaNaranja: Honestly, I just kinda shrugged and was like, 'well, it IS his house'... xD / He does xD / If you want to have one, sure :3 I actually have a special thing planned for Chapter 100... (though they will have to take a break from watching the episode the chapter before... hm.**

 **Peculiar Ann: Hey! (laughs) Yeah, Lukesse's great. / xD I like the Serpentine to a point.**

 **AquaK13: (cracks up) Lavor is the best ship xD / Yes, I know right? / Yay! Two people got it! xD / Oh dear xD Sorry / Bai!**

 **DarkPrincess2001: Indeed xD**

 **Beli0304: And here is the chapter! / Yay, three people! / Me too! (winks) Adventure!**

 **LunarStarsMoon: Ahh, sorry (grins sheepishly) / (laughs) Don't worry, I don't think a lot of people did. / Thanks! Glad to hear you were giggling :3**

 **RapidSammi: (laughs) Nice.**

 **CrystalTearsofFaith: Okay xD / (cracks up) Yeah, Ivor's great. He's like the drama and the humor all in one.**

 **Rabbits rule: (laughs) Sorry, still a Lukesse shipper.**

 **J.M.M.: I mean, I have that OC story up right now... and usually it's just me sticking MCSM characters into a different plot, if I have a different story in mind.**

 **Darkbeast Dend: I've... answered this question three times now.**

 **x.X. A.L. X.x**


	88. Some Portals and Lots of Laughter

" _Wow, so that temple we went to was built by the... 'very old group of builders'?_ " Jesse asked, passing the flint and steel down to her lower arms as she looked up at the potionologist curiously.

"Well, at least she didn't say it," Otto murmured.

Ivor nodded rapidly, eyes still fixed on the flint and steel. " _That's my suspicion,_ " he spoke, " _but it's what's_ inside _the temple that interests me even more! You see, if these builders truly existed, and if you found their temple... that means we're one step closer to finding the 'Eversource'!"_

Unnoticed by everything else, whose eyes were fixated on the screen, Hadrian, Mevia, Otto, Harper, Cassie, Soren, Isa, Milo, and Reginald blinked at the screen, before all of their heads turned so that they were staring at the little crowned chicken clucking away in Isa's lap. Isa let out a low sigh. "Of course," she muttered under her breath, softly enough so that the rest of the audience couldn't catch it.

Onscreen, Petra chuckled and elbowed Lukas in the ribs, making the ocelot hybrid wince a bit and rub the spot where she'd nudged him. " _Looks like you came back just in time, Lukas._ "

" _The Ever... what now?_ " Jesse asked, arching her eyebrow at Ivor curiously and tilting her head to one side.

" _The Eversource!_ " Ivor repeated.

"That doesn't... explain anything," Jace said slowly, turning so that he was staring at Ivor.

Jesse stifled a laugh at this sardonic comment.

Onscreen, Lukas arched his eyebrow as well. " _You, uh... gonna actually explain it any more than that?_ " he asked hesitantly.

Several members of the audience snorted at this.

" _The Eversource is said to be an object of incredible power possessed by the Old Builders,_ " Ivor began rather impatiently.

"Annnnd there it is," Harper mumbled, the seven of them wincing a bit upon hearing the name and causing several more curious looks to be cast in their direction.

" _It was some sort of treasure, or artifact, that gave them an endless supply of precious materials! Think about it, Jesse! That temple must've been its hiding place!_ " Ivor finished the statement onscreen.

Milo's eyes flickered to Benedict. "Or not." (He was quiet enough that the real Ivor couldn't catch it.)

" _Wow... 'Old Builders',_ " Petra said musingly, reaching a hand up to touch her lips, " _you learn something new every day._ "

"They're going to be saying 'Old Builders' in this quite a lot, aren't they?" Hadrian grouched to Mevia and Otto quietly. Cassie, Isa, Soren, and Harper were sitting too far away for them to catch it.

Jesse nodded, looking back at the flint and steel with a serious look on her face. " _Okay, this flint and steel thing might have the 'Old Builder' enchantment..._ "

Cue more winces from the seven members, although they were able to pull it off subtly enough that most of the other members of the audience didn't spot it this time. Jesse did, though, and her eyes narrowed a bit as she mentally filed away who'd winced in her head for later.

" _... but how do you know that's where the Eversource thing is?_ "

Ivor looked Jesse dead in the eye, his own expression deadly serious. " _I've travelled near and far, Jesse. That temple, that flint and steel... it's the only firm proof that I've ever seen of the Old Builders._ "

Petra nodded a bit, a thoughtful look coming over her face. " _That does seem like a pretty solid bet._ " She grinned at the other two hybrids. " _'Old Builders'-_ "

More winces.

" _\- 'Eversources', ancient mysteries... you know I'm in._ "

"Giant crab in Moana," Jace whispered playfully.

Petra punched him on the shoulder, making him grin and wince a bit as he rubbed his now-sore shoulder.

Ivor hopped up and down again (earning him a snicker from Magnus and Gabriel, although the real Ivor was getting far too excited to even give a damn about it), excitement entering his facial expression as Jesse and Lukas nodded agreement. " _Excellent! I'll pack my adventuring things immediately!_ " And he ran off before any of them could possibly object to the suggestion. (Well, _suggestion..._ that implied that they had a choice in the matter of whether or not he could come.)

Real-Petra cringed. "Oh, you've _got_ to be kidding me..."

Onscreen, Petra's face fell. She obviously shared the same sentiment with Real-Petra. " _Wait a minute-_ he's _coming?_ "

" _Sounds like you guys have a lot to get to. I guess I'll take off-?_ " Lukas suggested, moving for the exit.

Petra's arm shot up and blocked his path, making the ocelot hybrid grin teasingly at the redhead. " _Nope! You're coming with. I need the biggest buffer I can have between me and Ivor._ "

Jesse laughed at that, the screen blacking out a moment later.

Reginald leaned over to whisper into Isa's ear. "They're going after the Eversource. What do we do?"

Isa frowned, before giving her head a little shake. "There's not much we _can_ do. Just keep them from finding out that she's here for as long as possible, I suppose. Other than that... I don't know."

The screen faded back in to three ocelots, prowling around in the jungle.

"Hey, it's Maya, Gill, and Lukas!" Axel exclaimed, raising an arm to point at the screen. "Hey guys!"

Maya gave vent to a very unladylike snort, burying her head in Gill's shoulder to try to stifle it. Gill was shaking his head with amusement, while Lukas sent the burly boy a mock-glare. Axel simply grinned back.

Ivor leaped over a small hillock, causing the ocelots to scatter, grinning widely. " _Adventure! Haha!_ "

"Did he just say that? I can't believe he just said that," Magnus whispered to Ellegaard, who was making a very funny face to keep from laughing.

"Oh shut up," Ivor grumbled in their direction.

" _Lukas,_ " Petra said to Lukas as Ivor ran ahead again, " _I know it's daytime, but watch our backs, okay?_ " Lukas nodded and smiled at her, slowing down to drop back a bit behind the rest of the group. Petra leaned over and whispered into Jesse's ear, " _I can't believe we're bringing Ivor with us. I mean, it's nice that he's excited... but he's not the first person I'd choose as 'adventuring companion'._ "

The screen switched to show Ivor doing a little sort of march-dance ahead of them.

Jesse somehow managed to not snort as she furiously repressed her laughter, although her face was turning bright red from the amount of energy it was taking her. Ellegaard was not quite as diplomatic, letting out a loud one as she buried her face in Magnus's chest, the Rogue shaking so hard with laughter that it was nearly _silent._ Gabriel was doubled over and snickering quietly, while Soren was shaking so hard he'd nearly fallen off the couch, gripping the couch arm for support.

Honestly, they probably deserved to get that pillow that got chucked at them for some reason or another.

Onscreen, Jesse gave a little shrug, giving a faint smile. " _Well, we can't argue that when it comes to all the ancient history and treasure, Ivor sure knows a LOT about it. Also, he has experience. Order of the Stone, and all that._ "

" _Eh, true. Fair enough._ "

" _These trees are enormous!_ " Ivor suddenly announced, throwing his hands into the air in excitement. " _I love it so much!_ "

Magnus, Soren, Gabriel, and Ellegaard dissolved back into a fit of giggles. Harper carefully kept her face composed, but the way the edge of her mouth twitched upwards belayed how amused she felt at the fact.

Jesse actually casually _picked Reuben up_ and hid her face behind the pig at this point to keep from giggling too severely, which was causing more giggling from the rest of the audience, which was setting the black-haired girl off even more. Ivor huffed and leaned back into his chair, scowling at the screen, being careful not to let anyone else see how amused he was becoming.

Onscreen, Jesse smirked a little and glanced back at the Blaze and ocelot hybrid, who were both smothering giggles to the best of their ability. Petra in particular looked rather amused. Jesse's smirk widened as she turned back around to the front.

" _He just..._ " Petra managed once her laughing fit had abated, " _really gets on my nerves sometimes._ "

The screen switched to show that they'd reached the temple, which in the daytime looked less intimidating, yet somehow even _more_ impressive.

"That's... wow, that's even cooler than I thought at first," Lukas said, goggling at the screen with wide eyes.

" _Remarkable!_ " Ivor exclaimed onscreen, putting his hands on the hips and grinning at the temple. " _Look at this architecture! So old! So exquisite!_ "

Jesse shrugged. "He does have a point about that."

Soren hummed his agreement to Jesse's statement.

" _This is just like how I dreamed it would be!_ " A beat, before he spoke thoughtfully. " _Except for less cake... my dreams usually involve cake._ "

Axel gasped. "Mine too!"

Jace very carefully swallowed a laugh.

" _Nice to see you smiling,_ " Jesse said as she walked up to Ivor, resting her hand on his shoulder with a grin.

Ivor's eyes widened, his smile falling off his face, and he whipped back around to face the front. " _I'm not smiling._ "

Jesse let go of his shoulder and literally bent over at the waist, her shoulders shaking minutely from the effort it was taking to hide her giggles, the spider hybrid's hands moving to cover her face. Petra took off her helmet and tugged her bandana over her face, starting to shake as well, and Lukas grabbed his tail and buried his face in it.

The giggles that had begun to infect the audience began to turn into uproarious laughter at the sight of their reactions onscreen.

Jesse finally straightened back up, her face so straight that it was clear that she was hiding a smile at this point. " _This place looks a lot different in the daytime,_ " she noted as they started walking into the temple. And indeed, with daylight streaming into the temple, it didn't look nearly as imposing.

" _Okay, be careful what you touch. There could be traps everywhere,_ " Ivor instructed, although he was still hopping around in excitement like a bunny hyped up on sugar.

The image of Ivor with bunny ears was too much for Real-Jesse, whose eyes glazed over a bit as she focused all of her attention on stopping the giggles that were building up in her throat, shoulders shaking from the effort.

" _I'm sure that if we didn't trigger any the last time around, we're not going to trigger any this time,_ " Onscreen-Jesse teased, as Ivor continued hopping around.

" _Petra! Blonde guy! ... Lukas! Yes, Lukas! Are you as excited as I am?_ "

Petra grinned teasingly up at Ivor, who was still bouncing around. " _I'm not sure that's possible,_ " she told him jokingly.

" _Yeah, right now Ivor's worse than Axel when he got all hyped up on sugar that one time in the lab-_ "

Lukas's comment made the three hybrids suddenly shudder in the middle of what they were doing, all six of Jesse's hands clenching into fists, a spray of sparks spitting off of Petra, and Lukas's hair rising on end. Ivor gave them a surprised look. " _Have your memories not all come back yet?_ " he wondered, raising an eyebrow.

Jesse shook her head. " _No, not quite. They keep coming in little flashes whenever something triggers it, but it's not quite back yet,_ " she replied, her shoulders relaxing a bit.

" _Ah, I see._ "

Jesse nodded again and moved away from them, before pausing. The screen switched to show a makeshift staircase. " _Ah, hold up- there's some sort of room up there!_ " she exclaimed, moving to look at some vines on the wall near the makeshift staircase.

Ivor, Petra, and Lukas crowded around her as the spider hybrid twisted to look at them, a faintly excited grin coming over her face. " _This looks promising, I'm gonna head up,_ " she told them.

Ivor nodded vigorously. " _Fantastic! We'll follow right behind you!_ "

Jesse nodded and turned back to the wall, taking a step back, before tensing her knees and leaping into the air. All eight of her limbs slammed onto the wall, making solid contact, before she propelled herself up the wall rapidly.

"No matter how many times she does that, it doesn't get any less cool," Nell said cheerfully.

"You said it," Axel agreed.

The screen switched to show Jesse shoving aside some vines as she walked into a different, hidden room. There was an elaborate design on the wall, with a pressure plate on the ground in front of it. Besides that and a few more openings in the other walls, it appeared to be empty.

" _So, you think this Eversource is up here?_ " she called down to Ivor, looking around the room a bit.

" _Hard to say, Jesse!_ " Ivor called from where he was presumably still standing on the ground below. " _As the story goes, the Old Builders feared its potential, so they hid it away in a place where it would never be found._ "

Jesse frowned a bit at that. " _Well, then this can't really be the hiding place, we found this room in like, five minutes,_ " she mumbled under her breath, seemingly to herself. " _Right, R-_ " she stopped, a strange expression coming over her face, before a sadder one came over it. " _... right, I- I forgot for a moment,_ " she murmured, turning away to keep searching.

Several of the audience members exchanged sad looks.

" _I'll keep you company, if you'd like,_ " and Jesse jumped out of her skin as the narrator suddenly started speaking again. Not that she was the only one; several other audience members jumped a bit as well.

" _Notch-DAMN it, don't_ do _that!_ " she hissed, looking up at the ceiling angrily. " _Nearly scared the pants off me._ "

" _Well, I mean, I'm sure Lukas would like to see you like that._ "

Lukas's face turned fifty shades of red. "I- _what-"_ he spluttered, his arm tightening around Jesse and making the smaller female squeak involuntarily. Petra's face also turned bright red, and her head snapped around to stare at the stuttering blonde on the floor. Jace's cheeks heated up, and he put a hand to his forehead. Ivor's face flushed as he put a hand over his mouth, blinking several times in embarrassment.

About every other member of the audience had a similar reaction, turning various shades of pink or red and finding some reason to avoid looking at the screen directly. Hadrian developed a supreme interest in his lap, Mevia had found something on her nails, and Cassie was developing an interest in Winslow's' fur.

Real-Jesse just blinked innocently, having not gotten the gist of it.

Onscreen, Jesse seemed to have the same sentiment as Real-Jesse, straightening up and staring at the ceiling with a confused look. " _... what?_ " she asked, seeming actually bemused.

"Yeah, what- why's everyone blushing?" Jesse asked, looking around.

"You'll learn when you're older," Ivor mumbled around his hand, his face still red as he stared at something utterly _fascinating_ on the carpet.

"Ivor, I'm seventeen."

A long pause as everyone remembered this rather pertinent fact.

"... oh yeah." A long pause. "You'll have plenty of time to learn about it, anyway."

Jesse just gave them all a weird look and turned back to the screen. "Uh... oooooookay then."

"... _never mind._ "

Onscreen-Jesse just arched an eyebrow at the ceiling. " _... suuuure. Whatever you say,_ " she said after a moment. Her tone indicated that she didn't believe the narrator one bit.

 _"Well, anyways- If you don't feel like talking to yourself, I'll be here,_ " the narrator said in a conciliatory tone, after a few seconds of awkward silence.

" _Right, thanks. So instead of talking to nobody in particular, I'm talking to an imaginary voice in my head. Much better,_ " Jesse snarked a bit, rubbing her head with a sigh.

" _What's Jesse doing up there?_ " Ivor's voice floated up to the room on top again, sounding rather impatient this time.

"Didn't he say they were right behind her?" Dan pointed out, tilting his head curiously.

" _Ah- alright, shoo, they don't need to think I'm crazy,_ " Jesse said, uncrossing her arms and flailing furiously at the ceiling. A beat. " _Well, crazier than I already am, I mean._ "

Several people snorted at this, gradually getting over the rather embarrassing moment that had just occurred.

" _Alright, alright. I'll get out of your hair._ " A silence fell over the room as Jesse approached the pressure plate curiously, rolling her eyes a bit at the narrator's intrusion.

" _Well... this looks promising._ " With that, Jesse reached one foot out and stepped on it, making a lot of clicking sounds from pistons sound as the design on the wall, gold and quartz, slid forward to face Jesse, before the center of the 'doorway' slid back into the wall again.

" _Jesse? What did you find?_ " Ivor's head finally emerged from the area where the makeshift staircase was, his eyes widening upon seeing what Jesse had discovered. The screen switched to show Jesse examining the strange design with interest.

" _Wow, what's this?_ " she asked at last, looking the design up and down curiously.

Lukas emerged from the staircase as well, approaching the design/doorway thing and touching his lip thoughtfully. " _Some kind of... portal?_ " he hummed musingly.

"Here we go," Otto murmured.

* * *

 **A/N: (laughs) There we go, this is getting good! Next time on Hybrid: Cinematic Mode, watch Aiden as he steals and then Ivor nearly plummets to his doom.**

 **RQTC: For when they're in Sky City, should Jesse talk to the Founder or go with Milo? I honestly like both paths quite a lot, so it's up to you guys. When referring to it to showing the votes, I'll be referring to the different paths as 'Founder's Path' and 'Build Club Path'. Lemme know what you guys want in the comments!**

 **S4SH4L4SH4theGaMeR101: (grins) Yeah, I'm very protective of my friends. / (laughs) Yeah, I am a bit of a nerd.**

 **the indecisive bird: (laughs) Nope, just the title. / Uhh... nope. I don't plan any of my stories (not the majority of it, anyways- usually just the beginning, random events in the middle, and the end), and they turn out... fine? I think? xD / Well I don't know what type of person you'd like to hang out with, so xD / Probably because A) they're builders and B) they're old xD Creative name, right? xD / Hm, that gives me an idea for dialogue change for Episode 7 (grins)**

 **Emily The Avenger: (grins)**

 **NinaNaranja: Eee, thanks :3 You're completely right. / (laughs)**

 **AquaK13: (cracks up) / Thank you! And I'm glad to hear that you guys think I have funny moments xD / Yay!**

 **Rabbits rule: Pretty much xD / Thanks, Aboun!**

 **CrystalTearsofFaith: Oh my Notch I know, right xD**

 **LunarStarsMoons: I love fluff. :3 / Yep! That's true. / I'm glad to hear that :3**

 **RapidSammi: Uhhh.. (gives you allergy medication instead) I'm pretty sure that would be better...**

 **Beli0304: Thanks! / Yay :3**

 **J.M.M: (grins)**

 **LittleAngelbun: (carefully opens box) Oh. Yummy! (eats one)**

 **Darkbeast Dend: (laughs) I didn't know you jumped when Ivor yelled, but good to know. / Aww, I'm glad to hear that my story caused you start playing MCSM! xD**

 **SofiaTheWriter88: (laughs) No. xD / Ahh, I see. / Thank you! / Ahh, I see. Don't worry about it.**

 **x.X. A.L. X.x**


	89. Aiden Steals and Ivor Fanboys

Ivor was practically making anime eyes at the portal. _Anime_ eyes. " _It's just like I'd imagined,_ " he nearly _cooed_ with excitement.

Jesse glanced at Ivor onscreen, a playful smile playing on her lips. " _Once you're done fanboying,_ " she said, sounding more amused than anything else, " _do you know where it leads?_ "

Petra and Lukas sniggered at the black-haired spider hybrid's comment both onscreen and in real life. Real-Ivor huffed, blushing faintly.

Onscreen, Ivor cooled down a bit, regaining his usual composure. " _I don't know. This portal..._ " he looked the gold-framed doorway up and down for a few moments, a frown creasing his features. " _... it's not like anything I've ever seen._ "

Jesse glanced at the portal for a moment, staring at the gold thoughtfully. " _Ivor... maybe that treasure-_ "

" _The Eversource!_ " Ivor corrected. Jesse nodded absentmindedly, waving that fact off as she stared at the doorway in concentration.

" _-yeah, that. Maybe those old dudes hid it..._ in _a portal?_ " the spider hybrid suggested, straightening up and looking at Ivor curiously.

Mevia spluttered a bit. "Old d- that's even _worse_ than Old Builder!"

"If it bothers you so much," Jace asked, twisting around to look at the scowling Mevia, the frowning Otto, and the angry-looking Hadrian, "would you prefer us to call them 'Those Guys'?"

Petra let out a snort, slapping her hand over her mouth a second too late in an attempt to muffle it. Her laughter increased as she noticed the disgruntled expressions on their faces, and the faintly annoyed one that came over Harper's as she turned to glance in the mocha-haired male's direction. (The irritation seemed to increase when they spotted the teasing grin on Jace's face that meant he was joking.)

"Well, why don't we call them Forgotten Fabricators or something like that?" Lukas suggested, trying to nip his own laughter in the bud before it could get too out of control.

"Forgotten Fabri-what-tors?" Axel asked, twisting to look at Lukas in confusion.

"Okay, so maybe not that."

"Ooh, or Classic Constructors?" Lizzie piped up, bouncing in her seat a bit in excitement.

"Seems a bit long. Archaic Architects?" Ellegaard suggested.

"What does 'archaic' even _mean?_ Did you make it up?" Magnus asked the redstone engineer, quirking his brow at her. She huffed and smacked him on the shoulder.

"No I did _not_ , it means 'very old'!"

"So basically we're calling them 'Very Old' Architects?" Magnus asked with no tact whatsoever. He smirked a bit when he heard Mevia spluttering in the background indignantly. Ellegaard smacked him.

"What about Ancient Architects?" Jesse offered meekly before the redstone engineer and the Rogue could start arguing.

A short silence as everyone considered the name, before Isa hummed a bit. "Actually, it's not bad."

"Sounds much more elegant than 'Old Builders', at least," Mevia huffed, crossing her arms at the name.

"Alright, so from now on, just so that they stop cringing, we'll stop referring to them as 'Old Builders'. I mean- we can't help the name on the screen, but in real life," Jesse said authoritatively, before shrinking back and looking around the room meekly. "I mean- if that's okay with everyone."

There were several nods and agreeing sounds, before they all turned back to the screen.

Ivor's eyes had lit up. " _Ah! Hiding it_ in _a portal... I like it! It makes sense,_ " he praised the spider hybrid, patting her on the back with a smile.

Jesse smiled back, taking out the flint and steel in her pocket and carefully approaching the portal. " _Well- here goes nothing,_ " she said mildly, before leaning down a bit and clicking the flint and steel together.

A shockwave of cyan energy sent the group flying backwards onto the floor. The portal frame was no longer empty, cyan and azure swirls swirling to life inside the frame. The flint and steel had slipped out of Jesse's hands, and were now clinking as they rolled across the floor, before clattering to a stop near a set of feet.

"Oh no," Reginald mumbled.

Jesse tilted her head backwards to see who it was, before letting out an irritated groan. " _Oh, great. You're not any less unpleasant upside down than right side up,_ " she sighed, flicking her finger to send a strand of string to the ceiling, before retracting it and using the speed and upwards lift to flip herself back into a standing position.

The screen switched to show Aiden holding the flint and steel, Maya and Gill just behind him. " _Thanks for bringing this to me, Jesse. I knew you were good for_ something."

Real-Jesse frowned. Lukas's arm tightened around her protectively.

Onscreen, Lukas's eyes narrowed angrily, his tail twitching sharply as a soft hissing noise emitted from him. Petra glared as well, Blaze Rods beginning to form around her and sending sparks dancing through the air. Ivor also crossed his arms, a glare directed in Aiden's direction.

Onscreen-Jesse simply sighed. " _Gee. Thanks. I feel soooo flattered._ "

" _Your little adventure is over._ _Step aside, Jesse,_ " Aiden sneered, the other two members grinning nastily at the other members of the Hybrid Order, "we're _going through that portal now._ "

"Like heck you are!" Petra snapped.

" _Oh, NO way!_ " Onscreen-Petra barked back, immediately all fired up (Real-Jesse smirked a bit at the unintentional pun).

Lukas's claws unsheathed with a sound remarkably like a sword being unsheathed. " _Aiden, you're done,_ " he nearly hissed in agreement, " _this is where it ends!_ "

Aiden didn't look afraid. Didn't even look _annoyed._ " _Fine,_ " he said, putting the flint and steel away carefully. " _Blaze Rods! Clear me a path!_ "

"You've _got_ to be _kidding_ ," Milo muttered, scowling at the screen. "Such cowardice..."

The other two drew their swords, pointing them at the Hybrid Order.

Petra's own sword came hissing out of its sheathe, igniting the moment it was leveled at the Blaze Rods. Lukas's body slumped down into a fighting position, pupils narrowing into slits, as Jesse flicked out her sword and leveled it at the Blaze Rods, both eyes starting to glow red.

Gill charged at Jesse and lashed out at her head. The spider hybrid threw herself backwards into a sort of crabwalk, the other boy staggering as the blade met with no resistance (although she'd only dodged it and missed getting her head cut off very narrowly), before Jesse whipped back up to an upright position and spun around to face him again. Behind her, Lukas darted forward and clanged his claws sharply against Aiden's blade, Petra rushing forward to engage Maya with her own flaming blade.

"All right, more action!" Nell cheered.

Gill grimaced at Jesse a bit. "Sorry about-" He paused, before gesturing at the screen.

Jesse waved dismissively. "It's fine- like I said earlier, we're not friends in that version," she said comfortingly, giving him a faint grin.

Gill sighed a bit in relief.

Onscreen, Gill lashed out with his sword again. Jesse flung the sword up, and the bearded boy's sword clanged violently into Jesse's. The two of them pushed at each other, the blades trembling and moving first one way, and then the other, before one of Jesse's lower arms reached into her pocket, she flicked out an axe, and brought it up to clang against her sword.

Gill struggled to keep the sword straight, but it was starting to waver back in his direction.

Then Jesse's arms lashed out, and she knocked Gill backwards onto his back, the axe at one side and her enchanted diamond blade at the other. She hesitated for a moment, a reluctant sort of look coming over her face.

Which ended up costing her as Gill kicked out and knocked her to the floor, the axe skittering just out of arm's reach.

"What is it with them and kicking us?" Axel grumbled.

" _Let's go!_ " Aiden ordered the other Blaze Rods, before he raced forward into the glowing portal. Gill raced in as well, and Maya dodged under Lukas's somewhat halfhearted swipe and slid into the portal.

" _We've got to follow them!_ " Ivor shouted, rushing over and helping Jesse up, before turning to help Petra.

Real-Petra blinked and glanced in Ivor's direction, but the former Order member had his head turned away to watch the screen.

Onscreen, the redhead snatched her arm away and mumbled something incoherently about she was fine. Ivor continued, turning back to Jesse, " _If they get to the Eversource... who knows what trouble they'll cause!_ "

" _Yeah. I don't usually like agreeing with Ivor,_ " Petra jerked her head at the man, " _but he's got a point. Who knows what kind of trouble he could be causing in there._ "

Real-Aiden clenched his eyes shut, letting out a nearly inaudible sigh.

He was wondering much the same thing.

Real-Jesse hesitated, before giving a slow nod, eyes hardening. " _We're going after Aiden. After all,_ " and an uncomfortable expression came over her face, " _we can't let him actually hurt someone._ "

Petra nodded, before dashing through the portal, Lukas dropping to all fours and bolting in. Ivor charged in not a minute later, and Jesse waited for him to disappear through the glowing doorway before charging into it herself.

The screen blacked out for a moment, before it came back on to Jesse screaming as she reappeared in thin air, falling forward and slamming full-force into Ivor, who'd been standing at the edge of a sort of cliff.

Real-Jesse cried out in alarm, Lukas bolting forward with his eyes wide in shock.

" _Whoa!_ " Ivor screamed as he toppled forward, twisting at the same time with half of his body going over the edge before all six of Jesse's arms lashed out and seized ahold of his arm. The wind was blowing loudly, making a low whistling sound and rustling their hair.

" _Don't worry- I've got you!_ " Jesse shouted, digging her boots into the dirt as she struggled to pull him up in time. Ivor was staring down with an anxious expression, the screen zooming out to show that he was literally dangling over this bottomless drop.

"Oh boy," Harper sighed, leaning back and putting a hand over her thumping heart.

"That was way too close," Lukas gasped in agreement, Real-Jesse leaning into the blonde boy with a sigh of relief.

Ivor nodded as well, making a loud 'whew' sound as he tried to catch his breath.

After a few moments, Jesse managed to haul Ivor up far enough that he was able to get both feet on solid land, the two of them bending over to pant heavily from exertion and a bit of fear. " _... you are_ surprisingly _heavy,_ " Jesse gasped after a minute, Lukas and Petra approaching from the side.

Ivor glared at her, although it seemed a bit lackluster. " _I am... the proportionate weight for my height... thank you very much!_ " he huffed out, hands also on his knees, although he didn't really seem that annoyed.

Magnus snorted, making Ellegaard smack the Rogue on the arm and roll her eyes, turning away before he could spot the grin tugging at her lips.

Lukas came over, his claws resheathing, and patted Ivor on the back. " _There ya go. Easy now._ "

Ivor sent Lukas a look that may have been a mixture of annoyance and... gratitude. " _Yes, thank you, thank you!_ " he grumbled, sounding annoyed, but there was the ghost of a smile playing on his lips.

"Awww you have a soft spot for us," Jesse cooed teasingly.

Ivor grumbled and looked away, a pink blush dusting his cheeks. "I most certainly do not," he huffed, valiantly ignoring the way Jace was sniggering and several members of the audience were sending him smug looks.

" _There's nothing but sky down there!_ " Onscreen-Jesse exclaimed shakily, hand pressed to her heart as she tried to steady her breathing. She gingerly stepped over to the edge of the 'island' and stared down, eyes wide. " _Just... clouds, really, just empty- sky!_ "

"Welcome," Milo said dramatically, spreading his arms out wide, "to _our_ world!"

The other viewers gaped at him.

"You _live_ there!?" Olivia blurted.

" _Great._ _Wow. You should be a poet,_ " the narrator's voice cut in.

Jesse's head jerked up, and she glared up at the sky, being careful not to lift her head too much. " _Shut up,_ " she muttered, under her breath, before carefully stepping back a step to make sure that she didn't fall.

" _I've travelled all over the world,_ " Ivor murmured thoughtfully, " _nearly to every corner... and there has always been land or water beneath me. You could just fall forever. And ever. And ever. And ever._ "

"That is, uh..." Sparklez rubbed his head. "That is not comforting."

Onscreen, Jesse gave a weak little chuckle. " _Good thing none of us are afraid of heights, right?_ "

The others returned the weak chuckle, before Ivor touched his chin thoughtfully. " _This... this might be an entirely different world. An island in the sky is... unfathomable, back in our world._ "

In silent agreement, the whole group split up to look around their small 'sky island', peering over the edge. Jesse made her way over to the other side, eyes widening in surprise as something _did_ come into view.

Reginald's eyes widened. "I... I can't believe it. It's exactly the same as _our_ version. It's almost like looking through a window of sorts."

Dan blinked in astonishment, instinctively rubbing his eyes a bit. "Uh- _wow._ What _is_ that?"

" _Hey- uh, you guys see that?_ " Jesse questioned, turning back a bit to look at the nearest person to her, which happened to be the ocelot hybrid. Lukas turned to look at her as she turned back to squint down at the structures beneath them. They were _extremely_ elaborate, and even from the distant view they had of it, it was beautiful.

" _What?_ " Lukas asked, trotting over as Ivor came up right next to Jesse. As he approached, he added thoughtfully, " _I'm starting to think Ivor was right about this being another world._ "

" _Wow... it looks like some kind of... city?_ " Jesse murmured, tilting her head to one side as she stared at the much-larger island below. Beside her, Petra put her hands on her hips and squinted down at it, while Ivor started jumping up and down with his hands clasped to his mouth.

"I think Beard-Brah's fanboying again," Nell whispered to Em, who laughed.

Ivor's head whipped around to gape at the blonde so fast that his neck cracked. "What- I don't- did you just- _Beard-Bra?_ "

Upon hearing this, Jesse couldn't help letting a snort out, valiantly fighting the huge grin that was threatening to break out over her face. Stampy was starting to smile a lot as well, biting his nails in an attempt to stop.

It didn't work.

" _That's it!_ " Ivor burst out onscreen, nearly cutting Jesse off, " _that's where it must be! The Eversource!"_

Isa made an uncomfortable 'mm' sound. "And here we are," she sighed quietly.

* * *

 **A/N: Oh boy. This next part's gonna get fun (grins evilly).**

 **I just realized something totally random while playing through the Founder's Path (because literally, EVERYONE EXCEPT FOR TWO PEOPLE WANTED TO GO ON THE FOUNDER'S PATH, so we're literally just gonna go with that), which is that I really like the sound of Milo's voice. (shrugs) Don't ask me why.**

 **RQTC: Have you heard the song 'Ways to Be Wicked'? I literally have the thing stuck in my head now xD**

 **RapidSammi: (grins and glomps as well) / Okay! x3**

 **S4SH4L4SH4theGaMeR101: (laughs) It didn't even occur to me to put it in until I reread that part and realized how dirty it might sound. xD / Alrighty, sure :3 / (goes crazy with you)**

 **the indecisive bird: (laughs) Did it make you laugh? / (laughs) / What's that for? xD / Sure, I really like that path but I wasn't sure if I should do it since the original Hybrid didn't. Hence why I asked the readers xD**

 **AquaK13: Yes, we are keeping him xD Unfortunately for Jesse. xD / Oh, indeed xD / It was a bit sappy, but I LOVE SAPPY (glomps you) / I went with Milo and Petra the first time, and then went back and played through the Founder's Path just to see how it went. xD**

 **Meow Shadow: (grins) / Oh lord, I know, right? xD / Okay, Founder's Path xD**

 **herpaderp: Okay!**

 **NinaNaranja: Yes, Lukas gets arrested too xD**

 **CrystalTearsofFaith: (grins)**

 **Emily The Avenger: (laughs) Glad to see you laughed. / Sure thing!**

 **Teddy Malfoy: (grins) Yeah, did you ever read the original Hybrid story?**

 **Kaos Ruin: Well now you will :3 But, you know... edited to fit Hybrid xD**

 **Guest: I know, right xD**

 **homeworkoverload: (cracks up) Ehhh. I'm not sure they'd really be the type to do it, tbh.**

 **Jack638: Probably not, no.**

 **LunarStarsMoons: (laughs) / Oh I couldn't stop giggling when I thought of it xD / Yep xD / I think we've established that by now, lol xD**

 **A-Problematic-Writer: Glad to hear you like it! (Um, I mean, I think you like it xD) / Also, sure!**

 **Beli0304: Sure thing :3 / Yep! And, um... it was kind of dirty. Hence the following 'fifty shades of red' joke. (Reference to 50 Shades of Gray. Which is extremely smutty, from what I can gather of it. Never read the book before.)**

 **Slayer88: Sure :3 / (points at the above chapter) How's that? xD**

 **NoItsBecky: OMG you're literally one of the only people to choose this path xD**

 **Raven: Okay!**

 **Mel: Alright!**

 **FireBallin17: And you win the prize for the being SECOND person to choose this path xD**

 **Guest: No, not at all :3**

 **ThatOneGuy: Okay!**

 **Darkbeast Dend: (smiles)**

 **MarcoDiaz: Okey :3**

 **MasterDetective: Alrighty :3**

 **Shadow: Hehe, I agree xD**

 **x.X. A.L. X.x**


	90. Unauthorized Building and More Fanboying

" _A city in the clouds..._ " Petra said wonderingly, " _it almost sounds impossible!_ "

Lukas frowned a bit, squinting at the island below them, before speaking quietly. " _I just don't know how we're going to reach it._ "

Petra's face fell as the whole group moved to face each other, standing in a rough semicircle. " _Yeah... that's definitely going to be a problem..._ " she murmured, rubbing the back of her head.

Jesse nodded in agreement. " _Yeah, my silk can extend a pretty long way, but, uh... not that long,_ " she said, glancing at the island floating peacefully below them. (Unfortunately, it looked just a _little_ too far away. Just a little.) " _And since carrying people throws her off balance, Petra can't really carry people down._ "

" _Not unless you want me to drop you._ "

" _Yeah, unless that._ "

"Uh- yeah, with that big bottomless drop below you guys...? That would be bad," Stacy said, frowning at the screen.

"Understatement of the year," Em muttered under her breath.

Lukas huffed, sounding annoyed as he moved to stand next to Petra, turning the rough semicircle into a rough circle. " _I can't believe this. We fall through a portal into another world... and then we can't even go anywhere!_ "

Real-Jesse got a case of the giggles.

Lukas patted her on the back with a shake of his head, hiding the smirk spreading over his features. He glanced at Petra, who'd glanced at him as well. Petra's eyes met Lukas's, and she jerked her head at the now-giggling Jace that was sitting next to her, his hand shoved up to his mouth in a failing attempt to stifle it.

Lukas shrugged back and gave an amused smile, Petra grinning back. Clearly the two of them shared more than a name and similar eyes.

Onscreen, Jesse turned to stare at the island in the distance, before turning back to the group with a thoughtful look. " _Can't we just... build our way over?_ " she suggested mildly.

Isa, Reginald, and Milo gasped in unison.

"Oh, you do not want to do that- you _really_ do not want to do that!" Milo gasped, shaking his head furiously and making everyone turn to look at him oddly.

Jace blinked at the blonde male sitting on the couch. "What? Why not? How are they supposed to get anywhere then?"

" _Uh, how?_ " Lukas asked onscreen, ears flicking in agitation as he considered the spider hybrid next to him.

" _Oh, please!"_ Ivor grumbled, " _you've heard of a bridge, haven't you?_ "

Real-Petra scowled at Ivor. "You know, I'm pretty sure he meant what _with._ "

Onscreen, Lukas continued, unfazed by Ivor's tone. You could've been excused for thinking that Ivor hadn't even spoken. " _I don't know. Seems like a long way... Do we have enough blocks?_ "

Jesse turned around and peered over the edge, the screen switching to show exactly how large the underside of the island was. Lukas continued, " _I mean, it's really, really far._ "

Ivor's voice spoke drily onscreen. " _Yes, very astute, Lukas._ "

Petra's voice floated onscreen as Ivor's head appeared over the edge as well, peering down at the bottom of the island along with Jesse. " _Ivor the Grump strikes again, I see._ "

Onscreen-Jesse made an odd sound as a huge grin spread over her face, quickly cutting it off. It sounded like a mix between a cough, a snort, and a sneeze. In the end, she ended up nearly gagging. Ivor shook his head with amusement and patted Jesse on the back.

Real-Jesse had buried her head in Reuben again, causing another round of giggles to go through the audience- both from the sight of her hiding her face behind Reuben, and from Petra's sardonic little comment.

" _Elementary, my dear Lukas,_ " Jesse said playfully, standing up and turning around to face the ocelot hybrid. Her lowest set of arms positioned themselves so that her hands were resting on her hips.

"Was that a Sherlock Holmes reference?" Mevia asked, sounding rather amused.

Real-Jesse gave the pale-blue-haired woman a grin. "'When you have eliminated all that is impossible, whatever remains, however improbable, must be the truth'," she quoted cheerfully.

Mevia returned the grin after a few moments, although it was more like a faint smirk. Otto and Harper blinked at her, before blinking at each other.

" _The underside of this island is much, much bigger than it appears,_ " Onscreen-Jesse finished her statement.

Onscreen, Lukas blinked, surprised. " _Really?_ "

Ivor nodded and turned to Lukas as well. " _Jesse's right. If we strip this whole island down to nothing... it might just be enough."_

Lizzie frowned thoughtfully at the screen. "Where did the Blaze Rods go?" she wondered after a moment. "I mean, if the portal opens up right there, shouldn't they be stranded there too?"

Jesse thought about it for a moment, before giving a small shrug. "Maybe the portal opens up in different places in the same world? It could be that their first portal jump sent them to the big island rather than the small one that we're on right now."

Hadrian and Mevia exchanged a quick glance upon hearing that comment.

Without another word, the four of them moved to different sections of the island, before the screen sped up to show them digging through the dirt blocks rapidly. As they neared the bottom, the screen switched to show a close-up of Ivor glaring at Petra, who was right over his shoulder. " _Stop pushing!_ "

" _I'm not pushing! Lukas is pushing!_ " Petra immediately snapped back, shifting a bit to stay on land.

Lukas threw his hands up in surrender. " _Hey, I'm just trying to keep away from the edge!_ "

" _It's all edge!_ "

The screen zoomed out to show the four of them standing on a tiny, four-block island, barely visible among the floating clouds.

"Wow, uh," Petra winced a bit here, "no offense, Axel, but I'm kinda glad you didn't come along."

" _Okay gang,_ " Jesse said loudly, cutting off the argument as they looked at the distant city, which they were now level with, " _I think that should do it. Let's make ourselves a bridge!_ "

" _Excellent!_ " Ivor agreed with a grin.

The screen sped up again to show them building a bridge, although Ivor moved away from the group and started building something else, the bridge getting narrower and narrower, until Jesse was the only one building. Ivor caught up to the three hybrids right as she laid the last block down. " _Okay, this is our stop. Evvverybody off._ "

Maya grinned playfully at Jesse. "You sound like a bus driver."

Onscreen, the Blaze hybrid turned around before her face went deadpan. " _Ivor,_ " she stated, sounding rather annoyed, " _seriously?_ "

The screen switched to show that Ivor had built a skull-like shape out of dirt... with lava pouring out of its eyes.

Soren snorted, completely unfazed by the way Ivor proceeded to turn around and glare at the ginger-haired man.

"You must really love the Nether," Harper said, sounding highly amused as she surveyed the black-haired man's 'masterpiece'. Ivor was silent, making the Order glance at him in surprise. They had half-expected him to snap at her.

Reginald winced, however. "That's, err... that's not going to send a very good message," he said weakly, trailing off as he stared at the screen.

"What? What do you mean?" Stacy asked, turning to look at the man oddly.

Ivor shrugged sheepishly at Petra onscreen. " _Heh, sorry. Can't help myself._ "

Onscreen, Jesse let out a loud snort at Ivor's answer and buried her face in Lukas's shoulder, although the ocelot hybrid was also giggling slightly and trying to stop.

" _Y-you're building._ "

The four of them turned around to see a man gaping at them, eyes wide. He began to back away slowly. " _I- you- I don't-_ " he eked out, staring at Jesse, then Lukas, then Jesse, then Lukas, both of whom had very obviously unhuman features, although he also glanced nervously at Petra and Ivor every few seconds.

"What's up with him? Is it the extra arms and the cat ears and stuff?" Em wondered, frowning at the screen. Milo winced a bit.

"Not quite, though I'm certain that has something to do with it. I'm, er... I'm sure you'll find out in a few seconds."

Onscreen, Jesse tilted her head slightly, a worried expression coming over her face. " _Hey, yeah, we're... building. Is there... something wrong with that...?_ " she asked, frowning.

The man stuttered again. " _I, uh... y-you don't know?_ "

He was looking extremely nervous. Jesse smiled weakly and put her hands up in a gesture of surrender, before her eyes widened as the screen zoomed into her eye again. It was another flashback... but what had it just gotten triggered by?

" _Hey, get back here!_ "

A little Spider-Jesse was racing around the room, giggling madly as she chased the other person, who couldn't have been much older than her. Parts of him (or her) seemed rather out of focus, but the little kid, who was running around on all fours, giggled as well as he looked over his shoulder.

Jace's eyes widened. So did quite a few of the other audience members' eyes.

A little boy with mocha-brown hair and green eyes that were the exact size and shape of Jesse's and blurry... _somethings_ on his head was racing around the room with Jesse. " _Never!_ " he shouted, before letting out a loud yelp as the spider hybrid dropped to all eights and sprang forward, tackling him to the floor.

The young spider hybrid grinned mock-evilly and started madly tickling the boy, the little boy letting out a series of yelp-like laughs. " _Okay! Okay! I give!_ " he giggled, throwing his hands up into a gesture of surrender. " _Uncle! I call Uncle!_ "

" _Good!_ " Little Jesse declared, crawling off of the other boy in her own little giggling fit.

The little boy frowned and put his hands on his hips, pouting at Jesse in a ridiculously exaggerated way. " _You should be nicer to your brother,_ " he huffed playfully.

" _Nope,_ " Little-Jesse responded, giggling when the other boy blew a raspberry at her. " _No way, Jose._ "

" _Don't you mean Jace?_ " the little boy asked, in a very obviously teasing tone.

Everyone's head snapped around to look at Real-Jace, whose mouth had fallen open as he gaped at the scene in front of him. Real-Jesse was goggling at the screen as well, eyes wide.

So there _was_ a reason both of them had been brought here, after all.

Little-Jesse laughed, the laugh echoing as the older Spider-Jesse jerked a bit, eyes wide with shock as she lowered her arms a bit and stared at the ground for a moment, trying to steady her breathing. After a moment, it evened out, and she shook her head a bit and looked back up just as the man stammered out, " _Y-yo-you were building. Unauthorized building is against the law!_ "

Everyone except for Reginald, Milo, Isa, and Benedict gaped at the screen.

"You're not allowed to _build_?!" Gill spluttered, trying to make sense of that.

Jesse and Jace were still frozen in shock on the floor, gaping at the screen silently, so Petra decided to speak up instead. "But why aren't you allowed to build if you have unlimited resources?"

Isa frowned, lips twisting to one side, before stating carefully, "Sky City may have unlimited resources, but obtaining them is rather... difficult."

Milo frowned a bit at Isa in the background, looking puzzled. This was evidently the first he'd heard of that.

"Difficult... how?" Olivia questioned.

Isa opened her mouth to respond, before being cut off by onscreen Petra, whose brow quirked in confusion. " _Wait- there's a_ law _saying people can't_ build?"

" _Yes! It's forbidden!_ " the Sky Citizen exclaimed, looking around at the group.

Ivor frowned. " _This... this makes no sense. No sense at all!_ "

" _I-I-I- well... that's the law?_ "

This weak comment prompted a round of snorts from the audience.

Onscreen, Jesse winced and used her upper set of arms to rub the back of her head. " _Oh, jeez, I'm sorry. We had no idea,_ " she apologized almost instantly, giving the Sky Citizen an apologetic look. Not that it helped; he still looked as if Jesse had whipped out an axe, declared herself to be a murderer, and then gone chasing after him with said axe.

" _It's a stupid law,_ " Ivor snapped.

Isa and Reginald sent a glare at Ivor.

The narrator suddenly spoke at him. " _Please shut him up, I'd really like to not offend these guys by insulting their laws._ "

Ivor didn't react, but Jesse glanced at the sky for a moment before deciding to ignore him as the Sky Citizen started backing away, looking over his shoulder anxiously. " _Oh, jeez, first those other outsiders, now you..._ "

Lukas's eyes widened, before hardening angrily. "Other _outsiders?_ " he asked, voice sharpening as he spoke, " _where are they?_ "

The 'Blaze Rods' winced. He must've been pretty betrayed about getting kicked out.

The Sky Citizen continued backing away nervously. " _They went to the inn. I'm sorry, but that's all I know._ " And with that he turned on his heel and started running off. Jesse approached, eyes wide. " _Wait, wait wait-!_ "

" _I'm super busy sorry!_ "

" _Annnnd he's gone,_ " Petra sighed, frowning a bit. Her gold eyes sparked a bit in irritation.

Lukas sighed as well. " _Darn._ "

"That was... certainly something," Gabriel murmured. "I wonder how the other citizens will react to the bridge."

"I'm sure Jesse'll be able to talk her way out of it," Dan said, the blue-haired boy sending Jesse a grin.

Jesse smiled sheepishly in return. "Well, I mean, I hope."

Unnoticed by both of them, both Lukas and Stampy frowned a bit.

Onscreen, the four of them started walking through the doorway that the Sky Citizen had dashed through. " _I wonder if everyone here is that..._ " Ivor trailed off as he got a good look at the city for the first time.

In front of them was a beautifully built building that was reminiscent of an egg, built of gold and quartz and decorated with purple wool. A little ways away was a small... garden... sort of thing, and around the huge building were smaller huts that were also somewhat reminiscent of eggs, and while not as impressive as the main building... it still looked clean and beautiful and as if it had never gotten dirty in its life. (If... cities had lives.) People roamed about the city, some standing in long lines near the huts and guards positioned everywhere.

" _... nervous,_ " Ivor breathed out the last word, eyes wide as he stared at the city.

"Wow," Lukas was gaping at the screen, "that's, um- that's a _lot_ of precious materials."

" _Wow,_ " onscreen-Lukas unknowingly echoed real-Lukas's comment, basically summarizing what onscreen-Jesse appeared to be feeling, because the spider hybrid stepped forward and gazed at the buildings in silence for a moment, before declaring:

" _That is_ absolutely _beautiful. Who even_ built _this place? It's gorgeous._ "

"Yes, it is. A pity no one _else_ is allowed to do things like that," Milo muttered. Isa heard the comment and sent a scathing glare in his direction.

"And what exactly is _that_ supposed to imply?"

Onscreen-Petra shook her head a bit, staring at the city around them with an admiring look. " _You said it,_ " she murmured in agreement.

" _Yes, I should decorate my house like this,_ " the narrator contributed. Jesse just smirked and rolled her eyes a bit in amusement, keeping up her facade of the narrator not existing.

" _Whoever it was must've had the Eversource. It's clearly capable of miraculous things... and it's the only explanation of the copious amounts of rare materials they used to build it._ " Ivor had an overexcited gleam in his eye, a huge grin fixed on his face, " _and when I get my hands on it-_ "

" _Hey,_ " Petra interrupted his excited statement, giving the over-excited potionologist a glare, " _how about you take a_ massive _chill pill, and we_ find _it first?_ "

" _Yes, that would be nice,_ " Jesse put in, sounding rather amused about the whole thing.

" _Yes yes yes yes yes,_ " Ivor said, waving it off, " _I'm just getting excited. Or, as I believe Jesse has put it once or twice, fanboying._ "

"Ha! You admit it!" Real-Jesse gloated, pointing at the screen with a huge grin on her face, giggling a bit despite herself. Lukas stifled a sound that may or may not have been an amused snort.

Onscreen-Jesse had to dive behind Lukas to stifle her own giggles, which in turn set the rest of the audience off a bit.

* * *

 **A/N: A bit short, but not bad :3**

 **RQTC: Does anyone else initially find Isa a bit intimidating? (Like, she's great... but when you first meet her she's kinda scary xD)**

 **LunarStarsMoons: (explodes) / Ah. / Hehehe xD It made me laugh, too. / Egg-cellent pun you just made there.**

 **LittleAngelbun: Me too! / We're taking a different path than original Hybrid. xD**

 **NinaNaranja: (laughs) / Cheese is great xD / I don't know, just look it up on YouTube or somethin' xD / (laughs) I'm glad to hear you like it so much!**

 **Meow Shadow: I'm glad to hear it! And don't worry, the narrator's here to stay. Can't resist himself xD / Hehehe xD / 'Old dudes' xD / Yeah, Ivor with anime eyes is precious xD**

 **AquaK13: Yep! Jesse will tell him to leave, and he will... and then he'll pop back in again when it's most inconvenient xD / Yeah, Nell's great xD / (bites lip and starts trembling with laughter) / I ain't tellin' xD / Cool :3**

 **RapidSammi: Nope- if I do I'll get dragged into it, so I can't xD / Hehe xD**

 **Emily The Avenger: I laughed while writing it xD**

 **the indecisive bird: Alright x3 / Hehehe xD / It was honestly just 'cause the YouTuber I was watching went through the Build Club path, and I was at school, so I couldn't play through the game and record it without bothering everyone else. / Ahh.**

 **Beli0304: I was actually tempted to put that as the chapter title, but then was like "No" xD / Hahaha xD / Cool! / Well, now you will see the Hybrid-edited path :3**

 **S4SH4L4SH4theGaMeR101: Cool :3 / I don't read lemons. If anything starts getting lemon-y the author usually warns me in the description or something xD / xD**

 **Darkbeast Dend: Why is she in trouble? / Okay.**

 **Michael: Um, nice song...? Poem?**

 **homeworkoverload: (snorts) / Yeah, hence why I don't think I could believably write it. The girls are... honestly not that girly.**

 **Guest: (points at the chapter) / Thanks!**

 **CrystalTearsofFaith: I'll find some way to include it in! (If I don't forget, lol xD) Thanks for showing me that!**

 **FireBallin17: Kewl :3**

 **SofiaTheWriter88: I'm glad you think I'm funny! I have a weird sense of humor, so I laugh at stupid things xD / Nope, I don't think so xD / There's gonna be a lot of that in this and in the rewrite. (A lot of random moments, they're not really important... well there's like one or two important moments, but not really.)**

 **Temmie: Hoi Tem! Happy Easter to you as well!**

 **Rabbits rule: (arches eyebrow) It's not personal. And I'm not changing the chapter just because Fluffy found it offensive. Sorry. / Oh, the narrator's here to stay. He's an omniscient talking voice that only Jesse can hear, although he is ever-present. He literally _cannot_ leave.**

 **x.X. A.L. X.x**


	91. What Is That Woman Even Building?

**Oh my- 91 CHAPTERS AND OVER 30 THOUSAND VIEWS?! GUYS!**

 **There's gonna be a special for the 100th chapter, btw. ;3**

* * *

Onscreen-Lukas stopped smothering his own giggles, his twitching ears flicking a bit in agitation as his face went serious. " _As crazy as Aiden's been lately, if he gets that thing... it would be bad._ "

Real-Aiden winced a bit, looking away from the screen. Cassie glanced at him, but didn't say anything.

" _You're right,_ " the spider hybrid agreed, straightening up with her own smile dying on her lips, blinking her green and red eyes, " _and that's putting it lightly._ "

" _Well, if we beat him to it, he won't be able to get his slimy little hands on the thing,_ " Petra growled, glaring at a pebble on the ground as if the pebble was Aiden and she wanted to drop-kick it off the edge of the city.

Jesse shrugged a bit. " _We just need to find the inn that nervous guy mentioned. How... hard could it be?_ "

Milo blinked as he suddenly realized exactly what that meant. He glanced over at the Founder and the Captain of the Guard sitting next to him, feeling his stomach slowly twist. Oh, joy.

" _No idea,_ " Lukas replied, the ocelot hybrid giving a shrug with his tail flicking around a bit. " _But it's definitely our best bet so far._ "

" _Agreed,_ " Ivor agreed tersely, before the entire group split up without another word. Jesse started walking towards the Egg-Palace, Ivor's voice sounding in the background as he said to a Sky Citizen slowly and loudly, as if they were an alien or something, " _Hel-lo. It is ni-ce to me-et y-ou._ "

Gabriel put his head in his hands. Ivor huffed a bit as several members of the audience started giggling at this, his cheeks turning pink again.

Jesse stopped a wooden sign that was resting near the foot of the palace staircase and knelt down to read it. " _'No building, no crafting, no brewing, no forging, unless with EXPRESS PERMISSION from the Founder. All complaints must be registered in person. That's it, you can stop writing now.'"_

Isa sighed. Of _course_ they'd leave that in there.

" _Intense,_ " Jesse hummed, before scratching her cheek awkwardly. " _Well, the last part kinda ruined it a bit, but still- pretty intense,_ " she hummed mildly.

Jesse walked past Petra and the garden, looking around the place in interest. She stopped in front of the palace, stretching a bit as her eyes flicked up to the sky. " _I can't believe that we're on yet_ another _adventure_ ," she mumbled, talking out of the corner of her mouth.

" _Oh gosh! Is Little Miss High-and-Mighty talking to me?_ " the narrator exaggerated surprise, making Jesse roll her eyes a bit.

Real-Jesse stifled a giggle. Lukas patted her on the back, reaching up his free hand to cover his own smile up.

" _Cut the overdramatic playacting, please,_ " Onscreen-Jesse whispered, smirking slightly.

" _Okay, okay,_ " and the narrator gave a light chuckle. " _You liked adventures when you were a kid, too, ya know._ "

A curious look came over her face, and Jesse looked up. " _Weren't we in the lab back then?_ "

" _Yes, but the scientists gave you storybooks sometimes when you were younger. Don't you remember reading a few with your brother?_ "

Jesse and Jace exchanged a look.

" _So I_ do _have a brothe-_ " Jesse was cut off as her eyes widened again, the screen zooming and and then zooming out on little Spider-Jesse sticking her tongue out of her mouth a bit as she slowly read from the book. Little-Jace was next to her, too, the things on his head still a blur, but there was a slightly less blurry appendage wagging on the ground that was reminiscent of a tamed wolf's.

" _And the he-ro sa-ved the pincess,_ " Jace slowly read, squinting at the book's pages.

" _'Princess'_ ," Jesse corrected with a tiny smile, " _there's an 'r'._ "

Jace just giggled at the correction and flopped over backwards, making the spider hybrid lean backwards a bit to get a better look at him. " _We should go on an adventure when we get out of here!_ "

" _That'd be fun,_ " the young spider hybrid said thoughtfully, before grinning at him. " _As long as I'm not the princess._ "

" _We can both be the heroes!_ " Jace jumped up and mimicked holding up a sword, before dropping his arm and holding his hand out to Jesse. " _Jesse promise?_ "

The spider hybrid gave a little nod and extended her own hand. " _Jesse promise,_ " she agreed, bumping her fist with his, high-fiving, and then entwining their pinkies with each other, before little-Jace tackle-hugged Jesse and knocked the spider hybrid over, making her giggle cheerfully as she sat back up.

Jesse let out a soft huff of sad laughter. This seemed... nice.

Lukas glanced at Jesse, before wrapping his free arm around her as well and pulling the shorter girl into a warm hug. She let her head drop into his chest, shoulders sagging a bit.

Several of the other members of the audience exchanged sad glances as well.

" _Love ya, Jesse,_ " Jace said, his voice a little muffled from where his head was buried in her shoulder.

The spider hybrid gave a warm smile. " _Love ya too, Jace._ "

The screen zoomed out to show Jesse's hand was clenched into a fist over her chest, the spider hybrid desperately trying to steady her breathing. After a moment, she glanced up at the sky. " _So, what was that all about?_ " she murmured, letting her hand drop to her side listlessly.

No comment from the narrator.

Onscreen-Jesse gave her eyes a roll. " _Annnnd of course, when I_ do _want you to respond, you don't show up. Terrific,_ " she murmured in a teasingly sardonic voice.

This prompted several snorts from the audience.

When there was still no response, the spider hybrid shrugged and started walking again, before coming to a stop on the other side of the garden, where a woman was very, very, _very_ carefully placing down oak wood. CAPTAIN REGINALD stood next to her, and gave the approaching girl a friendly smile. " _Captain Reginald, at your service._ " His eyes flicked over Jesse's arm, the smile fading to a slightly more wary look. The citizen was too busy putting oak blocks down to notice Jesse.

Real-Reginald gaped at the screen in amazement. "That- wow." He sat back a bit, looking perplexed. "Actually seeing yourself on the screen is- _wow_."

Isa hid a small smile at the nearly incoherent comment.

" _Hey,_ " Jesse said in a friendly voice, giving a sheepish little wave and tucking her other arms behind her back quickly, " _so what are you guys up to?_ "

Onscreen Reginald kept staring at Jesse oddly for a moment, before shrugging and replying, " _Ah, just supervising this citizen while she does her build..._ "

He still sounded really wary though.

The citizen he was supervising looked up at Jesse, not noticing the way Jesse's arms tightened behind her back, beaming happily. " _The Founder finally approved my petition!_ " she gushed.

" _The Founder?_ " Jesse asked questioningly, tilting her head to one side curiously.

Reginald regarded the spider hybrid for a moment longer, before abruptly seeming to come to a decision and pointing at the egg-palace behind him. " _That's her palace up there. She is the Keeper of the Eversource! Builds everything you see._ "

"Every- _everything?_ " Jesse blinked abruptly, looking startled and making several members of the audience look in her direction as she twisted 'round from where Lukas still had his arm around her to stare at Isa. "You built that _entire_ city by yourself?"

Isa scratched her head awkwardly, giving a shy sort of smile. "It... took quite a while. I'm thinking about renovating the place a bit."

Now _everyone's_ mouth was hanging open at the fact that with the Eversource, this _one woman_ built the _entire city._ Reginald and Milo seemed less surprised, although both men gave an impressed 'hmm!' sound.

Onscreen-Jesse shared the same sort of surprise that Real-Jesse was feeling, because her arms dropped to her sides from where she'd been hiding them, green-and-red eyes widening in surprise. Reginald continued, thoughtfully, " _Some days I can't even fathom how she keeps it all straight. She's... incredible. I'm a, heh... I'm a fan._ "

Real-Isa grinned teasingly at Reginald. The mustached man grinned back mulishly.

" _She builds EVERYTHING?_ " Onscreen-Jesse asked, flailing with all of her arms in an expansive gesture at the city. Reginald flinched a bit, but doggedly continued in his explanation. " _Yeah, well, it sure is amazing, haha. That's why she gets to make the calls about what does or doesn't get built._ "

"I... guess that makes sense," Soren hummed musingly.

The woman crouching on the ground with her blocks of oak wood grinned up at Jesse, who hastily pressed her arms behind her back again. " _Like my build!_ " she exclaimed.

" _It's no easy feat to get all of these oak blocks,_ " Reginald said to the citizen with a nod, Jesse looking back at the man again as he continued speaking, " _Your petition was very well-handled._ "

"What is she even _building?_ " Dan wondered, squinting at the screen.

The citizen smiled shyly. " _Aw, gosh, that's nice of you._ "

Jesse frowned a bit, the spider hybrid relaxing her arms as the woman went back to meticulously working with her oak blocks on her project. " _I just don't understand why everyone shouldn't be allowed to build._ "

Reginald shook his head, giving a soft laugh. " _Ha! What a sentiment! I mean, it is a good though, but... that's crazy,_ " he finished weakly.

"Exactly," Isa murmured. Milo scowled a bit.

Jesse looked around the city for a moment, before tilting her head. " _I'm kinda curious, what kind of stuff do you do for fun around here?_ " she wondered.

"Yeah. I mean, considering you can't build or anything," Sparklez said weakly, with a little shrug when the rest of the audience looked in his direction.

" _Oh, all sorts of things. Make wishlists of resources, practice low-inventory builds... some people do poetry,_ " Reginald said lightly. " _It's a pretty great place to live._ "

Lukas shrugged. "Actually, the poetry doesn't sound too bad to me."

"Do people _read_ up there?" Petra wondered, turning to glance at Isa. Isa scowled a bit at the redhead.

"Well, of course they can _read._ We're not idiots-"

"No, no! That's not what she meant!" Jace jumped in, flailing his arms in denial and making Petra grin and pat him on the back. "I mean, I know they _can_ read, but _do_ they read? For fun, she means?"

Isa's scowl cleared up as fast as it had appeared. "Ah. Well, there aren't many books there... but some people do borrow books from me from time to time."

"So, you're the Founder _and_ the librarian?" Gill joked.

Isa arched her eyebrow at him, ignoring the way Milo's scowl had turned into a snicker at those words.

" _Fancy duds you're wearing there, Reginald. Is that a uniform?_ " Jesse asked curiously, after considering exactly what the Sky Citizens considered 'fun', gesturing at the uniform Reginald was wearing.

Reginald gave a small shrug, touching his chin. " _I try not to brag about it, but I'm actually the Captain of the Guard... one of the reasons I'm allowed to supervise a build like this one._ "

Jesse made an interested humming sound, before tilting her head. " _Reginald... huh. Can I call you Reggie?_ "

Olivia shook her head in amusement. "I can't believe you're asking the _Captain of the Guard_ that."

Jesse grinned sheepishly.

" _No, I'd- really rather you didn't,_ " Reginald corrected immediately, " _It's Reginald._ "

"Can _I_ call you Reggie?" Isa teased the man next to her. Reginald rolled his eyes with a grin and resisted the urge to elbow the Founder in the ribs.

" _Gooootcha,_ " Jesse said quickly, pressing her arms behind her back even more firmly. " _So, um, I'm looking for the inn... know where it is?_ "

Reginald blinked at the question and pointed in the general direction behind her. " _Uh, yeah, it's back over thataway. Milo's place._ "

Stacy grinned sheepishly after a moment. "I was going to ask how you knew his name, but then I realized that this was pretty much the most tight-knit city in the world."

Stampy grinned a bit at that statement.

"World _s_ ," Otto corrected, laying extra emphasis on the 's' sound.

" _Ah, thanks. Welp, don't let me interrupt you guys,_ " Jesse said cheerfully, stepping away from the duo and giving a little wave, " _good luck._ "

" _Much obliged,_ " Reginald replied, giving Jesse a friendly grin and seeming to have decided that she was trustworthy.

That said, Jesse left the two behind and trotted away, passing a small pond next to a sort of spacious alleyway that Lukas seemed to be standing next to and chasing off a guy that happened to be standing at the railing and looking around. A curious frown came over her face. " _I... don't see any inn in the vicinity._ "

"You walked past it just now," Reginald said dismissively, gesturing at the screen, "I'm sure if you ask around, they'll point you in that direction."

" _-can't believe they just_ built _their way right into town-_ "

Jesse looked up at that comment to see the nervous guy from the entrance and a woman whispering to each other nearby. Quirking her eyebrow curiously, she trotted in that direction. As she got closer, the conversation got clearer.

" _I know, I've never seen anything like it! And two of them had- well, one had six arms! Six!"_

" _What about the other one?_ " the woman whispered, sounding curious.

"Busted!" Gill grinned.

" _Well, he had ocelot ears and a_ tail-"

" _Uh... hello?_ " Jesse asked tentatively.

Both the man and the woman jumped around to face her anxiously, the man rubbing the back of his head nervously. " _Oh! Oh my! Hello, again!_ "

" _Can we, uh,_ " the woman stuttered sheepishly, " _do anything for you?_ "

" _Were... you two talking about my friends and me just now?_ " Jesse asked slowly, tilting her head to one side curiously and making her red eye glint noticeably in the light.

"Well, I mean, one of them was talking about you having six arms and Lukas having a tail, so..." Em trailed off meaningfully, arching her eyebrow at the spider hybrid.

Real-Jesse made a face at her, to the amusement of the rest of the audience members.

" _Umm, no, no, of course not,_ " the nervous guy stuttered, waving his hands furiously.

Onscreen-Jesse gave him a deadpan look. " _Mm-hmm..._ "

The nervous guy maintained a smile, before it dropped into a more frightened look as he near _whispered,_ " _Please don't hurt us._ "

"Awww, but Jesse weally doesn't wook wike she could hurt anyone," Axel said, adopting a baby-voice and squishing Jesse's cheeks together.

She responded with a very mature poking out of the tongue, to which he simply grinned and removed his hands. Lukas patted the black-haired girl on the back sympathetically, grinning slightly.

Onscreen, Jesse just blinked at them, before deciding to change the subject and asking, weakly, " _Could you two point me in the direction of the inn...?_ "

" _They must be looking for Milo,_ " Nervous Guy whispered to the woman, who hastily shushed him, and he hastily corrected, " _I mean, n-no, we- we don't know any Milo!_ " He then _veeeery_ subtly glanced over at the alleyway's opening, next to him, before glancing back at Jesse.

"Subtle," Lizzie deadpanned with a shake of her head, although she still appeared highly amused by that.

" _Really,_ " Jesse deadpanned herself onscreen, the spider hybrid's eyebrow going up by a few centimeters, " _because it sure_ sounds _like you know him..._ "

The nervous guy looked around a bit, anxiously. " _Uhh... okay, okay, we know_ of _him._ " Dropping his voice to a whisper and leaning forward, still looking about anxiously, " _if you_ really _wanna find him-_ "

" _He's the kind of- messy-looking guy,_ " the girl interjected.

" _Suspenders always falling down._ "

" _So messy!_ "

Milo blinked twice, hands automatically going to his suspenders. "That... that's just rude."

Jesse had a very confused sort of smile on her face onscreen. " _Thanks... I guess. I'll just... leave you guys alone, then. Have a nice day._ " She turned away and started walking away.

" _Please stop building, it scares me!_ "

The girl paused and looked over her left shoulder, red eye glinting in the light as she twisted to look at him. " _What?_ "

" _Nothing!_ " the man exclaimed, throwing his arms into the air and hastily turning back to the woman. Jesse blinked again and trotted away, looking confused. Nervous Guy whispered to the woman, glancing nervously at the spider hybrid, " _We could have_ died _just then!_ "

" _Oh, hush!_ " the woman hissed back.

Jesse backtracked to the alleyway and trotted inside. The camera switched to show the interior of the alleyway. Inside, MILO was leaning against a wall, talking to another Sky Citizen.

Milo looked his onscreen self up and down in astonishment. "That is... amazing," he breathed, fascinated by the image on the screen.

Onscreen-Jesse blinked at Milo, nodding absently as she noticed the loose suspender, before giving a small nod. " _All signs point to that being the innkeeper. Especially that one,_ " she murmured in faint amusement, looking at the sign above Milo's head that read 'MILO'S INN'.

Nell snorted into her elbow.

Onscreen-Jesse gave a small, thoughtful nod, before walking towards Milo.

* * *

 **A/N: And we meet Milo onscreen...**

 **Next chapter. xD Also (I'm sorry, I have to say it...)...**

 **Deals, deals, deals. That's it. Theory confirmed- Hadrian is secretly Bill Cipher in disguise.**

 **RQTC: What is your favorite ship in MCSM? (Not voting, just curious.)**

 **It's a tie between Lukesse, Jaiden (DON'T. JUDGE.), and Harvor.**

 **And if you don't have a favorite ship, then what is your LEAST favorite? (It can be the one that makes the least sense, or one that you just think is simply terrible.)**

 **(scratches head) Honestly, I don't have one...**

 **Emily The Avenger: Yee! And here's another one :3 / Hehehe xD / Yep! / Agreed.**

 **the indecisive bird: Ahh xD / Yep. Say hi to the peeps, Jace. x3**

 **Darkbeast Dend: I'd rather be a spider hybrid.**

 **NinaNaranja: I know, right? / (grins sheepishly) I mean, _technically_ she just 'detained' them. / Yee!**

 **homeworkoverload: Yeah, she's a tough cookie :3 / Nope, but I'll have a look :3**

 **LunarStarsMoons: Puns are great :3 / Hehe xD / Ooooooooh xD / Okey :3 / I know, right?! And... probably! This is the most reviews I've ever had... period!**

 **AquaK13: 'Lava Lord'- PFFFFF hahaha xD / A lot of things are different from original Hybrid xD / Yeah, same here :/**

 **RapidSammi: :3 / Yep! / Yep xD I loved writing the Lukesse fluff, the Jesse sibling fluff, and the narrator. I just like writing this entire story, honestly xD / Yes, I think so xD**

 **Beli0304: (grins and pumps fist) / Yes, at last! / Same here xD / Yeah :3 / Thank you!**

 **LittleAngelbun: Okey dokey :3 / I'd take my laptop, my sketchbook, my notebook, my pencil case full of pencils and erasers, and my phone with the headphones plugged in. (Cheating a bit on the last two items, but I don't care x3) Although, tbh, I'd be tempted to take the Command Block so I could just teleport right back off the island, but I feel like that'd just be cheating xD**

 **RWBYSTRQ: Didn't we vote on this a few chapters back? xD**

 **McGinley: Uh, cool :3**

 **J.M.M.: Never played Bioshock Infinite, but I'll take your word for it :3**

 **Guest: No. Despite having extra mob-like appendages, the gang still are definitely humanoid figures. Only when they're in 'full mob mode', as I call it, do they look more like mobs than humans. Therefore, while there may be some apprehension about the mob-like features, they cannot be mistaken for actual mobs.**

 **Bella Katniss Everdeen: Um... okay. / ... you already said that...? / (hums and looks at the ceiling) / Hi / Cool, me too :3**

 **S4SH4L4SH4theGaMeR101: Yeah xD / Of course I don't mind. As long as Jace isn't a wolf hybrid, we're good xD / Well, IRL they're not. xD / (evil grin) What do you think?**

 **Rabbits rule: No, I write fast xD / Thank you! / Nope. xD / Wow... what?**

 **x.X. A.L. X.x**


	92. Milo

The spider hybrid approached the pair, the other man pulling out a bundle of sticks as she walked towards them. " _And where should I put them?_ " he asked in a hushed voice.

Milo casually climbed off of the couch and began to walk to the other side of the room, passing the cluster of people on the floor as he did so and ignoring the way the entire audience was starting to give him odd looks. His heart had just kicked into double-time, and he was starting to feel like he was a cornered mouse.

Onscreen-Milo glanced about him nervously, reaching out and taking the sticks with an anxious look on his face upon spotting the spider hybrid. " _Yes, yes, just give them here-_ I'll _deal with them._ "

Isa's eyes widened as she regarded the screen. "Where- I don't remember authorizing any sticks..."

"He's a criminal!" Reginald shouted, leaping to his feet and making Benedict squawk in fright as he drew his sword. "An illegal dealer!"

Milo let out a very un-casual squeak at the sight of the Captain of the Guard storming towards him and cleverly escaped by toppling onto his butt. As Reginald kept approaching, he scrambled back to his feet, backing away from Reginald rapidly with eyes flickering everywhere for help, but most of the rest of the audience seemed to be just as shocked by this sudden display of violence as he was.

"Whoa!" Jesse wiggled out from under Lukas's arm and quickly jumped in front of Milo, the blonde male still towering a full head above her from where he was standing behind her, but effectively blocking Reginald's path, as he hesitated to whack the tiny girl with his sword.

Milo breathed a soft sigh of relief.

"Whoa, _whoa_!" Jesse finished, flailing her arms in a sort of 'please, please, _please_ stop' motion at him. "We don't know that for _sure_ , do we?"

"The Founder said she didn't authorize any sticks!" Reginald growled, shooting Milo a scathing glare (the blonde innkeeper shrank down even more than before), "and they were obviously trying not to be seen or heard."

"Well, there's not anything we can _do_ about it right now," Lukas agreed, standing up and moving to stand in front of Milo next to Jesse protectively, "it's not like there's a jail you can lock him up in or anything."

Milo pointed at the duo and nodded frantically. "Yes! Precisely!" he exclaimed, hands trembling with fear.

Reginald hesitated, before huffing and returning to his seat, sheathing his sword again. "Fine. But this isn't over." He punctuated the statement with another pointed glare in Milo's direction.

"Yes yes yes," Milo agreed nervously in a single breath, returning to his own seat and positioning himself as far away from the two now-glaring Sky Citizens. (Well, as far as you can get while you're still sitting on the same couch with them.) Upon seeing that the conflict was averted (for now, at least), Lukas and Jesse sat back down too.

Nell leaned closer to Em and lowered her voice so no one could hear what she was saying. "Those two are, like, becoming my OTP," she whispered to Em, who was barely able to repress an extremely loud snort at the comment.

Milo began to shoo the other man away onscreen as Jesse approached. " _Get out of here. Go, go!_ " he hissed in a panic. The other man followed his advice and ran off.

Isa's scowl deepened, eyes hardening angrily. How _dare_ he do something so reckless.

Onscreen, Milo moved back to lean against the wall, giving the spider hybrid an anxious smile as his eyes flickered over her extra arms. " _Why, hello there. What can I do for you?_ " he asked the girl after a few tense moments.

Jesse just arched her eyebrow a bit. Milo gave a nervous chuckle and continued, " _I'm not sure what the custom is where_ you _come from, but here, heh, it is considered impolite to stare._ "

"Yeah, Jesse," Olivia teased the girl, "where _are_ your manners?"

Jesse smirked a bit. "I think the guy with the sticks took 'em with him."

This prompted a round of snorts from the audience. Even Isa's lips twitched unwillingly.

It was kind of hard to be angry at anyone for too long while Jesse was in the room- you'd either want to bake her a huge tray of cookies, hug her, and tell her you were sorry about her crappy life... or you were just trying your damndest not to laugh at the petite girl on the floor.

" _Especially when people are doing boring things not worth staring at,_ " Milo continued, " _like simply minding their own business next to a wall._ "

"Smooth," Stacy deadpanned.

Jesse blinked a few times before deciding the incident just before was none of her business and meekly asking, " _Um, hi. Sorry to bother you... you're Milo, right?_ "

Milo paused, before stepping forward a bit and rubbing the back of his head. " _Yes... yes, that's me. A pleasure to meet you. Don't see many new arrivals here in Sky City._ " He paused, before adding, in a quieter voice, " _Er, incidentally, why do you have four extra arms?_ "

Jesse blinked again, looking down at herself. She seemed to have almost forgotten about the matter. " _... ah._ " A brief, rather awkward pause. " _I was experimented on as a child. I just have four extra arms. Don't worry about it._ "

"That sounds a little like something I would worry about," Jace told the black-haired girl next to him.

She grinned at him in amusement.

" _Ah. I see._ " Milo shot Jesse a supremely awkward grin, another brief pause reigning. " _Well, er, how can I help you, friend?_ " His voice had become slightly more relaxed, but the way his shoulders were still tensed and the way his blue eyes flicked to Jesse's extra arms every few seconds betrayed his fear.

Real-Jesse blinked twice. "We're friends?"

Lukas stifled a sound that seemed to be a mix of a cough, a sneeze, and a gag. He struggled to keep it back and ended up very nearly choking in the process. Jesse patted him on the back, smothering the amused grin spreading over her face.

Onscreen, Jesse just regarded Milo for a moment. The blonde innkeeper swallowed nervously and continued, in a slightly shaky voice, " _I'm busy, but I can spare a few moments for a friendly stranger. But, ahem, not too many moments, haha..._ "

This prompted a small round of laughter from the audience.

Onscreen, a faint smile played over Jesse's lips as her eyebrow went up. Milo faintly returned it, looking torn between rushing off or helping out the red-and-green eyed spider hybrid. " _What did you need...?_ "

Jesse waited a moment longer, before the smile fell and a rather anxious look came over her face. " _I heard you talked to the Blaze Rods earlier... what did they want?_ " she asked the blonde innkeeper.

Milo's eyes narrowed, and he started walking in a little circle while tapping his chin. " _Hm... hmm... 'Blaze Rods'? Hm..._ " He came to a stop after a moment, before rubbing his head and shaking it at the same time (it seemed a little hard to do, but he managed it). " _I... I don't know any Blaze Rods. You must have been misled._ "

"Seriously?" Axel grumbled at the screen a bit in frustration. "Is he trying to protect them or something?"

"He might not _actually_ know the Blaze Rods' team name. _We_ didn't know it until we confronted them about it," Olivia pointed out.

"True."

" _I'm sorry, but it's like I told those_ other _outsiders-_ " The spider hybrid's head snapped up immediately when she heard that, " _I can't help you. Now please-_ " Milo moved to enter the inn, when a blonde head appeared over Jesse's shoulder from behind.

" _Hey, this our guy?_ " Petra asked, casually.

A faint smile twitched over Jesse's face as she turned around to face her friends, Ivor, Petra, and Lukas all approaching. Ivor's brow raised as he arrived, behind the other two hybrids. " _He tell you where to find the Blaze Rods?_ "

" _How many of you_ are _there?!_ " Milo snapped, looking both worried and irritated, " _I told you, I don't_ know _anything!_ "

" _He hasn't told you_ anything _yet?_ " Ivor asked, his brow going even higher.

Petra scowled at Milo a bit, gold eyes beginning to spark as she put her hands on her hips. (Milo stepped back a bit upon spotting that.) " _Is he hiding them somewhere?_ "

" _I am uncomfortable with this line of questioning!_ "

Ellegaard hummed. "Everyone sounds so _formal_ up there."

Magnus made an annoyed 'blegh' sound, making Ellegaard, Reginald, Milo, and Isa all shoot him a glare.

Jesse reached out, looking as if she was going to put her hand on his shoulder, before it stalled. A moment later, she drew her hand back and put all six of them up in the air in a surrendering motion. " _Come on. You can trust me,_ " she said sincerely, one of her arms reaching down and crossing her heart before covering her eye, " _Nothing bad will happen to you. Please just help us?_ " And she gave him a pleading smile.

"Awwww," Facemeat said teasingly.

"I think Jesse could convince a polar bear to become a vegetarian if she just talked to it," Sparklez joked, grinning at the black-haired girl on the floor jokingly.

"I like polar bears," was Jesse's mild reply.

Milo paused, before letting out an irritated huff. " _Fine! If it will make you leave me alone..._ " the blonde innkeeper let out a sigh. " _That 'Aiden' fellow_ did _come talk to me earlier. Wanted to know where the Eversource was._ "

" _Called it!_ " Ivor called, raising his hand like a student. Lukas, who was next to him, winced a bit as Ivor nearly shouted into his ear, the ocelot-hybrid's ears flattening against his skull.

"Yes," Gabriel agreed, looking rather amused, "we know, Ivor."

Several members of the audience repressed a rather loud snort at that.

Milo shrugged. " _I just told him what everyone else already knows: the Eversource is in the palace with the Founder. That's_ all _that happened, I_ swear," he said, emphasizing the last word.

Petra growled a bit, eyes sparking even more. Lukas just blinked at the Blaze hybrid as sparks began to spit off of her and hover in the air. " _What a bunch of_ creeps," she nearly snarled.

" _Yes, I wasn't_ terribly _fond of them,_ " Milo agreed after a moment, his tone sounding a little softer.

Jesse's upper arms reached up to scratch her head, but her arms crossed over her torso thoughtfully. " _So... where is Aiden now?_ " she wondered quietly, looking as if she was partially asking herself.

Milo shrugged slightly. " _The group left for the palace, and I haven't seen them since._ "

Maya and Gill exchanged looks. They were having some pretty bad feelings about that...

Reginald's voice suddenly rang out onscreen, making some members of the group jump a bit. " _Attention! Attention, everyone! Just a moment of your time, please! Emergency meeting, attendance is mandatory!_ "

"And everyone's vocabulary is _huge_. I don't think I learned the word 'mandatory' until I was 12," Gabriel murmured.

"Ya sure? I would've thought it was 22," Magnus teased, grinning wickedly at the warrior.

Gabriel smacked him.

"Aaaaaand there it is," Em deadpanned at the screen, ignoring the playful byplay between the two Order of the Stone members. Sparklez frowned a bit.

"You have to wonder what they did to cause an _emergency_ meeting..."

Milo growled a bit in frustration. " _Oh... slime blocks!_ " and he reluctantly joined the crowd. Petra, Ivor, Lukas, and Jesse watched him go with bemused expressions.

" _Curious..._ " Ivor stated, " _I wonder what that's all about._ " And the hybrids (and Ivor) trotted after the blonde innkeeper out of the alleyway, standing behind most of the other citizens in front of the palace as guards descended the staircase.

" _Oh!_ " gasped Nervous Guy's friend, " _it's the Founder!_ "

And sure enough, ISA appeared onscreen, looking around over the crowd with a grim face.

The screen switched back to Jesse, who was watching the screen with interest, before her eyes widened in shock.

It switched back to show the Blaze Rods coming up behind her, Aiden standing next to the Founder with the two of them sending a smile at the other.

"Oh, you've _got_ to be kidding me," Isa murmured, brows descending into a scowl. Cassie glanced at Aiden, who was blinking at the screen in stunned surprise, with Maya and Gill exchanging startled looks.

" _I wonder what this is all about,_ " Petra said to Lukas and Ivor, apparently having not spotted the Blaze Rods yet.

" _Yes... I'm nervous about being surrounded by so many_ people, _"_ Ivor said, dark blue eyes flicking around at the crowd of people partially surrounding them and standing in front of them, Jesse still staring at the palace's doorway in surprise.

" _You'll be fine, Ivor._ "

Magnus snorted at that, subsiding when Ellegaard sent him a _look_.

" _Hey, guys?_ " Jesse finally spoke onscreen in a sort of strangled voice, making the rest of the group look at her, " _I think I found the Blaze Rods._ "

" _Oh_ no," Petra muttered as the screen switched to show Aiden saying something to Isa, but the group was too far away to hear what.

" _What are they doing...?_ " Lukas wondered in a hushed voice.

"I think we're about to find out," Real-Jesse said quietly. Several members of the audience glanced at the girl, but she was staring at the screen intently, green eyes reflecting the light emitting from the screen.

Silently, they all turned back to face the screen again.

* * *

 **A/N: I cannot tell you how tempted I was to put 'Nervous Guy's lady friend' in there xD I eventually decided against it because she's the only person we talk to with Nervous Guy, so it would've just been a little redundant.**

 **Ehh, a bit shorter than usual. Sorry x3 I just had to end it on that sort of note.**

 **RQTC: How are you with the horror genre?**

 **Except for Tattletail, Bendy and the Ink Machine, and the infamous FNaF, I can't handle it. At all. I will literally stay awake hours into the night because my overactive imagination decides to be a b*tch. (Especially creepypasta. Don't ever ask me to read creepypasta. Ever. I made one OC, but that was 'cause the idea popped into my head and wouldn't let me freaking sleep until I wrote it out.)**

 **S4SH4L4SH4theGaMeR101: Hehehe xD / Ah, I see. / Yep xD**

 **LegoGirl794: Nice :3**

 **Beli0304: Yay :3 / Maybe not, but he does get confronted xD / (grins)**

 **sailor . mikuchan: Cool :3 / Ahh. Yeah, it's not a great ship.**

 **Guest: Cool :3 / What's wrong with your friend telling you to grow out your hair...? Sorry if that's insensitive, I'm just not sure.**

 **LunarStarsMoons: Yep~ And Isa, too~ / Hehe xD / Jesslivia I like, Pexel is... eh (no offense), Lukesse's fine (duh xD), Harpvor's great, and Magnugaard isn't terrible either. / Yeah, Luktra's pretty good. /Pffftttt hahaha**

 **RapidSammi: Lol yep xD / (hums) Luktra makes sense, but it's a bit awkward since I'm a huge Lukesse shipper. (Also Jetra. Don't ask me how I can have two favorites with one of them being the same person. It's not as weird as having Lukas, Jesse, and Petra in a threesome.) / Aiden and Petra seems weird to me as well. / No they won't xD / (blinks at my buddy)**

 **NinaNaranja: (laughs) / (grins) Well, I'm glad to have you as one of the viewers! / (laughs) / Lol, so do I. / Unless you have perfect grammar or something in Chinese, Imma be a huge grammar nerd. xD I'm Chinese.**

 **LittleAngelbun: (grins) / PFFFFFF hahaha how did you forget Milo's name? ... honestly, it's probably a bit concerning that I know almost every character's name by heart.**

 **Emily The Avenger: Yeah, Aidassie's cute x3**

 **CrystalTearsofFaith: Exactly! Hence why I ship it xD / Lukesse for da win xD / So I guess Hadrevia's a little awkward too, then xD**

 **the indecisive bird: Oh xD I confuse Aidesse with Aidassie sometimes when I'm speaking quickly, so I just call it Jaiden to be easier. xD / Nice :3 / Right? I love Lukesse but at the same time... / Thank you!**

 **Darkbeast Dend: Why don't you like Dancat exactly? / I'd rather be an ocelot hybrid. Cats are great.**

 **RavenBlaze4850: Hehehehe OMG xD That sounds so awesome. ... I'm not going to write it, though xD / (hums) Cool! / Yeah, hence why I don't really have a least favorite.**

 **Guest: (points at Chapters 6, 9, 28, and 35's A/N)**

 **J.M.M.: ... oh! Yeah, cool :3**

 **RebekahTPE: (laughs) / Nice :3 / Uhh... I don't honestly read crackfics, so I don't know any crackships... Ooh, but there is Sensei Wu and tea, from Ninjago... does that count as a crackship?**

 **SofiaTheWriter88: Hehehe xD / Thank you! / (grins) Yeah, those are great ships.**

 **Bella Katniss Everdeen: No, sorry... I'm already flooded with other stories I have to work on after I finish this...**

 **Guest: Happy (late) birthday! / No xD / (hums) I see. / Night!**

 **Rabbits rule: Why Reubenedict? (Besides the fact that it's a chicken and a pig shipped together...) If it were humanized, I wouldn't mind. / The second one's just bestiality. / I have no idea how they got that ship or who made it up, but someone did xD / That one doesn't even make SENSE.**

 **Darkbeast Dend: Well, this is probably a bit late, but... good luck xD**

 **x.X. A.L. X.x**


	93. So, Uh, We're Criminals Now

" _People of Sky City,_ " Isa began onscreen.

" _They were certainly creative with their naming,"_ Ivor muttered.

This prompted several snorts, a few laughs, and a glare from Isa and Reginald in his direction.

" _Shhhh!_ " Lukas hushed him onscreen, eyes narrowing at him and the pupils beginning to turn into slits. Onscreen-Ivor took the hint and shut up.

" _I'm sorry to pull you from your duties-_ "

" _What_ duties? Standing in line?" Em interrupted again in a grumble. She subsided when Isa shot a glare at her and Nell gently elbowed her in the ribs.

"- _but something urgent has come to my attention. A crime has been committed,_ " Onscreen-Isa continued speaking, voice turning grim on the last sentence.

The crowd exploded into mutters and whispers. " _A crime? What kind of crime?_ "

Jace quietly facepalmed. "Well, uh... that's bad," he said, after a few seconds.

"No duh, Sherlock," Mevia muttered, still a bit fixed on the 'Sherlock Holmes' reference Jesse had made a few minutes ago.

" _Please, please, remain calm,_ " Isa spoke to the crowd.

Jesse and Lukas shared a look that basically said: _She just told them that a_ crime _was committed, and now she's telling them to remain calm. Logic._

Yes, their look said all of that.

" _Earlier today,_ " and the screen switched to show a gate that Isa pointed to, " _outsiders build a bridge into our fair city from a distant island!_ " And the gates opened to show the dirt bridge they'd build, a fence blocking it off... and then switched to show Ivor's lava-skull abomination.

The potion master developed a strange interest in his shoes and carefully avoided the rest of the audiences' gaze, seemingly oblivious to the fact that he was now the center of attention. And the target of several very pointed glares.

Onscreen, Lukas rubbed his head sheepishly while Petra glared at Ivor, sparks flitting off of her again. Milo could be seen in the corner, also turning to have a look at the bridge. Jesse simply placed her head in her uppermost set of hands. " _And by 'earlier today', she means 'ten minutes ago',_ " she grumbled quietly.

" _Now, whether these outsiders know it or not, this is a violation of Sky City's most sacred law: no_ unauthorized _building,_ " Isa said, the screen going into a close-up on her face as her green eyes hardened into a glare. The crowd exploded into chatter again.

" _Illegal builders! Atrocious!_ "

Facemeat blinked. "Afro-what?"

Hadrian snorted.

" _Everyone, everyone! Please,_ " Isa called over the explosion of noise.

" _Wait- was that you?_ "

Spider-Jesse started a bit in surprise, while Petra flailed around in a panic and nearly hit Milo in the face as he leaned around the redhead to look at the group. He ducked back a step. " _Are you the bridge builders?_ " he asked in a hushed voice.

" _I didn't know it was_ illegal," Jesse groaned in response, pinching the bridge of her nose in frustration.

" _This is nuts!_ " Petra agreed in a whisper.

"I never thought you'd be a criminal, Jesse," Axel said jokingly, making the black-haired girl swivel towards him with a flat look. "I mean, _Jace,_ yeah-" Jace threw a pillow at him halfheartedly, "but that's only because I'd just drag him down with me."

"I feel like Aiden's singling Jesse out here," Ellegaard mumbled. "I mean, I know she's the leader, but still."

"Yeah, where's my criminal poster?" Petra asked, jokingly putting her hands on her hips.

Jace smacked her playfully.

The screen switched to show Aiden whispering into the Founder's ear, before Isa pulled away and said sternly, " _Jesse, wherever you are, step forward now._ "

"Oh crap, she knows your name!" Nell exclaimed, throwing her hands into the air.

"He's _definitely_ singling Jesse out here!" Stacy exclaimed, shooting Real-Aiden a glare. The dark-haired boy was staring at the ground with a blank face.

" _I have already been informed of your identity. I appreciate that you may be ignorant of our laws, but I will warn you: Sky City is small, and I promise that if you try to hide, I_ will _find you,_ " Isa said frostily.

Real-Jesse casually shifted backwards a few inches. "Um... _yeah_. She's kinda scary," she said, in a deceptively casual voice.

" _To use Milo's term? ... slime blocks,_ " the narrator spoke, making Jesse's eyes flicker up to the sky momentarily, before returning her gaze to the scene before her, wondering what to do.

" _We need to get to that Eversource at whatever cost!_ " Ivor whispered, pushing his way to the front of the group, " _this is clearly our fastest way into the castle!_ " As he spoke, more guards began to march down the steps.

" _By getting_ arrested?!" Petra hissed angrily.

Jesse shook her head, stepping between them before the two could start bickering. " _Yeah, I have to side with Petra on this one. Besides, we broke their most sacred_ law, _we have no idea what they're going to do to us,_ " she whispered.

" _Wait!_ " The whole group turned to look at Milo, who had edged into the rough circle of people. " _Don't be fooled by the Founder's lies._ "

Isa's jaw dropped in outrage. " _Lies?!_ What _lies_?!" she nearly shouted at Real-Milo, who edged backwards away from her.

" _I can help you come up with a plan to get into the palace._ "

Onscreen, Ivor hesitated one beat. Two beats. Three beats. Then he nodded and turned to Milo. " _I see your point... alright, lead the way, blonde g-_ "

He was cut off very rudely by Aiden shouting and pointing into the crowd. " _That's them!_ "

"Oh..." Cassie trailed off. She wasn't entirely sure how polite it was to cuss when the guy she was about to cuss about was sitting right next to her and staring at his shoes.

Ivor yelped as a guard yanked him back a step. " _Hey!_ " he snapped. " _Unhand me this instant!_ "

" _Come with me!_ " Milo hissed.

" _This is completely unnecessary!_ "

" _Jesse, we need to get out of here!_ " Petra exclaimed.

"This is moving way too fast," Dan groaned, looking a little bewildered by the turn of events.

Onscreen, the spider hybrid's eyes darted back and forth, before her face set and she turned to face the guard grabbing Ivor. " _Hey, don't treat him like that. He didn't do anything wrong."_ She hesitated a half-second, before her eyes filled with determination and she took a deep breath, raising her voice so it could be clearly heard over the din of the crowd. " _It was my idea to build the bridge. Not his. So if you're going to treat anyone like a criminal,_ " and she spread all six arms, prompting some gasps from the crowd, " _he's not your guy._ I _am._ "

Petra let out a frustrated yell and started halfheartedly clobbering the short girl with a pillow. "How- could- you- be- so- _stupid_?!" she yelled, Jace squirming away to avoid getting a pillow to the face.

Real-Ivor let out a slightly relieved sigh. "Well, either way... thank you, Jesse," he said, sounding strangely affected.

"No- ooph!" Jesse made a sound of surprise as she turned her head and accidentally got a pillow to the face from Petra. Once it had fallen away, she rubbed her nose and twisted to look at Ivor. "No problem."

" _Guards!_ " Isa called to the guards in the crowd, " _bring them forward._ "

A guard grabbed Lukas's arm and yanked him forward, Reginald stepping forward and seizing ahold of Jesse's wrist. The black-haired spider hybrid simply arched her eyebrow. " _I was planning on coming anyway, but you know, I haven't been dragged around enough in my life. Lead the way,_ " she said mildly, although her eyes were narrowing in irritation.

Real-Reginald couldn't help but snort a little bit at that.

Petra stepped backwards, looking torn. " _Jesse, I... I'll find a way to help you. I promise!_ " she shouted after her friend, before turning and running after Milo into the alleyway.

Lukas winced as the guard who was dragging him twisted his arm, shooting the spider hybrid a worried look. " _I hope you know what you're doing, Jesse,_ " he whispered to her in a hushed voice.

The spider hybrid glanced at him and gave him a sheepish smile. " _I... don't think you want to hear this, but I really_ don't..."

The ocelot hybrid winced in turn. " _You're right. I didn't want to hear that._ "

" _Excuse me! Excuse me!_ " Reginald shouted, gently pushing his way through the crowd and shooting the spider hybrid a sharp glare, " _come with me._ "

" _Wasn't she already coming?_ " the narrator asked, sounding far too amused about this. Jesse looked at the sky and hissed a very quiet " _shut up_ " at the narrator, red eye glinting, before continuing after Reginald.

The screen switched to show Reginald's back as he walked, Jesse not being able to see over him (the Captain of the Guard was _tall_ ), before he moved to the side, enabling Jesse to see Isa's cold glare and Aiden's malevolent grin.

As the three of them quietly filed into a line down below, Jesse looking up at Isa with a worried look, the screen switched to show Aiden snickering a little behind Isa, although the Founder didn't notice, still glaring down at Jesse. " _We meet at last,_ " the Founder said, coldly.

Onscreen, Jesse inhaled deeply, looking extremely tense and as if she was scrambling for something to say.

Aiden let out a cold chuckle and gave the spider hybrid a sarcastic wave. Maya also let out a snicker, and Reginald turned around with a suspicious look. " _What was that? Who's snickering?_ "

This prompted a few snickers from the crowd, although the majority of them were still hung up on what was going to happen to Jesse and the others.

Finally, the spider hybrid gave a faint smile and lifted her uppermost hand in a little wave, her lower sets of arms folding behind her back. " _Um... hi. It's really nice to meet you, though I... do wish it was in different circumstances. You're the Founder, right? I'm, um... I'm Jesse._ "

Isa just looked at her for a moment, eyes hardening. " _So I gathered,_ " she said stiffly.

Real-Isa winced and rubbed her head sheepishly.

After another pause, the Founder said, in a slightly more agreeable tone, " _Hm. I admire your honesty in stepping forward. This should be... interesting._ " Her tone was mostly light, giving no indication of what she might or might not do. On the last word, she swiveled on her heel and marched into the palace. " _I need a few moments in the throne room to discuss things... Maya, Gill, you two stay with the guards and watch the criminals while Aiden and I have a chat,_ " she instructed briskly.

Aiden gave Jesse one last cold smile, before turning on his own heel and following Isa inside. Maya and Gill exchanged a look onscreen, but it was almost too quick to be noticed.

The screen switched to show Reginald turning to face Jesse, wordlessly pointing at the entrance. Jesse looked at the Captain of the Guard for a moment- silently- before mutely walking in, the Captain of the Guard following with Lukas, Ivor, and a few more guards trailing behind them. The screen blacked out.

"I wonder what she's going to discuss with him," Maya murmured, looking a bit pale.

"Nothing good, I imagine," Soren muttered quietly.

The screen faded back in to show Reginald standing in the hallway, watching Jesse, Lukas, and Ivor with cold eyes. Maya and Gill stood nearby, both members of the Blaze Rods fiddling with their jackets. It was the second or third time during watching this whole thing in which all of them felt the weight of the silence.

Silence shouldn't ever be so loud.

Finally, Jesse decided to break it, speaking up in a weak little voice. " _So, um... how are you guys doing?_ " This she directed to Maya and Gill.

The Blaze Rods looked up, exchanged a look with each other, and looked away again.

Jesse waited. They stood there. Jesse waited. They stood there.

Finally, Maya let out an annoyed sigh and lifted her head, just as the spider hybrid opened her mouth again. The only female member of the Blaze Rods wasn't looking anywhere in Jesse's direction when she addressed her. " _Look, we're not friends. We don't get along whatsoever. Don't try to get on our good sides just so Aiden or the Founder might lighten your sentence._ "

Maya groaned wordlessly and buried her head in her hands in embarrassment.

" _What?_ " Jesse asked, blinking.

This made both Blaze Rods look at her. Maya looked annoyed, but... there was the slightest inkling of surprise in her expression. " _Isn't that what you're doing?_ " Maya asked, still sharply but a bit more gently.

" _No... it's just... I saw Aiden pushing you guys around the other day, and... I just wanted to make sure you're alright?_ " Jesse trailed off, sounding as if she was asking a question.

Real-Aiden remained silent, staring at the screen dully.

Gill huffed, shifting. " _We're fine. End of story. I mean, I spoke out of turn one time when we were talking to the Founder and he-_ " His expression suddenly contorted into one of pain as he leaned against the wall, jerking away and grabbing his shoulder with a grunt. Maya reached out and put a grounding hand on his other shoulder, looking concerned.

" _Are you alright?_ " Lukas asked, seemingly despite himself.

" _It's fine. Bruised it up a bit when Aiden shoved me. Maybe dislo-_ ouch," and Gill's grimace turned into a wince. " _Maya's fine. She didn't get any injuries or any-_ ouch!"

Aiden felt as though he'd swallowed a rock.

" _You dislocated your arm?_ " Jesse spoke again, frowning. " _And you're still moving it around?_ "

" _It's-_ " Gill winced again, " _fine._ "

Jesse glanced at Reginald, but the Captain of the Guard was looking at the door and checking if Aiden and the others were done. Jesse turned to Gill, lips pressed together in concern. " _I mean, if your arm is dislocated, I can wrap it up or something so you're not moving it around so m-_ "

" _I'm fine!_ " the Blaze Rod snapped at her, making Jesse flinch back a step. Gill maintained a glare at her for a moment before it fell off his face and he stepped back, gradually removing his hand from his shoulder. " _I'm fine. Don't talk to me anymore. I'll get in trouble if Aiden-_ " He stopped himself, exchanging a look with Maya, before falling silent.

Jesse stared at Gill for a moment, before looking at Ivor. " _Ivor,_ " she said lightly, " _hypothetically, would you have a healing potion for an injury? You know, like if I dislocated my shoulder or got a nasty bruise?_ "

Several pairs of eyes flickered to glance at Jesse's back automatically.

The potionologist blinked, before a faint smile twitched the corners of his lips upwards. " _Why yes, Jesse. It'd be enough to completely heal it as long as the person who got injured didn't do anything extremely physical for the next... oh, five minutes or so, at most._ "

Onscreen-Gill and Maya had forgotten to stop avoiding their gaze and were staring at Jesse as if she'd grown two extra sets of arms.

Oh, wait.

" _Hm, I see. Could I have a look at this potion? You know, just to see what it looks like,_ " Jesse continued, still in that light, casual tone.

Onscreen-Lukas's lips were twitching a bit at this light, casual byplay, although he still looked rather annoyed with the other Blaze Rods. He couldn't help chiming in. " _Yes, we all know how much Jesse loves studying potions. It never hurts to have a bit of review, does it?_ " he asked, also in this light, casual tone that Jesse smiled at.

The audience was now starting to grin at the playful conversation.

" _Of course._ " Ivor reached into his pocket and pulled out a bottle with a pale green liquid inside. " _After all, practice makes- whoops!_ " And he 'accidentally' dropped it, the bottle landing on his conveniently placed foot and rolling off harmlessly. Jesse 'accidentally' kicked it over to Lukas, who was nearest to the other two Blaze Rods, and the ocelot hybrid 'accidentally' knocked it over to Gill with his tail.

" _Oh no. The Blaze Rods confiscated it,_ " Ivor stated, in a voice that sounded remarkably deadpan.

Half the audience couldn't help it anymore and let out an amused snort at that.

Gill kept staring at the group in confusion, Maya looking startled. Ivor cleared his throat. " _I_ said, _oh_ no. _The Blaze Rods_ confiscated _it,_ " he repeated, shooting the bottle at their feet a look, and then making eye contact with them.

Now most of the audience was in a fit of giggles.

Maya quickly scooped up the bottle and handed it to Gill, the Blaze Rod giving the Hybrid Order a grateful look and quickly swallowing the potion. Jesse gave him a small smile and turned around to face Reginald- just in time to catch the scrutinizing look the Captain of the Guard was giving her. She arched her eyebrow at him a little bit, but he just turned away and pushed open the door. " _Come on in- the Founder's ready for you._ "

The Blaze Rods led the way in, Gill making sure to keep from moving too energetically, before Reginald marched into the room, the other two guards taking up their positions behind the three members of the Hybrid Order, who quickly moved into position, the amusement from the little scene just now fading into trepidation as they followed Reginald into the throne room.

* * *

 **A/N: Fun fact; did you guys know that back in Chapter 81, the word 'PHANTASMAGORIA' is an actual word? I was actually basing it off a song (if you find the song, quote the first lyric to let me know that you found it), but I didn't know it was an actual word. Cool! x3**

 **Hoh boy, this took a while. The Blaze Rods get more of a role in this than they did in the original Hybrid. Also, there may or may not be bit more Friendly (ONLY FRIENDLY) Jaiden. (Or Aidesse. I just prefer Jaiden. Also, I'm saying 'may' because I ain't sure yet. Like at all.)**

 **RQTC: Does anyone want to hear about this comic series I'm going to start making in a few years? (Why in a few years? Planning takes a sh*tton of time. Also, too much character and story development.)**

 **homeworkoverload: Oh, hi! / (laughs) Don't worry, I did the first time I watched Markimoo play the game. / Well, too freaking bad. It's your hair. You can do whatever you want with it. (Oh god, don't show this to your friend please xD)**

 **RapidSammi: To each their own :3 / Cool!**

 **sailor . mikuchan: 'Genre'. / Ahhhh (nods) Cool. I made up a creepypasta once. xD**

 **pensuka: ... or... maybe not xD**

 **LunarStarsMoons: I KNOW, RIGHT? / Yep xD / (nods) I see. / (nods) Cool. Luktra is a neutral for me. Like, I could see it happening, but I don't actively ship it. Did that make sense? / Heehee, yep x3**

 **NinaNaranja: Ahhhh. xD I can't handle either. / Yep! Special in (checks) 7 chapters!**

 **LittleAngelbun: Ooh, you play tennis? / (laughs) Well, I mean, considering I still remember Nohr, and Calvin, and characters like that off the top of my head since I write fanfiction, like, everyday.**

 **AquaK13: Yep xD / Mm-hm :3 / Wait, what, really? I didn't ever see that. How do you get it? (anime eyes) / I don't want to see Eyes. I never want to see Eyes. (walks away) / (cracks up) Nice. / No problem! I'm surprised I even have this many, tbh xD / Oh, I didn't- oh! (facepalms) I'm sorry, I thought I did! / Bai!**

 **Emily The Avenger: Yeah, I'm planning on writing an MCSM x FNaF crossover xD After this very long story is done. / (runs away from the creepypastas)**

 **CrystalTearsofFaith: Mmmm, I see your point. / (nods) Yeah, there's one creepypasta with Nurse Joy that I read. The author definitely made it work.**

 **Guest: Ah xD / Good luck! (This is a bit late, but good luck!) / Well, good luck on your state tests!**

 **the indecisive bird: Mmhm x3 / Yeah xD very telling indeed. / :3 / Yeah, yeah, exactly! It's worse when I read stories, though. My brain makes the image in my head and it's more terrifying than clusters of holes. (Like I mentioned before, I'm trypophobic. So clusters of holes are terrifying to me.)**

 **RavenBlaze4850: I decided to make the Blaze Rods somewhat decent xD Well, you know, except for Aiden, but Aiden's Aiden. / (laughs) / Ahhhhhh. Sorry. xD /Oooh, can you share some MCSM creepypastas with me? I only know about one so far.**

 **SofiaTheWriter88: A censored one xD / Ohhh, I know 'Ib'. That sounds kinda cool. / Actually, FNAF and TattleTail are the ones I CAN handle, along with Bendy and the Ink Machine. The fan songs that have been made just kinda eliminate the scariness for me xD / Do you want to read mine? Mine's not that scary. It's just there to get the idea out of my head, since I'm a scaredy cat.**

 **Darkbeast Dend: Lol dude, your username came out as 'DarkbReast Dend' xD / Bat hybrid. Bats are cool. / Ahh, I'm sorry :/ Good luck!**

 **x.X. A.L. X.x**


	94. The Founder's Burden

As Jesse entered the throne room, she happened to glance at Reginald. The Captain of the Guard scowled at her, so Jesse changed her gaze to look at Isa, who was looking down at the Blaze Rods, Maya and Gill having joined back up with Aiden silently. " _For your service to Sky City,_ " she said formally, " _I grant you these gifts._ "

She gestured with her hand at a wall where some guards were standing. The spider hybrid tilted her head curiously, red-and-green eyes narrowing a bit in curiosity.

The screen switched to show a lever on the floor, one of the guards flicking it and making the wall open up, a trail of minecarts travelling down the tracks and coming to a stop.

" _That minecart she summoned..._ " Ivor mused in a whisper, making the spider hybrid swivel back to look at the potionologist, whose eyes were narrowed thoughtfully as he stared at them, " _it must lead to to the Eversource!_ "

"THAT'S what you're thinking about right now?" Mevia asked, arching her eyebrow incredulously.

Onscreen, Lukas seemed to share the same sentiment, 'cause his eyes hardened. " _Really? That's what you're focusing on?!_ " he hissed back, tail flicking around in agitation, " _I'd say we have bigger problems on our hands. Like Aiden._ "

The screen switched to show Aiden standing near the throne with a smug smirk on his face. " _Look at him being all friendly with the Founder,_ " Lukas continued in his whisper, " _that's bad news._ "

Real-Aiden seemed to have taken a permanent interest in his shoes.

" _Lukas is right,_ " the spider hybrid agreed in her own whisper, " _we need to figure out what Aiden is up to so we can stop him._ That's _what we need to stay focused on right now._ "

" _I've got the feeling,_ " Ivor stated, still in a whisper and ominously, " _that I_ already _know what Aiden is up to._ "

" _Take your reward,_ " Isa started talking to the Blaze Rods, who were looking at their gifts with blank faces, " _and enjoy the bounty of Sky City's generosity._ "

The screen switched to show the Blaze Rods holding carrots.

Hadrian snorted loudly and twisted to look at Isa. " _Carrots?_ Really?" he snarked.

"They're hard to grow in the dirt that we have!" Isa argued back immediately, "and there's precious little space _or_ dirt to grow _anything_ in Sky City. It's a very bountiful gift that we're giving them!"

Onscreen, Gill shrugged nonchalantly and bit into his carrot, chewing away. When Maya looked at him, he shrugged again, mouth full of carrot. " _What?_ " he asked her, in a sotto voce. " _I'm hungry._ "

Onscreen-Jesse and Real-Jesse both hid a smile behind their hands.

" _Uh, we are honored, wonderful Founder,_ " Aiden said, after a few seconds of awkward silence, giving the Founder a low bow.

" _Of course. Now go,_ " Isa dismissed them, leveling a glare at the three members of the Hybrid Order, " _I have_ criminals _to deal with._ "

Aiden put his carrot away, Gill still eating his and Maya following a bit behind Aiden. The dark-brown-haired boy came to a stop just in front and a bit off to the side of the spider hybrid and clapped his hand onto her shoulder, making her flinch a bit. " _Good luck, Jesse,_ " he said to her in a low voice, a nasty smirk on his face. " _I hope you like being doomed._ "

Onscreen, Maya and Gill exchanged a hasty look, before Maya adopted her own smirk. " _Totally doomed,_ " she added, passing by.

" _Blaze Rods!_ " Gill cheered in his own low voice.

Half the audience snorted at that.

Jesse frowned a bit at Aiden. " _Aiden, you don't have to do this,_ " she whispered to him, " _we can work together and all go home without much trouble._ "

"I don't think I would've done that," Lukas said honestly to Jesse (although everyone else could clearly hear it), leaning forward a bit and tilting his head at the screen. "I mean, I try to be nice, but... once I'm betrayed, I find it really hard to trust that person again."

Maya and Gill both winced a bit at the comment. Aiden was looking at the two of them out of the corner of his eye, head still bowed forward from where he'd been staring at his shoes.

Real-Jesse shrugged a bit at Lukas. "I feel like everyone deserves second chances," she replied sincerely. "There may a circumstance or another factor that I'm not aware of. Besides, it's not really my place to deliver justice or to give someone what they deserve."

The blonde's lips curled up into a small smile. "Aww," and he pulled the petite girl into a hug from behind, "my Jesse's a bigger person than I am."

Jesse stiffened, her face turning bright red. Lukas blinked at her and looked up to see most of the audience sending him teasing grins. He then realized what he'd just said and felt the blood rush to his own face. He pointedly directed his gaze back to the screen, attempting to ignore the soft giggles from his friends.

" _Oh, we're_ way _past that, Jesse,_ " Aiden smirked, and let go of her shoulder, shoving it a bit in the process and making the spider hybrid stumble back a step or two as she blinked at him a bit, confused as to what he meant. He then shoved past Reginald, who'd been standing behind the group for the past couple minutes. " _Outta my way, Reggie._ "

Both Isa and Real-Reginald frowned heavily at that, shooting the dark-brown-haired boy a look. His interest had returned to his shoes again.

Reginald scowled a bit at Aiden, the startled look falling off his face. " _It's Reginald,_ " he grumbled gruffly, before marching forward and coming to a stop at the base of the throne. " _Come on, criminals. Time to see the Founder._ "

"Aren't they _literally_ already standing in front of her?" Em pointed out. Nell elbowed her a bit.

" _Jesse,_ " Isa said, as the three of them stepped forward a bit, nervously, " _and accomplices._ "

"At least she didn't call me Blonde Guy or anything," Lukas mumbled, shooting Real-Ivor a look.

Ivor grunted, sounding irritated. "That was _one time._ "

" _You have committed acts of wanton and illegal building, something specifically forbidden by our laws. Explain yourself,_ " Isa said curtly, staring hard at the group.

The spider hybrid blinked up at the Founder, compiling what she wanted to say mentally. Ivor, who was standing just behind the shorter female, leaned forward and whispered, loudly, " _This could still turn out okay._ "

Jesse was just shooting him a glance when Lukas hissed back, " _Are you kidding? She does_ not _sound friendly._ "

"Yes, she's definitely intimidating," Milo muttered, shooting the Founder a _look._

She overheard the comment, noticed the _look_ he was sending her, and glared at him. "And what, pray tell, is _that_ supposed to mean?"

"Oh, nothing. Just that you're not exactly the best at being _friendly_ to civilians-" Milo shot back.

"Why, I never-!"

Onscreen, Jesse rolled her eyes to heaven with a soft sigh, and rocked up onto the balls of her feet. She then pushed herself backwards a bit, making both Ivor and Lukas yelp in pain as she stomped on their toes, pointedly ignoring them.

Otto made a humming sound. "Clever... and efficient."

"Yes, and _subtle,_ " Soren said pointedly, shooting Ivor a wicked grin.

The potionologist very maturely stuck his tongue out at the Architect, to the vast amusement of the other members of the audience.

" _We didn't_ know _it was against the law when we started to build,_ " Jesse spoke up, a faintly upset look coming across her face. " _We were_ stranded! _What were we_ supposed _to do?_ "

" _Ignorance won't get you any favors,_ " Isa replied coldly.

"Yes, you're definitely being all warm and fuzzy there," Milo grumbled. He subsided when Jace shot him a look that screamed, _CUT IT OUT PLEASE!_

" _Aiden told me all about you, Jesse,_ " the Founder continued. " _About how you're a tyrant back home. About how you use your mob abilities to terrorize innocent citizens. About how you and your-_ Order of the Stone _steal all the world's treasures for yourself._ "

The screen switched to show Jesse's face growing progressively paler by the second, her shoulders starting to tremble. Real-Jesse's face had gone completely blank as she watched her onscreen counterpart's face turn nearly pure _white_. Real-Ivor opened his mouth to vehemently protest this.

" _About how you're here to steal the Eversource from my city- a terrible act of treason._ "

Real-Ivor paused for three beats before shutting his mouth without a word.

" _Founder, ma'am,_ " the spider hybrid spoke up, still looking oddly pale, " _that's actually_ not _what the Order of the Stone does. Yes, we collect treasure, but they are all things that anyone could get if they put in the extra time and effort it takes to get the treasure. And yes, we_ are _hybrids, but we used those abilities to save the whole_ world. _We're not tyrants,_ or _thieves. Aiden's a bit..."_

"Delusional?" Petra suggested.

"Insane?" Ivor offered.

"... _mixed-up, on that count,_ " Onscreen-Jesse finished, after a few moments of hesitation.

Isa just quirked one eyebrow slightly. " _Really._ "

After a few more moments of silence, Isa simply stood up. " _Jesse, it's clear that you're the little ring-leader,_ " she spoke directly to the black-haired girl, " _so how about you come with me._ "

It was not phrased as a question.

Milo muttered a bit under his breath but didn't actually voice whatever he was thinking.

One guard came up and set a hand on her shoulder. Jesse looked at him as he started steering her in the direction the Founder was walking off in, before looking back forward, her eyebrow going up. " _Um... okay?_ "

Ivor huffed. " _I guess we'll just wait here, then,_ " he grumbled, crossing his arms. The ocelot hybrid next to him looked at the floor awkwardly, wringing his tail with his hands.

"Don't be salty, Ivor," Jace told the man.

Magnus doubled over laughing, nearly knocking Ellegaard off the couch and making Jesse and Jace start violently and turn around to look at him. "Hahaha! Whoo, that's _gold!_ " He ignored the way Ivor was glaring at him, straightening back up when Ellegaard rolled her eyes with a tiny smile on her face and nudged him in the ribs. There was a pause.

"Salty."

Magnus probably deserved that pillow that was chucked at his head half a second later.

Onscreen, Jesse looked back over her shoulder for a moment, before turning back forward to see Isa standing outside, facing away from Jesse. The screen switched to show that Isa was standing at the edge of the sky island, staring out at the sky. The guard stayed back, allowing Jesse to meekly draw level with the Founder, although she did keep a few steps away from the Founder.

" _Tell me what you see,_ " Isa said quietly.

Jesse blinked out in the direction Isa was looking, before looking back at Isa with a confused look. " _I... don't see anything?_ " she said, slowly. " _It's just..."_ The spider hybrid's shoulders raised in a shrug, making her shudder slightly as all six of them raised and fell in the shrug.

" _Precisely,_ " the Founder stated softly.

There was a few moments of pure silence both onscreen and in real life. Even the sound of breathing seemed to be absent from the room as most of the occupants held their breaths.

" _As you can see,_ " Isa said crisply, the screen switching to show the scene from above. The clear blue sky descended for who knows how long, and Soren made an odd gulping sound at the sight of that, " _nothing exists below us. Only the Void._ " Isa stepped away from the edge, turning away.

The screen switched to show Isa's composed face slowly falling into a tired one. Tired and sad.

Everyone blinked. This was a side to the Founder that none of them had seen before, and that included Reginald and Milo.

After another moment, Isa turned to face the spider hybrid again. " _Resources- every kind- are incredibly precious,_ " she said quietly, drawing out a cobblestone block, " _and when something falls..._ " She extended the hand holding the cobblestone block out over the edge, hesitating for a few seconds, before releasing it, letting it fall down... down... down... until it disappeared into the endless sky below. " _... it is gone forever._ "

"What?!" Milo nearly _exploded_ , "I get arrested for _accidentally_ dropping a dirt block over the edge, but the Founder tosses a stone block off the edge on purpose and nobody bats an eye?!"

Reginald looked a bit uncomfortable about this as well.

Isa blinked at him, before a faint, awkward smile came over her face and she gestured at the screen. "Er... I mean, there is a cobblestone generator not 20 feet away..."

Petra snorted at that.

Milo didn't share the amusement, grumbling under his breath angrily.

Onscreen, Isa moved away again, pacing the ground with that tired look on her face. " _It is why building only happens when I dictate it. People only receive materials when I allow it. Otherwise..._ " The corner of her mouth ticked and then sagged. " _We could collapse back into chaos._ "

"Whoa," Stacy blinked, "dramatic."

" _It is my duty to keep my people safe,_ " Isa told Jesse seriously, the spider hybrid blinking at her, " _and the only way I can do that is if our laws are obeyed."_

Jesse stood there for a few seconds, staring at Isa and blinking slightly. " _I... guess that makes sense,_ " she said after a moment, thoughtfully. " _How would you get anything new up here?_ " She waved her hands furiously after half a second. " _Not- not like materials like redstone or wool or anything, but stuff like dirt and wood and stone. Those aren't monster drops."_

"She has a point," Ivor murmured thoughtfully.

Real-Isa stole a look at Jesse, who gave her a cheerful smile in her direction. It might've been the black-haired girl's imagination, but Isa seemed to give her a grateful smile before returning her attention to the screen.

Onscreen, Isa smiled as well, looking pleased, her tired appearance softening for a moment. " _I appreciate you trying to understand our world._ " She let out a sigh and paced away, coming to a stop at the very edge of the island. " _People_ act _as though I_ want _things to be this way._ "

Milo blinked a few times at that.

" _Allocating the limited resources... risking my life_ every day..." The Founder trailed off, lost in thought as she stared out into the endless sky.

Jesse's eyes widened. " _Wait... 'risking your life'...? Is the Eversource_ dangerous?" she asked, voicing the thoughts of several members of the audience.

Isa turned to Jesse, the tired look on her face standing out in sharp relief once again. " _More than you could know..._ " she said, quietly, making an ominous mood hang over the two of them.

After a moment, the dark mood that had been settling over her lifted, only slightly. " _I'll have you know that before I... found... the Eversource,_ " there was a slight pause on the word 'found' that most of the audience didn't notice, " _this world was nothing more than a cluster of pathetic islands in the sky."_ Isa turned to Jesse, a hint of almost _desperation_ in her eyes flickering into being. Desperation for someone- _anyone-_ to understand exactly what she was going through, exactly how tiring and taxing of a job she'd taken on. " _I do this for my people. That..._ that _is why I do what I do._ "

Milo's lips pressed together, and he snuck a glance at the Real-Founder. Isa's shoulders had slumped a bit, and for the first time in real life, there was a brief hint of the exhaustion that she must battle _every day_ from the weight that she'd placed upon her own shoulders that showed through her formal demeanor.

" _But you don't have to do it alone,_ " Jesse said immediately, stepping forward a bit. Her green-and-red eyes shone with sincerity. " _We could help you. We could work together!_ "

Isa's shoulders slumped even more onscreen. " _Being the leader of this city... it_ is _a tiring burden..._ " She held that position for a moment, before she took a deep breath and composed herself again, straightening up, the Founder of Sky City returning. " _But no... this is my city. These are_ my _people. And it is_ my _responsibility._ "

The spider hybrid regarded her with a concerned expression. Isa turned away, hiding her face from view. " _I think I've heard quite enough._ " And she walked back into the throne room, Jesse trailing after her with a guard's hand on her back, guiding her in.

Ivor looked up from where he was standing, his scowl lightening. " _Good. Now that you're back, maybe we can talk properly._ "

" _Reginald,_ " Isa announced to the Captain of the Guard, who turned to look at the Founder, " _I've made my decision._ "

Was it just the audience's imagination, or did she look almost _sad_ in that moment?

" _While I'm not convinced that you_ are _here to steal the Eversource,_ " Isa said to Jesse, the black-haired girl tilting her head back to look at her, " _the fact remains that you constructed a bridge of dirt without authorization._ "

"I'm not sure I like where this is going," Lizzie mumbled.

" _That is why you and your companions are to be detained-_ "

Onscreen-Jesse gasped a bit, eyes widening, while Ivor and Lukas started a bit in surprise. " _\- until I can discern the full truth of the matter._ "

"Fair enough," Real-Jesse said mildly.

When everyone looked at her, she just shrugged, looking surprised that the others were, in fact, surprised. "What? We _did_ break their most sacred law. Besides, at least she didn't say we're being arrested."

"... true," Petra mumbled, turning back to the screen.

" _Reginald,_ " Isa said coolly, " _please remove them._ "

" _Yes ma'am!_ " Reginald nodded, walking towards them.

" _What?!_ " Lukas gasped, backing away a step automatically, before two guards came up to him and Ivor and began leading him away, Jesse turning around and staring after them, mouth hanging open in surprise. Reginald looked at the spider hybrid, who finally closed her mouth, still staring after her friends in shock. He looked back at the Founder, whose face was filled with a sort of grim sadness, before back at Jesse again.

Jesse finally looked back at the Founder, along with Reginald, to see the Founder's eyes close and the woman bow her head forward slightly in silence. After a moment, Jesse turned away and started walking, Reginald's hand steering her along.

" _Sorry, outsiders,_ " Reginald said, in a more sympathetic voice, " _Founder's orders. No changing her mind now._ "

Jesse glanced over her shoulder to see Isa slowly put her head into her hands, and looked away again, a faintly frightened look coming over her face.

There was a sort of shocked, grim silence hanging over the audience as they watched Jesse walked through the doors, Reginald's hand steering her along, before the doors swung shut behind them, the screen blacking out as the sound of the doors thudding shut echoed through the room.

Soren finally broke the silence, speaking in a rather hushed voice. "What do you all think will happen next?" he nearly whispered.

Otto shrugged a bit, still staring at the screen. "Well, I suppose we'll find out in a minute."

* * *

 **A/N: Welp, looks like this chapter's done! I hope I wrote it well (scratches head awkwardly)**

 **The teaser for the comic series will be posted after the A/N and all the review replies :3**

 **RQTC: What's the weirdest ship in MCSM?**

 **Male Jesse x Female Jesse.**

 **Just...**

 **Why?**

 **LunarStarsMoons: (grins) Yep :3 / Yep! / Okey :3**

 **Emily The Avenger: (laughs) Alrighty. / I'm postin' it anyway, I updated the teaser a bit xD / YAY!**

 **S4SH4L4SH4theGaMeR101: Okay! / Cool :3 / Yeah, that was fun to write xD**

 **RapidSammi: Yep xD / I was giggling in the school library while I was writing that part, got a lot of weird looks xD**

 **AquaK13: Yep xD / Yeah :3 / It's not a fandom. It's original (heavenly chorus sings) xD / Ahh xD**

 **homeworkoverload: Oh thank god xD / Yeah, I know how ya feel fam xD**

 **Darkbeast Dend: The original chapter in Hybrid had a similar response, so... not sure what you're talking about. But no, not rude at all :3 / (scratches head) Well, it depends...**

 **LittleAngelbun: Ahhhh xD**

 **Rabbits rule: Where on earth did that come from? xD / Yeah xD / (blinks) Well, yeah, now that you mention it... / (laughs) No, not at all.**

 **Guest: Ahhh :3 Good luck!**

 **CrystalTearsofFaith: Cool, I'll let you know when it's up :3 / Hehehe xD / (grabs you by the collar and yanks you forward) I WILL READ YOUR STORY. xD / (laughs) Yeah, I cracked up at that part too.**

 **RWBYSTRQ: I don't think I'll use it simply because it'd just be too distracting, but thank you for the idea!**

 **RavenBlaze4850: Yeah, it's the thought that counts xD / Okay! I'll put it up. / Gotcha.**

 **the indecisive bird: Never played it, but now I'm tempted xD / Hehehe so do I xD / Okay, the teaser goes at the bottom. Lemme know what you think!**

 **NinaNaranja: Well, all eyes. xD I'm not saying a word xD / Nope, had no idea xD / It's at way over 2k views already, do you mean reviews? xD**

 **J.M.M.: Ah, alright. Cool :3**

 **Beli0304: (winks) / Alrighty :3 / Sure thing!**

 **LegoGirl794: The only horror I can handle is fandoms that have copious amounts of fanmusic made for them. Then I stop being scared, though I do jump a bit xD**

 **SofiaTheWriter88: Yeahh, she does :3/ Okeydokey!**

 **x.X. A.L. X.x**

* * *

 _Islesbury._

A small town with population 12,000, a modest high school, and nothing much of note. The only noteworthy thing in the whole town is the hotel standing at the east end of town.

The hotel was built in 1798. It's a beautiful hotel, that has had the honor of checking in famous stars, scientists, the upper crust of society, for vacations. But the people who've stayed there have reported strange happenings in the hotel. Paranormal, almost.

Now the Islesbury High school's junior history class is taking the students on a week-long stay at the hotel to study the history that has taken place in the hotel. Unfortunately, this week-long stay happens to coincide with a murder that was committed only a few days before.

When a strange occurrence brings three students from completely different 'cliques' within the school together, a supernatural entity is taking interest, and the murderer is rumored to still be in the hotel, the mystery of the century will start clicking into place.

Murder.

Mystery.

Intrigue.

Death.

Dreams.

A possible romance.

Visions.

All of these things and more tie together in a single story that you've never heard before and may never hear again.

Welcome...

to The _**PHANTASMAGORIA**_ Hotel.


	95. Being 'Detained'

The screen faded back into a bunch of stone walls, a bed in the corner with two torches on the walls. Water dripped from the ceiling, and the camera panned down to show Jesse staring up at the ceiling with a look of trepidation. Reginald's humming could be heard faintly in the background.

Jesse turned her head to look through the bars, Ivor and Lukas able to be seen in the background. The ocelot hybrid was dragging his claws along a bed post, making an annoying grinding, scraping sound that ceased when Ivor shot him a look.

The camera switched to show Reginald's back as he went through a chest, humming quietly. He looked back at the group in the cell. " _You guys have some really fascinating stuff here,_ " he muttered, going back to the chest a few seconds later.

"Did you seriously confiscate their stuff?" Dan asked, looking over at Reginald with a raised eyebrow.

The Captain of the Guard shrugged at the looks he was now receiving from several members of the audience. "Wouldn't be much of a jail otherwise."

Onscreen, Jesse just shot the Captain of the Guard a deadpan look through the bars. After a moment, Reginald stopped humming, turning around to see the three of them regarding him. " _I'm just doi- what? Come on, I'm just doing my job here. You're criminals. I catch criminals,_ " he defended himself, turning back to the chest with a huff.

The spider hybrid rolled her eyes and turned back to look inside the cell, her lower arms all fidgeting quietly.

" _Oh, wow... what is this?_ " The screen switched to show Reginald holding a block of sand, standing up with a bemused look on his face.

Hadrian snorted. "You've never seen _sand_ before?" he asked Reginald.

Real-Reginald's cheeks colored both in frustration and embarrassment, but he decided not to say anything.

Lukas looked up from where he was curled up on the floor, getting to his feet with his own bemused look. " _That's... mine?_ " he said, sounding as if he was asking a question.

"What were you even doing with sand in the first place?" Petra wondered, looking at the blonde with his arm around Jesse.

Lukas rubbed the back of his head, giving the redhead a sheepish smile. "I, uh... I may or may not have just been keeping it in my inventory just in case. I tend to do that."

"Oh, so you're a bag lady."

For once, the pillow that was chucked at Gill's head was not due to him joking that Jesse and Lukas were a thing.

Reginald approached the cell slowly, staring at the sand block in bemusement. " _It's almost like dirt... but not._ " He tilted the block from side to side, regarding it carefully.

Jesse climbed to her feet, staring at Reginald in bewilderment and making the Captain of the Guard look up at her. " _That's called sand... you've never seen sand before?_ " she asked, slowly.

Reginald looked back at the sand block. " _'Sand.' Wow. What's it do?"_ he asked, sounding interested.

Jesse tilted her head to one side, as if trying to figure out how exactly she was supposed to explain the concept of 'sand' to someone who'd never heard of sand before. " _Ah... well-_ "

" _Are you kidding me?_ " Ivor interrupted, sounding highly irritated, " _we are_ not _going to explain_ sand _to the guy locking us behind bars! I refuse!_ "

Real-Jesse looked at Ivor, arching her eyebrow a bit in amusement. Ivor shrugged in return, a lopsided smile sneaking its way across his face.

Onscreen-Jesse put all six of her hands in the air in surrender, giving Reginald a slightly apologetic but slightly amused look. Reginald had looked a bit startled by the outburst, but he quickly re-composed himself and said, " _Well, whatever it does, it's going in the chest with everything else._ " And he walked back towards the chest, presumably putting the sand back inside.

" _Feh,_ " Ivor scoffed. " _Nothing sadder than an unimportant man on the world's tiniest power trip._ "

"Hey!" Real-Reginald exclaimed, sounding extremely offended by that comment.

Onscreen, Lukas grinned at that in amusement, ears perking up a bit, while Jesse's eyes widened and she shook her head in warning about half a second too late.

Reginald slammed the chest shut, finally having come to his last tether. " _Hey, I don't have to take this!_ " he snapped, stalking towards the cell, Jesse looking rather startled but standing her ground. Real-Jesse blinked a bit in surprise as well; the Captain of the Guard had seemed as if he had a pretty good handle on his temper up until that point. " _I'm in charge here. You're criminals. Aiden told everyone about how horrible you are._ "

"And you believed him?" Stacy asked drily.

Stampy repressed a snort at that.

" _He said that you burn down trees, just for fun,_ " Reginald snapped, pacing away. Onscreen-Jesse's eyes widened a bit, and they widened even more when Reginald continued, " _That_ _you use your mob abilities to torture people who get in your way._ "

Real-Jesse flinched violently, hand straying to her back. Torture struck a little too close to home for her. Lukas's arm tightened protectively around the petite girl sitting next to him.

Onscreen, Jesse frowned at that, looking away awkwardly. Reginald added, " _That you steal all the world's treasures and hoard them for yourself._ "

"The first two don't even have any basis in _fact_ ," Sparklez complained. "This one's just taking one thing and blowing it way out of proportion."

" _He also said that you tame wild animals, just so you can make them chase innocent people,_ " Reginald tacked on, glaring at nothing in particular.

Real-Aiden winced.

" _Well, if he_ really _wanted to make you hate us,_ " Ivor snapped sarcastically, " _he would've told you that I spawned a-_ "

Lukas literally slapped his hand over Ivor's mouth, making Ivor flinch a bit in surprise and giving a high-pitched, nervous laugh as he (to the audience's immense relief) cut off the fact that Ivor was about to say that he'd spawned a 'giant, three-headed monster that nearly destroyed the whole world'. Or, well, something along those lines. " _Whoa!_ " he chuckled, " _he wouldn't have said anything. Hahaha... (shut up, Ivor.) Ahaha..._ "

Harper couldn't help it anymore and let out a snort. "Very smooth there, blonde guy."

"Why is everyone calling me blonde guy?" Lukas complained.

Real-Jesse hid the smile ticking over her face.

Onscreen, Jesse moved to stand next to where Reginald was standing in front of the bars, glaring in a different direction. " _Does this look like the face of a horrible criminal?_ " she asked meekly.

Reginald turned to look at Jesse at that. The screen switched to show the spider hybrid simply giving the Captain of the Guard a plaintive look. There was a long pause, before Reginald mumbled, " _Well... no... I suppose you don't_ seem _that way now that I meet you..._ "

The spider hybrid smiled a bit, perking up a bit and looking much relieved about this fact.

Reginald's mouth settled into a thin line, and he looked away from her awkwardly, before sighing and turning back to face her. " _I'm sorry, but this is the way it has to be. Now, if you'll excuse me, I have to go help the Blaze Rods beef up security,_ " he said, adopting a sterner tone at the end and turning to his right, walking away briskly. Jesse began to dash after him, breaking into a light jog to catch up with Reginald before he left the area. His muttering became clearer as she neared him. " _Can't believe I'm taking orders from that sniveling little-_ "

Real-Aiden winced. It was pretty clear that Reginald meant him.

Reginald sensed onscreen-Jesse's approach, and stopped to turn and give her a halfhearted glare. " _Ahem. Stay here, and don't cause any trouble,_ " he instructed them.

"What trouble can they cause _in jail?_ " Dan pointed out.

Isa huffed but didn't actually answer the question.

" _I'm sure you'll be very comfortable,_ " Reginald finished, beginning to walk away again.

" _Reginald,_ " Jesse said urgently, Lukas and Ivor approaching in the background, " _you're the_ Captain of the Guard. _If your instincts are telling you not to trust Aiden, then you should trust those instincts._ "

"Jesse's right," Isa spoke up, making most of the audience look at her. "Reginald, I chose you as the Captain of the Guard for a reason. If you ever feel like something's wrong, you should never feel afraid or concerned about telling me about that feeling."

Reginald blinked, a ridiculously pleased look coming across his face at that.

" _They're personal guests of the Founder,_ " Reginald said gruffly. " _And... sure, maybe I don't_ like _Ai- them,_ " he hastily amended, " _but I'm... probably just being... paranoid._ "

" _Why do you think Aiden's sucking up to the Founder so much?_ " Jesse asked, frowning a bit at the thought of Aiden.

Ivor let out an irritated sigh. " _They want to get her guard down and then steal the Eversource,_ " he stated flatly, making Reginald look at the man in slight alarm, before looking at Jesse as if to confirm that.

"Did you really have to say it like that?" Ellegaard asked the potionologist, trying to hide her mixed amusement and exasperation.

"I'm just telling the truth..."

Onscreen, Jesse nodded once, green-and-red eyes gleaming, deadly serious.

Reginald's expression turned worried, and he looked away. " _That... aw, geez. You might have something there, I dunno. Hm..._ " He made a soft grunting sound in frustration, before looking back up at the group. " _Okay, let's say you make a good point. And I'm not saying you do,_ " he added hastily.

"'Course not," Em drawled sarcastically.

" _But hypothetically... why would_ I _, the Captain of the Guard, let_ you _, a criminal, out of that cell?_ " Reginald finished, staring at Jesse expectantly.

" _I'll never know how you looked at them and thought, 'there are some upstanding citizens'!"_ Ivor mumbled sarcastically in the background.

Several members of the audience may or may not have begun giggling at that comment. Even Maya and Gill were now grinning broadly at the comment. They may or may not have been choosing to ignore that the comment was partially directed at them.

Jesse shot him a look that made him subside, before turning to Reginald. " _Technically, because the Founder only said we were being_ detained _, not arrested,_ " she pointed out, making Lukas grin a bit in the background and several members of the audience start tittering. " _But more importantly... because you know it's the right thing to do._ "

Reginald frowned at the floor thoughtfully, deep in thought.

The audience held their breath expectantly.

" _Well, you do make a compelling argument..._ " Reginald muttered after a few moments, still deep in thought. A moment later, he looked in the direction he'd been heading, an anxious look coming over his face, before he turned back to the group in the cell. " _Hm. Hm hm hm._ " And he walked off to his left.

Blinking, Jesse, Lukas and Ivor rushed over to where Reginald was going.

The Captain of the Guard came next to a stop next to the lever, giving the area around the cell a look-around as they drew level with him again. " _Okay. Let's say I'm heading to the pantry to get you prisoners some bread._ " And he gave her a conspirational grin.

Real-Jesse's eyes lit up in relief. Lukas gave her a comforting pat on the back, barely able to conceal his own growing grin. Reginald gave Isa a sheepish grin. The Founder shook her head a bit, waving her hand a bit noncommittally to show that she had no problem with this.

Onscreen, Jesse's shoulder sagged a bit in relief as well, but she still hummed casually, " _Oh, I see. How long would you say something like that would take you? On average?_ "

Reginald put his hands on his hips. " _Probably as long as it would take for someone to get from here into the throne room..._ " he replied. He gave the area around them another look-around, before reaching out and flipping the lever up. The door swung open with a _clang_ , and Reginald spoke quickly, " _Please just get out of here. Get to the throne room and stop Ai- the Blaze Rods,_ " he amended again.

Real-Aiden was starting to feel as if someone had grabbed his insides and was twisting them violently.

Almost before Reginald had finished his statement, he walked off to his left, leaving the area.

The spider hybrid stared at the open door in shock, before carefully stepping out, watching Reginald leave. The moment she was in the clear, she dashed over to the chest, Ivor doing a strange little march-dance out of the cell.

Magnus snorted, Gabriel biting his lip to stifle his giggles and Soren developing some amusement at something on the ceiling. Ellegaard rolled her eyes but couldn't hide the grin twitching at the corner of her lips.

" _Ha! Nice work. Now, on to the Eversource!_ " Ivor said cheerfully.

Isa's amused smile fell.

Onscreen, Jesse opened the chest that Reginald had been putting stuff in and rifled through it, eyes scanning the contents. The screen switched to show Lukas drawing level with Ivor and Jesse, frowning. " _I mean, I understand wanting to stop the Blaze Rods,_ " he mumbled, " _but, uh..._ "

There was a loud _shing!_ as Jesse withdrew her enchanted diamond sword from the chest, looking relieved at the sight of it. Lukas continued, rather hesitantly. " _You can't still_ really _want to take the Eversource, can you?_ "

Jesse nodded, sheathing her sword as she turned to face the two men. " _I'm... actually starting to have my doubts about taking the Eversource as well,_ " she spoke tentatively, glancing at Ivor nervously, " _these people seem to really depend on it._ "

Isa blinked in surprise at Jesse and Lukas, before exchanging a look with Reginald to see the same surprised look on his face.

Ivor sighed, his face falling as he saw the logic in that. He thought about it for a few seconds. " _Yes, but... would you rather just hand it over to Aiden and the Blaze Rods?_ " he pointed out, frowning heavily.

"He's got a point there," Stampy agreed.

"Thank you... uh... SturdyCat," Ivor told him.

"StampyCat!"

" _It would be one thing if we were plundering a temple,_ " Lukas shot back quietly, his ears and tail flicking in agitation, " _but this... This is starting to feel like stealing._ "

" _Maybe we can find the Founder and warn her?_ " Jesse suggested, frowning thoughtfully at the other two.

Ivor thought the plan through, murmuring to himself and nodding. " _Perhaps. It's not a bad plan._ " There was a long pause. " _I mean, there are some extremely large flaws in the plan, but it's not a bad plan._ "

Lukas made a huffing sound that sounded like he was irritated, but then the audience saw a flash of teeth and realized he was smiling.

Jesse stuck her tongue out at her mentor, to his apparent amusement, and turned back to the chest. There was the clink and swish of bottles as one bottle, then another one and then another one flew through the air, landing in Ivor's arms. The potionologist very nearly fumbled all three of them and dropped them, Lukas grinning before diverting his attention to catch his iron sword and then his sand block with the free hand.

Jesse shut the chest quietly and dropped to all eights, beginning to scramble across the floor and up onto a wall. " _Throne room was back this way,_ " she told them in a hushed voice, the three members of the Order rounding the corner and disappearing from sight.

The screen blacked out.

"Can they even get to the throne room without bumping into a bunch of guards?" Dan suddenly wondered.

"If the Blaze Rods are going to be beefing up security, it's probably going to be outside the palace, not inside. So hopefully the hallways aren't being patrolled too closely," Harper mused, before shooting Isa a sheepish look. "Um, sorry about that."

"No, no, I- I must admit, I'm also hoping they don't run into any guards," Isa admitted, feeling a faint pink tint come over her cheeks.

* * *

 **A/N: Tfw you get new ideas and want to work on all of them... (sighs) Welp, looks like Imma have 28 ongoing projects after HCM is finished.**

 **Also, the teaser for the comic (PHANTASMAGORIA) has nothing to do with the song or the horror game. It's a completely original thing.**

 **RQTC: Who's ready for Chapter 100? x3**

 **RWBYSTRQ: (grins) Ahaha, sorry. It would've been much the same as the way Jesse got them to help, except, you know, minus Jesse, so yeah xD / Thanks!**

 **the indecisive bird: (squints at you) ... what's your dA username? / Alright, I'll have a look sometime xD / It does to a point... x3 I... think xD / Yeah, exactly!**

 **LunarStarsMoons: x3 / I'm glad you spotted it xD / (nods)**

 **pensuka: Yep xD**

 **NinaNaranja: (laughs) Typos suck / Yay! :3 / Yeah, it's a little weird. Comparable to Narcissus falling in love with his darn reflection xD I mean, c'mon, man.**

 **homeworkoverload: Yeah, I was just checking to make sure there wasn't another comic with that name xD / (winks) / Jessvor... well, if Ivor was a teenager, I could see it working, but yeah, he's not, so... xD**

 **Emily The Avenger: (laughs) Thanks!**

 **Darkbeast Dend: I'd rather have a katana.**

 **RapidSammi: Right?! / Eeeee :3**

 **Slayer88: Wait- wtf? That's a ship?**

 **sailor . mikuchan: I can honestly see M!Jesse and Olivia happening, but Axel and Lukas... eh.**

 **AquaK13: Heeheehee xD / Ahhh, yep xD**

 **Rabbits rule: (laughs) / Cassie and Winslow is just bestiality. And Jesse x Jesse just doesn't even make sense xD / Awww, I'm sorry xD**

 **Guest: Ouch xD**

 **J.M.M.: Happy (late) birthday! / (laughs) I can start almost fifteen stories at once and keep up with all of them. You wanna bet? xD**

 **CrystalTearsofFaith: (laughs) I'll advertise it, if you want. / It's more like narcissism, but yeah xD**

 **Guest: Thank you! / It's not a story, it's a comic xD**

 **S4SH4L4SH4theGaMeR101: Oh god yeah, that's just bestiality xD / Yeah xD**

 **x.X. A.L. X.x**


	96. Pro Tip, Milo

The door to the throne room could be seen again, a guard strolling by through the window. Slowly, Jesse's upside down head poked through to peek through the window, red-and-green eyes scanning the scene in front of her. A few seconds later, the screen zoomed out to show Jesse gently pushing her way through the door, the wooden double doors creaking open. Jesse carefully did a flip and landed on the ground on all eights, showing that Ivor had been riding her much like a spider jockey.

Soren was barely able to keep from laughing. As it was, he had to repress a very loud snort. Magnus was silently shaking with laughter next to him, while Gabriel and Ellegaard were sharing amused looks.

Ivor huffed and blushed, doing his best to ignore the titters of the audience.

Onscreen, Jesse glanced around, before looking back up at Ivor. " _Ivor?_ " she whispered, in a rather calm voice.

" _Yes?_ " he whispered back, looking tensed up as Lukas padded into the room, carefully straightening back up into a standing position as he warily looked around the throne room.

" _Could you not yank my hair? It's rather painful._ "

The Order's laughter grew more acute.

The potionologist quickly scrambled off of Jesse, legs unlocking and hands releasing her hair from where he'd been clutching it tightly, letting out a long sigh. " _Right, yes. Sorry,_ " he apologized, letting out a shaky breath.

Lukas glanced around the room. " _Well, here we are,_ " he said in a low voice, " _back in the throne room."_

" _Keep your voice down,_ " Ivor hissed, carefully shutting the door behind him and giving a little wince as it _clunk_ ed shut. " _We don't know if we're alone in here._ "

The spider hybrid gave the room another wary look, as if expecting Aiden or Isa or one of the Blaze Rods to suddenly pop out from behind something and try to give her a scare. Lukas spoke up again, coming to a stop and turning to them both. " _I dunno,_ " he said, letting his voice rise to a slightly higher volume, Jesse turning to look at him, " _looks deserted to me._ "

Even as he said this, the screen slowly slid sideways to reveal someone creeping up behind Lukas, eyes narrowed in concentration.

Stampy squeaked and hid his eyes, while Olivia gasped. "Behind you!" she shouted at the screen, forgetting- once again- that the onscreen characters couldn't hear the audience.

" _Lukas! Look out!_ " Jesse yelled in warning.

Too late. Lukas let out a strangled cry as the figure punched him on the neck, knocking the ocelot hybrid to his knees.

" _Hey!_ " Jesse barked, charging at the figure.

" _Wait, stop!_ " A familiar voice rang out onscreen.

A relieved grin spread over Jace's face, and the short boy excitedly tossed his hands into the air. "Petra!"

The redhead grinned and ruffled his hair.

Onscreen, the spider hybrid skidded to a stop just in the nick of time, seeing Petra flail her hands in surrender at Milo.

Isa's eyes widened. "Hey, wait- how did they get in there-?"

" _Milo, easy! That's Jesse and Lukas!_ " Petra exclaimed, turning to look at Jesse with an excited grin coming over her face, sparks beginning to flit off of her. " _Jesse- I can't believe we found you!_ "

Lukas winced from where he was on his hands and knees, looking a little winded. " _I can't believe you punched me!_ " he gritted out.

Milo gave the ocelot hybrid an incredibly sheepish grin. " _Ah, yes, I feel_ absolutely _terrible about that, let me assure you!_ "

" _I, heh,_ " and Ivor drew level with them, " _I thought it was pretty funny._ "

Lukas's half-playful glare at Ivor was ignored in favor of the petite black-haired girl's doubling over on herself and cackling. Reuben grinned and nuzzled her stomach, the black-haired girl's giggles growing more acute when Lukas reached out and playfully ran his fingers up her chin, making her squirm away and swat his hand.

Apparently, Jesse was somewhat ticklish.

" _Where were you?_ " Jesse asked onscreen, her look mingling somewhere between annoyed and relieved.

" _Yeah!_ " Ivor agreed, putting his hands on his hips.

" _We were actually planning to break you out of jail,_ " Petra replied, blinking a few times with that excited grin still on her face, " _but, I guess you guys have that covered._ "

Onscreen, Lukas snorted, covering his mouth with one hand. " _Haha, yeah, Jesse managed to talk her way out of the situation. Uh, this..._ " Lukas glanced at the blonde innkeeper again, a bemused and slightly annoyed look coming over his face as he rubbed the back of his neck, " _who's this again?_ "

" _Oh, yeah. Lukas, Milo. Milo, Lukas. Ivor, Milo. Milo, Ivor. Jesse, Milo, Milo, Jesse,_ " Petra introduced, making a face at the long list of introductions. Jesse chuckled, before her eyes widened in shock, and the screen zoomed in on her again.

" _Ivor, look!_ "

The potionologist obediently looked over in time to catch the face Jesse was making at him. He laughed and ruffled a hand through her hair. " _Very nice, Jesse,_ " he told her, shaking his head in amusement.

Little-Jesse giggled, before her smile faded into a more confused look. The screen switched to show a smiling Ivor, before it faded into Jace, the top of his head still somewhat blurry. He giggled at the face she was making. " _Stop making faces at me, Jesse._ "

Jesse and Jace exchanged looks.

" _Bleeeeehhhh,_ " and Jesse made an even sillier face, making the boy roll his eyes and giggle at it, before the screen faded back in to show Ivor, his own smile having faded as well.

" _Jesse? Are you okay?_ "

The little spider hybrid vigorously bobbed her fluffy head up and down, clasping her hands to her chest.

" _Mmhm. I'm fine!_ "

The screen zoomed back out to show Jesse staring blankly off into the distance, before blinking twice and focusing her gaze back into reality, to see that the group was staring at her expectantly, and a bit in concern.

She made a nonchalant waving motion with her hand and mouthed " _I'm fine_ " to them. They relaxed, although they still looked a bit wary about the whole thing.

" _Hello again, Jesse,_ " Milo added when the awkward silence stretched a few seconds longer, giving her a small grin. " _It seems fate has destined our paths to cross once more._ "

Hadrian snorted, subsiding when Milo and- to the blonde innkeeper's surprise- Isa- shot him a glare.

" _Uhm,_ " Jesse began, a faintly amused but faintly irritated look on her face, " _maybe look at someone's face before blindly punching them next time. Pro tip._ " And she gave him a dry grin.

Milo looked over at Lukas, rubbing his head awkwardly. " _I am terribly sorry about that, friend._ "

Ivor arched his eyebrow. " _What are you doing here anyway? I don't see any inns that need keeping._ "

Axel snorted, making Olivia twist to give him an arched eyebrow. "Imagine an inn that's just sitting in this fancy palace," he suggested, amused.

Most of the audience was seized with a small fit of the giggles.

Milo blinked at them, before putting his hands on his hips. " _In actuality, I am the leader of a group that wants the same thing you do._ "

The three of them stared at him blankly.

" _It's a rebellion,_ " Petra clarified with a grin.

The blonde innkeeper casually got off the couch again upon noticing Isa's darkening expression.

" _And you got this rebellion to help you?_ " Jesse asked, her eyebrow going up and a faint smile twitching at her lips.

Petra tilted her head thoughtfully, before saying in a rather light voice, " _Let's just say there's a reason it took this long to convince them to help me save you guys._ "

The group on the floor all turned to stare at the redhead in perfect unison, identical amused looks fixed on their faces.

There was another long pause before Milo continued, " _It is a long story. In short, my people want to free the Eversource from the Founder's clutches so that everyone may use it._ "

Isa made a strangled choking noise, gaping at the screen before swiveling her head to glower at Milo. Reginald vaulted to his feet, drawing his sword and storming at Milo again. "All right, that is _it-_ "

Milo let out a loud squeak and tripped over his feet again, landing on the floor next to Jesse and Lukas. Jesse glanced at Milo, eyes wide, then at Reginald, who looked _pissed_ , before she launched herself at Petra.

"?!"

Jace ducked out of the way as Jesse's hand dove into Petra's pocket, fumbling around before whipping out the stone sword that Petra had been keeping in there. (Petra had to wonder how Jesse knew that was in there before realizing that Jesse easily could've been reaching for the pickaxe that she'd been keeping in there as well.) Whirling on the spot, but still sitting, Jesse clumsily thrust with the sword, obviously unaccustomed to the weapon.

The idea from earlier flashed through Petra's head again, and the redhead thoughtfully touched her lip.

Jesse's sword clanged against Reginald's sword, the clumsy thrust enough to knock the tip away from Milo and thud harmlessly to the floor, the jarring impact rattling Reginald's arm and making him go 'oof' in surprise. Gabriel leaped to his feet as well, Em shoving herself off the couch (and making Nell bounce around on her seat), and the two of them hauled Reginald away from Milo as far as they could without dislocating something.

Jesse discarded the sword, Petra scooping it up a few seconds later, and scrambled to her feet. (Cassie had paused the episode by now in favor of dealing with this new situation.)

"This man is a _fool!_ " Isa fumed, setting Benedict on the couch next to her and stalking towards Milo angrily. "He has _no idea_ what-"

"Spare us your lies!" Milo snapped back, regaining his composure, "you may have fooled them onscreen, but just because building's risky doesn't mean that everyone else shouldn't be allowed to do it-"

"How _dare_ you," the Founder nearly _snarled_. "How _dare you._ "

"Um, maybe we should-" Jesse began, timidly.

"The people should be allowed to build!" Milo shot back angrily. "Just because it's risky or dangerous doesn't mean people shouldn't be allowed to do it. No one ever _learns_ that way-"

"Maybe we should just-"

Isa got right up in Milo's face, her green eyes brimming over with rage. "And did it ever occur to you," she hissed, enraged, "that I might be trying to _protect_ you from it? The Eversource is dangerous-"

Milo let out a humorless laugh. "Oh, of course! So that's why you're such a _control freak-_ "

"Guys, fighting won't _solve_ anything-!"

"It will if I win!"

Isa glared at him, seething with anger. "Oh, of course _you'd_ think that-"

" _ **BOTH OF YOU SHUT THE HELL UP!**_ "

Both Sky Citizens jumped, Reginald's furious face falling into a shocked one, most of the audience starting a bit, and all of them turning to see-

Jesse, who was glaring at them both, green eyes brimming over with repressed anger that she'd finally let out and gleaming brightly. Her hands were clenching and unclenching into fists, shaking all the while, and while she was easily at _least_ a head shorter than both of them, in that moment she seemed to be crackling with energy and towering so that her height was nearly level with the ceiling.

Jace and Lukas exchanged wide-eyed, silent glances, before looking back at Jesse.

Most of the members of the audience were just now realizing how they may not have ever seen her truly _pissed off_ before this point, both onscreen and in real life.

" **BOTH OF YOU, TAKE FIVE GIANT STEPS AWAY FROM ONE ANOTHER RIGHT NOW!** " Jesse roared, stepping so that she was standing right next to them, and then shoving her arms out so that they were both shoved apart, Milo falling onto his butt and Isa tripping before falling to the floor, both of them gawking at the petite girl.

Isa opened her mouth to say something, but Jesse made a cutting motion with her hand and cut her off. " ** _Shut up!"_** she boomed, voice going off like a thunderclap in their ears, "both of you, shut up and don't say a _word_ until I've finished!" she snapped, glaring at them both as if daring them to contradict her.

Milo's mouth had opened a bit as well, but upon seeing the thunderous look on her face his mouth shut rapidly with a small _clop!_

Satisfied, Jesse put one hand on her hip and shook her finger at them, making several of the audience members hide a smile despite themselves- Jesse looked as if she was scolding a pair of small children. "Look," she began again, in a much calmer but still loud voice, "I don't know exactly _how_ your world works. _None_ of us- except for maybe Reginald- can know _exactly_ how it works.

"But right now, we're not _in_ your world. We're in a different one where we're watching a story unfold- a story that may have _nothing_ to do with the one that may or may not happen in _our_ world. So, at least for the time we're here, could you _please_ just get along with one another?"

Jesse paused, before adding, in a slightly quieter voice, "And if you can't get along with each other, can you at _least_ peacefully co-exist in the same space?"

This definitely prompted several smiles from the other members of the audience.

Isa and Milo leveled still-slightly-shocked looks at one another, a reluctant, cold look coming over their faces as they stared the other down. But neither of them wanted to make a flippant comment and possibly piss Jesse off again- the first time was scary enough.

"I suppose..." Milo muttered reluctantly, after a few seconds.

"Fine... but _just_ for now," Isa mumbled.

Satisfied with this deal, Jesse crossed her arms, staring at the two of them. "Good. Now shake on it."

Isa opened her mouth to protest, paused at Jesse's raised eyebrow, and finally huffed. Reaching out a reluctant hand to Milo, she stared into his eyes, a look that was barely containing her utter _disgust_ for this man leveled right at him.

Milo regarded her hand much like one person would regard a piece of rotten meat, but after a few seconds he took ahold of her hand and gave it the briefest shake he could, though it didn't stop Isa from squeezing his hand so hard that his face tightened in pain that he refused to show.

Jesse relaxed upon seeing that, and simply gave a nod. "Good," she told them.

Then she flopped down next to Lukas, looking exhausted by the whole ordeal.

Once everyone had quietly climbed back into their seats, Reginald and Isa glaring at Milo hotly and the blonde innkeeper returning it gladly, Cassie pressed the play button again. The screen loaded, since it had been paused for a couple minutes by now, before it started moving again.

Milo walked towards the Founder's throne onscreen. " _If Aiden and the Blaze Rods steal the Eversource, we'll just be trading one tyrant for another and I won't allow that._ "

Jesse coughed, giving him an apologetic look. " _Well, I don't think she's a-_ tyrant, _exactly-_ "

Lukas stepped forward, a moody look on his face. " _Yeah..._ " he frowned, cutting Jesse off by accident, " _Aiden's gotta be stopped._ "

" _If we work together,_ " Milo reasoned, " _we can find it first!_ "

The spider hybrid thought about it for a few seconds, regarding Milo with her luminous green-and-red eyes, before a smile twitched over her lips, and she inclined her head in a nod. " _Milo, I'm happy to have you aboard,_ " she told him lightly, " _welcome to the team._ "

" _Very pleased to be involved,_ " Milo replied, giving the girl a grin, before tilting his head thoughtfully and looking around, moving away with a bemused look on his face. " _The Founder's secret entrance is_ supposed _to be somewhere in this throne room..._ "

Jesse and Lukas's eyes widened in perfect sync, and they both swiveled their heads to look over their shoulder at the minecart tracks from earlier. Jesse walked over to the tracks, a redstone trail leading to the wall, and looked up at the wall.

"Er," Stampy said, grinning sheepishly, "maybe you shouldn't have the redstone trail in plain sight if it's supposed to be a 'secret'."

Dan repressed a good-natured snort at that, and had to work doubly hard to do so upon spotting Isa's faintly disgruntled expression.

" _There was a door here before,_ " the spider hybrid said onscreen, sounding a bit breathless as she looked up and down the huge wall, " _with a minecart._ "

The ocelot hybrid narrowed his cyan eyes at it as he drew level with the group. " _Yeah... wonder what happened to it._ "

" _I bet the Founder removed the lever that powers this redstone circuit so nobody could sneak in at night,_ " Jesse mused, pointing at the redstone trail on the floor.

"You'd be right about that," Isa responded, almost as if she'd been in the middle of an hour-long conversation, "it's just a precaution to avoid _thieves_ trying to take the Eversource," and she shot Milo a glare.

The blonde innkeeper gladly returned it, as onscreen-Jesse continued, " _so we just need to make something to activate the circuit again... there's gotta be something in here that we could use._ "

" _Like a lever,_ " Ivor spoke up from where he was standing near the throne, making both of them look over at him, " _if you can find one of those bad boys we'll have that secret door open in a snap,_ " and he gave them a quick grin.

Jesse returned the grin and regarded the floor for another moment, thoughtfully, before moving away and starting to walk around the throne room.

* * *

 **A/N: I'm doin' my best to space everything out for the special. If we keep going at this rate, and if I slow stuff down a bit, we might be able to get to the 100-chapter special _before-_ well- you know.**

 **Also, expect the narrator to abruptly return in the next few chapters xD**

 **RQTC: What will you guys do after this story is finished?**

 **S4SH4L4SH4theGaMeR101: Good! :3 / Reginald would say you're welcome, but he can't hear you unless I break the fourth wall again. That'd be a bit weird, considering we've already got a breaking of the fourth wall within the story. / Hehehe xD**

 **RapidSammi: (rubs ears) xD / Sort of but not really, but feel free to go ahead xD**

 **CrystalTearsofFaith: It actually is. It's literally the definition of 'narcissism'- falling in love with oneself. 0-0 huh. / Hehehe xD / (squeals with you) Maybe (winks)**

 **LittleAngelbun: (grins) / Hahaha xD Netflix must wait, I guess.**

 **the indecisive bird: Yay! / Okay, good, I was ninety percent sure, but it never hurts to be certain. :3 / I might not have seen that then xD / (laughs)**

 **NinaNaranja: Hehe :3 / I try, but I'm not very good with it xD / Ahahahaha xD that sucks.**

 **Guy101: I can't really, because Jesse accusing one of them triggers a flashback and that one gives information pertinent to the Hybrid storyline. Sorry!**

 **Emily The Avenger: (shrugs) ... wait what really (checks number of reviews) HOLY-**

 **RWBYSTRQ: Tell you what, I'll include it in the Hybrid Oneshots story I'm planning on writing after this :3**

 **Rabbits rule: Spraining your wrist does hurt... / Thanks! /** **(blinks twice)**

 **LunarStarsMoons: Glad I made you laugh. / (laughs) I didn't include it for a few seconds and I had to add it in at the last minute xD / Yay!**

 **AquaK13: But so is Milo. xD / (cracks up) / Uh, please, _don't_ jump into the lava pit... ahh, too late. / Heehee x3**

 **Beli0304: (grins sheepishly) / (grin turns mischievous)**

 **homeworkoverload: Woo! / (laughs) / Yep! Lots and LOTS and LOTS of projects. xD / Yay! / Hahaha, being an Author does not get me out of school, unfortunately. / xD Oh well.**

 **RavenBlaze4850: Aiden's already sitting right NEXT to Cassie xD / (blinks twice) Er... okay? xD / We are at Chapter 96, so it'll literally be at a pause in the middle of the episode xD**

 **J.M.M.: You are very welcome, good sir. :3 / Okay...?**

 **Guest: Ahhhh. That sucks. Why'd you go to Apple, though? DS is Nintendo. / Ahhhh. / (laughs) Well, it's coming.**

 **sailor . mikuchan: Good!**

 **Darkbeast Dend: (blinks) ... cool, I guess.**

 **x.X. A.L. X.x**


	97. Let's Make a Lever

Jesse drew level with her mentor, arching her eyebrow and tilting her head a bit so that the moonlight glinted off her red eye. " _There isn't a... potion or something that could help us, is there?_ " she asked, hesitantly.

Ivor shook his head with a sigh. " _That's not how potions work, Jesse._ " He paused and thought about it for a couple of seconds. " _Though I should really look into that..._ " he added, mostly to himself.

A few members of the audience snorted.

The spider hybrid gave an understanding nod and started to move away, when Ivor cleared his throat. " _Oh- uh, Jesse?_ " When she turned back to face him, he scratched his head before tentatively beginning, " _Thanks for getting arrested with me, by the way... no one's ever done anything like that for me before._ "

The Order exchanged glances with one another.

Jesse beamed a bit. " _You're welcome,_ " she told him.

" _Now, er, go away before you ruin my reputation,_ " Ivor responded, quickly turning around and pretending to be examining Isa's throne.

"I'm pretty sure you already did that yourself when you built that lava house," Magnus said cheerfully, his giant grin not even faltering as Real-Ivor turned to glare at him. While his attention was diverted, Harper let out the small snort that had been building up in her throat and quickly recomposed her face into a more serious one.

Onscreen, Jesse gave her eyes a roll, lips curving up into a smile, and moved on, heading to the other end of the throne room to check out the bookcase. Along the way, she paused next to Petra, who was standing next to the door. " _See anyone yet_ _?_ " she asked, in a rather hushed voice.

The Blaze hybrid squinted out the door for a few moments, tilting her head a bit, before turning back to Jesse, her concentrated expression fading. " _Not yet, but t_ _he acoustics are a bit funky in this place, so it makes it a bit hard to tell when someone's coming,_ " she replied.

Em rubbed her forehead as if she was developing yet another headache. (Jesse was starting to think they needed to get her some headache medicine.) "If they get caught because of the _acoustics_ of the building..." she muttered, under her breath so that only Nell could hear. Nell grinned a bit, sheepishly.

Jesse gave an understanding nod, and moved on. She was nearly at the bookcase when the narrator suddenly spoke up, " _So sorry, I've been napping for the past hour or so. Did I miss anything?_ "

"Geh-!" Stampy made a very odd sound at the sudden, disembodied voice ringing out over the screen and hid behind Dan, the white-haired boy (wait- but his hair had been-?!) glancing back at Stampy before back at the screen attempting to hide the tiny smile spreading over his face.

Not that Stampy was the only one to have that reaction- Mevia had started, Clutch had nearly knocked the gladiators' couch over, and Maya and Gill were scrambling to get back into the chair from when Gill had simply fallen out.

Onscreen, the spider hybrid's muscles all tensed immediately, eyes flashing red as her eyes darted around, before she let out an irritated huff and straightened up. " _Don't_ do _that,_ " she snapped under her breath, a bit shakily. " _You scared the bejabbers out of me._ "

"Is 'be-'- whatever she said," Axel said, blinking at the screen, "even a _word?_ "

Jesse shrugged. "I make words up when I don't want to curse or there isn't an existing one that I know of that expresses an emotion enough," she replied. This was evidently not a joke.

" _So sorry._ " Jesse just rolled her eyes with a sigh at the narrator's apology and knelt down to get a better look at the bookshelf. " _Hmm... 'Habits of the Endermen' by-_ " The spider hybrid jerked back, blinking rapidly at the bookshelf in surprise. " _Soren?!_ "

"Annnnd that's how Isa knew he wrote a book about the subject," Otto remarked, making several members of the audience jump; they'd honestly sort of forgotten about his existence.

"... oh yeah, she did mention that a while back, didn't she?"

Stacy frowned. "How did it even _get_ there in the first place?" she wondered, crossing her arms and squinting at the screen.

No one had an answer to this very valid question, although Soren actually got so far as to open his mouth before deciding not to say whatever he'd been planning to say and shutting it again.

" _Well, I was... NOT expecting that,_ " Jesse straightened back up, blinking at the shelf in bewilderment. She looked up a moment later, lower arms moving to pose themselves on her hips. " _Well, narrator? Do you know anything about this?_ " she asked, in a hushed voice.

" _Yes, but I'm not allowed to tell you._ "

" _What a surprise,_ " the spider hybrid muttered sarcastically before looking back up at the ceiling again. " _And why can't you tell me?_ "

There was a long pause, as if the narrator was thinking. Jesse was just about to open her mouth and ask the question again when the narrator finally spoke, making her hastily clap her mouth shut. " _Because I'd be breaking my contract if I did._ "

" _What contract?_ "

" _Well if I told you it wouldn't be any fun, now would it?_ "

Several members of the audience half-laughed, half-sighed in irritation. Yep, that was the honestly the answer they'd been expecting.

" _Why was I expecting that answer from you?_ " Jesse replied, putting her hands on her hips again sardonically with a roll of the eyes, before moving away again, still looking a bit disoriented by this little discovery but definitely looking more amused by the interaction she'd just had with the disembodied voice that was the narrator.

She paused a good distance from the bookshelf and looked back up at the ceiling again, putting her hands back on her hips. " _So, Mr. I'm-So-Omniscient, any ideas for where I should head next to maximize efficiency?_ "

" _It looks like a lovely night outside._ "

Armed with that very cryptic line, Jesse made her way outside. She looked up at the stars twinkling brightly in the sky, her shoulders relaxing a bit as she stared up for a few seconds. After a few moments, she looked back at the ground and went over to a little furrow nearby, a block of cobblestone between a bubbling puddle of lava and some water.

" _A cobblestone generator!_ "

The spider hybrid nearly fell into the lava in shock as Ivor popped up just behind her, his excited exclamation startling her.

Half the audience jumped as well. "Don't _do_ that!" Soren complained to Ivor, hand resting on his chest.

"Heh, sorry," Ivor apologized, giving the ginger a rather sheepish grin.

Isa turned to look at Milo, an irritated look coming over her face, before she raised her arm and jabbed it at the screen pointedly. She didn't actually _say_ anything, but Milo got her conveyed message loud and clear.

 _I told you so._

He scowled back in reply.

" _Lava and water placed exactly far enough apart, that when they collide, it creates cobblestone! Genius!_ " Ivor exclaimed, walking back into the throne room with a big grin on his face.

"Who's ruining their reputation now?" Gabriel asked, sounding far too amused by this.

Ivor 'hmph'ed and didn't say anything.

Onscreen, Jesse put her hands on her hips, regarding the cobblestone block, before leaning down and carefully grabbing hold of it with her fingertips. Concentrating, she carefully lifted her hands, showing that a bit of web had started forming and effectively glued the block to her fingers, before she stood back up and yanked upwards powerfully at the same time.

With the sound of stone grating on stone that made about three-quarters' of the audience's hair stand on end, Jesse popped the block out of its place, lava and water rushing together and creating a new block of cobblestone from the spot Jesse had just yanked it out from. Shaking the block free of the web, she stuck it in her pocket.

" _Ingenious,_ " Ivor whispered.

Real-Lukas snorted a bit.

Onscreen, Jesse gave Ivor a shake of the head and a thumbs' up before moving to look at one tree that was standing at the end of the island. She gave the tree a long look, before her upper set of arms crossed and her thumb rested at the corner of her mouth. " _I... get the feeling that this is a 'special' tree,_ " she hummed thoughtfully.

Milo drew level with her, the innkeeper respectfully regarding the tree. " _Yes, the ground you're standing on is actually one of the small, original islands that all of Sky City started from. That tree drops the saplings that have grown into every single tree on Sky City. I may not agree with the Founder's methods,_ " he added, rubbing his head and regarding the tree, " _but, even I must admit, that's an impressive feat._ "

Real-Milo grunted, conceding the point.

The spider hybrid arched her eyebrow and regarded the tree in a different, more respectful light. " _Mmm... I see. I guess I'd better not cut it down, then,_ " she murmured, thumbing the corner of her mouth thoughtfully.

As Milo moved away again, Jesse regarded the tree and the sparkling night sky thoughtfully, before her eyes flicked upwards. " _Hey, narrator... you wouldn't happen to have... I dunno... a hint for this situation?_ " she asked, hopefully and quietly.

" _I technically already gave you a hint, but since I'm a very nice person-_ " Onscreen-Jesse and the audience all snorted at that- " _I'll give you another one. Everything you need to make the lever is outside._ "

Jesse jerked her thumb at the tree subtly, arching her eyebrow. " _I can't cut the tree down to get wood,_ " she whispered. She paused for a moment before amending the statement. " _Well, I_ could _, but that would be- I dunno- disrespectful._ "

" _I never said you had to cut the tree down._ "

Jesse frowned at that cryptic statement, eyes narrowing as she looked around, before spotting something in a pot by the doorway. It appeared to be a dead bush.

"Oh, I remember that bush," Isa touched the corner of her lip, "it was a nice one until it died. I haven't gotten around to throwing it away yet."

Real-Jesse twisted around to look at Isa. "Do you mind if I use it to make a lever?" she asked, pointing at the screen.

The Founder shook her head with a faint smile and a shrug. "To what better use could it be put?" she replied.

Milo regarded her for a few seconds before sighing and looking back at the screen.

Onscreen, Jesse trotted over to the bush, regarding it reluctantly. Drawing her hand back and curling her fingers into a fist, she punched the bush, making it collapse into a small bundle of sticks. Carefully, Jesse lifted them up and looked 'round, before spotting a crafting table and walking over it. " _Alright- let's make a lever, then!_ " she said cheerfully (but quietly... she didn't need to get arrested).

She pulled the cobblestone block back out of her pocket and set it on the table, before carefully removing one stick from the bundle that the dead bush had yielded and placed it above the cobblestone block.

The ingredients shivered a bit, before compacting into a simple lever.

"Alright, you can open the door now!" Lizzie said, cheerily.

Onscreen, Jesse put her lower set of arms on her hips. " _Okay, this'll do... I think._ " A short pause. " _I hope._ " She picked the lever up off the table, turned around- and nearly clonked foreheads with Milo. She jumped back with a yelp, legs colliding with the crafting table and making her grunt and rub the small of her back with a wince.

The audience jumped as well. Magnus found himself holding Ellegaard bridal-style, Maya and Gill's armchair had gotten knocked over, Axel now had a rather-startled Olivia practically on his shoulder like an oversized parrot, Petra was holding Jace bridal-style, and Jesse's arms were around Lukas so tightly that the blonde coughed a bit, uncomfortably.

Harper had leaped off of her armchair and was behind Ivor's, Mevia was scrambling to detach herself from Hadrian, and Nell was poking her head around the edge of the couch anxiously. Isa rested a hand on her heart as it thudded away rapidly, and Stampy was yelping " _panicpanicpanicpanic_ " under his breath as he disentangled himself from where he'd been pretty much hugging Dan.

" _Don't_ do _that!_ " onscreen-Jesse complained to Milo, weakly.

The blonde innkeeper grinned sheepishly, rubbing his head awkwardly. " _Ah, my apologies. It is still just such a_ thrill _to see someone so confident and sure in their building abilities, like you and your friend Petra._ " Jesse glanced over to see Petra still peering out the door. Upon spotting Jesse looking at her, she waved a bit, grinning.

Jesse waved back, also smiling. Milo continued, " _She impressed the entirety of Build Club-_ " Upon spotting her bemused look, he clarified, " _the 'rebellion' Petra spoke of._ "

Comprehension dawned in Jesse's expression, and she motioned for him to go on. " _She impressed the entirety of Build Club by crafting a truly frightening monster._ "

The audience stared at the screen. Even Aiden had taken his attention off his shoes to stare at the screen.

"... what?" Slab finally vocalized what most of them- if not _all_ of them- were thinking.

Onscreen, Jesse had the same sort of reaction, slowly arching her eyebrow. Upon spotting the dubious look on her face, Milo clarified, " _I believe she called it an 'iron golem'?_ "

The spider hybrid understood now, letting out a brief, good-natured laugh. " _Oh, Milo, that's not a monster. That's a utility mob that guards villages when spawned naturally. Otherwise, they protect the person who spawned them and follow their orders._ " A flash of Ivor grinning at them nastily as the iron golem straightened up behind him came over the screen before it went back to Jesse, who had a thoughtful look on her face, before she refocused her gaze on Milo. " _... but yeah, otherwise they're harmless._ "

Milo laughed sheepishly. " _Ah, I see. It was still very frightening, though. Especially considering that she told us that it was out of control and we should run for our lives._ "

Lukas let out something that was both half-choking and half-laughing. "You told them _what?_ " he laughed to Petra, as Jesse good-heartedly thumped the blonde on the back.

Petra gave a mischievous grin in reply. Jace sighed and patted Petra on the back, shaking her head. "I see that my attempts to get rid of your pranking streak have failed," he sighed, unable to help the identical grin that was spreading over his face.

Onscreen, the spider hybrid laughed, shaking her head in amusement. " _Yes, that sounds like Petra, alright. But, thanks, Milo._ "

" _My pleasure,_ " the blonde innkeeper replied, giving the girl a smile. She returned it before carefully trotting past him, lever in hand, and headed straight to the wall with the redstone circuit. Lukas glanced up at her from where he'd been examining it and quickly stood up, backing away a few steps so that he wasn't standing right on the tracks. (That would've been a bit unfortunate.)

Jesse set the lever down, clicking it into place. Giving the non-lit-up circuit an appraising look, she reached down and took ahold of the lever, before giving the wooden bar a good hard yank and thunking it into place next to her.

" _Good job. Knew you could do it,_ " the narrator said, making Jesse glance up at the ceiling, before back at the wall with a small smile as the wall slowly slid up, making quite a bit of noise in the process. Several minecarts slid out as the secret door revealed a large hill-like shape that went downwards rather acutely.

" _That has to be it!_ " Ivor exclaimed in a furor of excitement, barely able to keep his voice down.

His excitement appeared to be contagious, because Jesse was starting to grin. " _Oh boy, I'm getting all excited, too,_ " she whispered to Lukas with a silly grin on her face. Upon hearing that, the ocelot hybrid stifled a laugh, his tail and ears flicking cheerfully.

"Welp," Stampy said, popping the 'p', "looks like you're going after the Eversource now!"

* * *

 **A/N: Ahhhhh, let's see... I might need to drag out the next two chapters. Like, a _lot._**

 **RQTC: Do you guys have DeviantArt?**

 **If you do, you can check me out there. My name's ArizaLuca (basically the same, except without a space in the name), and I... well, I try to post stuff there xD**

 **the indecisive bird: I saw it :3 / Uhh... you know. (I mean, I assume so... it's somewhat obvious?)**

 **Emily The Avenger: 0-0 Ah, please don't xD I mean, I'll have like 28 other stories I'll be working on, so... xD / I know, right?! / (blinks) Holy-**

 **MiloTheRebel: Lol I feel bad for him too xD / (laughs) Yeah, I'm pretty sure he'll feel like crap. I'm trying to have the 100 chapter special be before that.**

 **Beli0304: (nods) Good answer! / Hehehe xD Same with me, tbh. Once you get me angry... my spirit animal goes from a hummingbird/spider to a banshee. xD / (grins evilly)**

 **AquaK13: (laughs) Yeah, she doesn't like it when people fight one another. / Lol xD / The Narrator's great x3 But just because I need to drag the next chapter out, he's going to become super annoying and Jesse's going to be having a very irritating conversation with him next chapter xD / I don't mind if you stalk, as long as you're not stalking _me_ and know where I live. **

**RWBYSTRQ: No, not at all!**

 **Petra x Jesse: Err... I don't mean to sound rude, but could you try to fix spelling? I find reading the reviews way too hard without at least 7/10 spelling. I just find it really difficult to tell what you're saying. Sorry! / Umm... both aren't great options. I choose 'or' xD**

 **Darkbeast Dend: Okay, I really don't mean to sound mean or anything, but can you not advertise other people's works in the comments or 'roleplay' (with Herobrine and Dend and the other people?)? I'm reading the comments to see what people think of the chapter, not to read roleplays or read other stories, especially because they rarely have anything to do with the fandom that I'm currently writing for... / I'd rather have a phoenix. / Your review DID show up... if you think something's wrong with the reviews, please just leave it and let the website fix itself.**

 **Shadow: (thumbs up, grin) I like the narrator. / I'm glad you like it! Thank you so much! :3**

 **SofiaTheWriter88: Nope xD Very true.**

 **x.X. A.L. X.x**


	98. Meet the Eversource

Onscreen, the black-haired girl hopped into the first minecart, followed quickly by Ivor, then Petra, gliding neatly into the minecart, and then Lukas, who dropped to all fours and smoothly leaped into the minecart, tail and ears flicking, as the minecarts slowly started shifting in the other direction. Milo brought up the rear and leaped into the last minecart before it took off down the hill, twisting and turning in circles and circles, like a spiral.

The spider hybrid gasped and braced herself as it appeared the minecarts were about to ram into the wall, the tracks switching at the last second and sending them rocketing down another stretch of track.

"How far _down_ did you build that?" Mevia scowled at Isa, massaging her temples and desperately trying to assuage the headache beginning to throb in her temples. Going around and around in circles over and over again got quite dizzy after a few moments.

The black-haired woman sheepishly smiled. "Er... quite a ways down. I think the reason was to make the intruders dizzy so that they'd be more likely to get caught."

Real-Milo let out a low groan, clutching at his head. "I think you will be very happy to know that it is working." The members of the audience that did glance at him upon hearing this comment noticed that he was now looking rather sick to the stomach.

" _I- urp!_ " Onscreen, the blonde-innkeeper was looking a little green, clutching onto the rims of the minecart as they continued rushing down. " _I think I might be sick._ "

" _What,_ now?!" Petra exclaimed, twisting around rapidly to get a good look at the blonde innkeeper.

Lukas's ears twitched. He had a mix of irritation and worry on his face as he glanced back at him. " _Milo, if you throw up on me..._ "

The minecarts abruptly screeched to a loud stop, so the audience would never know exactly what Lukas had been about to say. The force of the minecarts coming to a stop jolted Jesse forward a bit and nearly sending her toppling right out of the minecart altogether. Her six arms tightened on the minecart rim, keeping her from spilling out. As it was, she was looking a bit disoriented from the circular ride.

Petra hovered out unsteadily, wobbling from left to right before the Blaze Rods vanished and she did a weird twirl in midair and landed hard on her hands and knees. Ivor trotted over to get a good look at the Blaze Hybrid, but she shoved her hand out in his direction. " _I'm- I'm fine. Bit dizzy, but I'm fine,_ " she said hastily, still staring at the ground. "Man, _that was disorienting._ "

Ivor looked suspiciously unaffected.

"It _was_ always hard to get him all that dizzy," Soren sighed, looking playfully disappointed.

Ivor shrugged, not taking offense at the comment for once. "Potions of calming also stabilize the liquid in your ears, so it keeps you from getting dizzy quite as easily," he stated simply.

"Why didn't you give them some, then?" Reginald asked, pointing at the screen with a confused look on his face.

Ivor just shrugged again, looking a bit bewildered. "How was I supposed to know that the track was that circular...?"

Lukas hopped out, giving his head a good shake. " _Wow. That was... dizzying,_ " he stated, stumbling sideways a step and flicking his ears rapidly to try to clear his head, although judging by his slightly loopy look, it wasn't exactly working.

" _Thank you, Captain Obvious!_ " the narrator announced.

"I'm not sure I like this guy," Lukas muttered, although his expression made it clear that he was half-joking.

Half.

Onscreen, Jesse made an irritated expression, still crouching in the minecart, up at the ceiling.

Milo simply toppled out of the minecart, lying on his stomach and looking distinctly green now. " _I- I think I'll be fine,_ " he panted, looking a bit like he might projectile vomit any moment now, " _just... just give me a..._ "

He made an odd gagging sound again, before his eyes widened, the blonde innkeeper clapping his hands to his mouth, leaping to his feet, and running over to the gaping hole that the minecarts had come to a screeching halt next to. He doubled over, thrusting his head out over the edge, and proceeded to make several dreadful noises as he was _very_ violently sick.

Many audience members winced at that sympathetically, including Milo. He was _not_ looking forward to that.

Jesse winced and unsteadily weaved her way over to him, patting him on the back using her middle set of arms. " _There, there, better out than in, I suppose..._ " she sighed as Milo continued to violently retch.

"I guess most of the people in Sky City aren't used to violent turns like that... they probably don't even use minecarts up there. There's not really any need to," Jace said thoughtfully, narrowing his eyes at the screen.

Isa winced and rubbed the back of her head awkwardly. "Yes... I _did_ assume that any intruder trying to steal the Eversource would've been one of the citizens... but I didn't realize that that many turns would induce vomiting." She glanced at Milo out of the very corners of her eyes. "My apologies."

Milo blinked at the apology in surprise.

Jesse placed her lowest set of arms on her hips and looked around the area they were in curiously while she was waiting for Milo's vomiting to subside, one of her hands reassuredly rubbing circles on his back. Her eyes widened in surprise, and she turned around, one hand still resting on Milo's back.

The screen switched to show the room they'd come to a stop in, to show _dozens_ of chests lining the walls.

The entire audience blinked.

"That, uh..." Ellegaard blinked twice. "That's a _lot_ of chests."

" _Hol-_ ey _cow,_ " the narrator said, before cutting off his own statement. " _Hey, there's a chest labelled 'cow'!_ "

Jesse blinked up at the narrator as Milo straightened back up with a still-faintly-queasy look, murmuring an incoherent thank you, before carefully making her way over to the chests. " _This... this is a_ lot _of chests,_ " she said at last, blinking several times at said chests.

" _Yeah, and they're all... labelled?_ " Petra reported with a faintly confused sound, closely examining said chests as she approached as well.

Milo looked a tad pale, but he read the signs on the chests as well. " _'Creeper', 'Zombie', 'Sheep', 'Pigman'... curious,_ " he said musingly.

" _Is he saying curious because he's never heard of the monsters, or because that's what the chests are labelled?_ " the narrator asked, making Jesse look up at him.

"That's... actually," Hadrian hummed thoughtfully as he leaned forward, the slightly mocking voice falling off his face to be replaced by a pensive look, "that's a valid question."

"It, ah..." Milo coughed awkwardly, shooting Hadrian a look as if daring the white-haired man to laugh. "... it might be both."

For once, Hadrian _didn't_ laugh at the reply.

Onscreen, Jesse tilted her head to one side thoughtfully, thinking about the narrator's comment, before tilting her hand from side to side in response to the question and moving closer to the chest reading 'Sheep'. Carefully unlatching the lid, she reached into the chest and pulled out... an egg, with pinkish spots on it.

Everyone blinked at the screen again.

Jesse blinked at the egg in her hand in bemusement, before looking into the chest again. The screen switched to show that there were dozens of the egg with pinkish spots sitting inside the chest, clustered together neatly.

Lukas's brow quirked as he drew level with the spider hybrid, seeing what was in the chest as well. " _Eggs? The sign says 'Sheep', not 'Eggs',_ " he pointed out, the others crowding around the spider hybrid.

Jesse frowned at the egg in her hands, before she quickly moved over to the chest reading 'Creeper' and opened it as well. She blinked, before looking back at the others and indicating the chest. They crowded around her again, the screen switching to show that it was full of green eggs with black spots.

Petra frowned down at the pink-spotted egg in Jesse's palm. " _Might as well... throw it and give it a shot?_ " she suggested, questioningly.

The black-haired girl nodded in agreement, straightening up and tossing the egg a few inches into the air once, before lobbing it at a wall with quite a bit of force. The egg cracked upon impact with the wall, a sheep toppling out and doing a little inadvertent flip before landing on all fours, bleating obliviously to the fact that it had just come out of an egg.

"Wha-?" Jesse and Jace chorused, their eyebrows rising a bit. (Although Jesse was the only one in the two who was able to pull it off properly...)

" _A... sheep,_ " Petra said slowly, blinking twice at said sheep.

Milo approached the sheep nervously. " _Is... is that a monster?_ " he questioned after a tentative moment, before rubbing the back of his head and cocking his head to one side. " _That is not so bad._ " Turning back to them a bit, he finished, " _It is fluffy._ "

"You've never seen a sheep before?" Dan asked, blinking several times in bewilderment at the screen. Don't get him wrong, he knew that resources were technically limited in Sky City, but- still. This was a _sheep._

" _So is Lukas's hair,_ " Jesse said cheerfully onscreen, reaching out and patting the ocelot hybrid's head. His cyan-teal-ish eyes crossed a bit as he let out a dreamy purr of pleasure, and his ears drooped with pleasure.

Lukas felt his cheeks flush in embarrassment as several people giggled at that. Real-Jesse turned to him and made a big show of staring at his hair, before reaching up and patting it. "Hm. Onscreen-me wasn't kidding," she hummed thoughtfully, before turning back to the screen.

Lukas's face went a wee bit pinker.

Onscreen, Petra simply crossed her arms thoughtfully, as Jesse let up on the petting. Lukas blinked three times before moving off to go poke through some of the other chests. " _The eggs must all have creatures inside of them..._ " she murmured, musingly.

The ocelot hybrid came back, holding a gold egg with dark brown spots, and a pale gold egg with even darker gold spots. " _And they're all different colors. They must be- y'know- color-coded or something to what's inside them._ "

Petra reached out and took the Blaze Egg, squinting at it thoughtfully. " _So... she can just_ spawn _things whenever she wants to._ "

"You're getting closer as to how the Eversource works," Isa said, tapping the wide of her nose and then pointing at the screen, making several members of the audience twist to look at her in surprise.

"Really?" Olivia asked, sounding rather bewildered. "How does it-?"

The spider hybrid touched her lip with a thoughtful hum of her own, inadvertently interrupting Olivia. " _So... the Eversource makes..._ " She stared at the egg, a slightly blank expression coming over her face. " _Spawn... egg... things?_ " she finally finished.

" _So articulate. You should be a poet,_ " the narrator stated sarcastically.

" _You've already said that,_ " Jesse muttered back to him, under her breath.

Lukas's ears perked up, and he looked 'round at Jesse. " _What was that?_ "

" _Oh- nothing,_ " and Jesse crossed and uncrossed her uppermost set of arms to indicate that it was, in fact, nothing.

The ocelot hybrid just squinted at her for a few seconds, before shrugging and apparently deciding it wasn't really any of his business as he trotted off past the other chests.

" _He has good hearing,_ " the narrator spoke up again, almost absentmindedly.

" _That he does,_ " Jesse muttered, dropping her voice as she walked in the other direction to avoid anyone else overhearing her. " _But of course, you'd know that. You're the all-seeing narrator, aren't you?_ "

" _Oh, I wouldn't say I'm_ all-seeing _. I can't see stuff that's underground, after all, unless you happen to be somewhere in the vicinity,_ " the narrator replied airily.

Jesse scowled. " _That's not what I meant._ "

The narrator's reply was quick and airy. " _Oh, I know._ "

Otto massaged his temples, looking both amused and irritated. "This... man...!" he muttered.

"What makes you so sure it's a man?" Stacy asked him, twisting around to get a good look at him.

"The voice sounds like one," Otto replied.

"Oh. Fair point."

Jesse simply sighed and pressed her hand to her face, her brow twitching in irritation onscreen. " _... you're the most irritating voice I've ever met, you know that?_ " she finally spoke, voice a bit muffled from her hand smothering her face.

" _No, but now I do._ "

There was another three-second pause in which Jesse was silent, probably trying and failing to come up with a snappy reply, before she sighed and let her hand drop to her side. " _Never mind. Do you know anything about the Eversource? That you can tell me?_ " She added, before the narrator could give a snappy reply to the question.

Now it was the narrator's turn to pause. " _... assuming you mean things that you don't already know, no._ "

" _Fantastic,_ " Jesse snarked under her breath, beginning to move into the room that was beyond the one lined with chests. " _You_ do _know stuff about the Eversource, right?_ "

" _Well, I_ will _say that while the Old Builders definitely had something to do with it, they didn't_ create _it, per se._ "

This made Jesse come to a stop in her tracks and look at the ceiling, distracted once again. " _What?_ "

" _Just keep going, you'll see in a minute or two,_ " the narrator urged the girl onwards. Jesse waited for him to continue, but he fell silent and didn't say anything more. After waiting for a good ten seconds, Jesse let out a low sigh and slowly advanced forwards, looking around. There was a little 'pen' of dirt a bit to the right of the entrance of the next room, and Jesse would've simply overlooked it if she hadn't spotted the pair of small black eyes peeking out at her.

Stampy let out a squeak of surprise and nearly fell off the couch.

Jesse's breath caught in her throat in surprise, before she carefully advanced towards the pen, all six of her arms moving into a more defensive position, as the pair of black eyes disappeared... and from behind the 'pen', a familiar white chicken fluttered out with a squawk, gold crown sitting on her head and a gold medal with a red ribbon around its neck. She ran a few steps forward before tripping and falling flat on her face.

"Oh, hey, it's Benedict!" Jesse said cheerfully, pointing at the screen, before something suddenly occurred to her, and her eyes widened, voice trailing off in surprise.

Onscreen-Jesse proceeded to 'awwww' at the chicken, putting her hands to her mouth and grinning. " _Awwww! It's so_ cute!" she nearly _squealed_ in excitement.

"Okay, good, you fangirl. I was starting to think you were a boy in disguise," Jace said, patting a still-rather shocked Jesse on the shoulder.

She punched him on the shoulder in reply.

Milo looked at the chicken, eyes wide. " _Incredible!_ " he breathed. Although, it wasn't clear to the audience whether he meant because the chicken was wearing a little crown... or because he'd never seen a chicken before. Both were honestly valid options.

Jesse paused onscreen, narrowing her eyes at the little chicken, before she gasped as the truth hit her with the force of a sledgehammer, actually making her stumble back a step or two in surprise.

"What? What is it?" Lizzie asked, leaning forward in slight excitement.

The black-haired spider hybrid slowly turned to face her friends, her lowest set of arms gesturing at the small white chicken running around behind her. " _You guys... meet the Eversource._ "

* * *

 **A/N: _Yes!_ Haha!**

 **Alright, next chapter will be dragged out a bit... or it might just be shorter. One of those two. Probably both.**

 **I'm confusing myself.**

 **RQTC: Have any of you seen the new PHANTASMAGORIA teasers I've been putting up?**

 **RWBYSTRQ: (laughs) I'm glad! / Really? Where's that? / Thanks!**

 **LunarStarsMoons: No problem, the computer(s) were being little jerks. (sticks tongue out at computers) / Hehehehe xD / A little bit, but I figured it was about time that Jesse got angry about SOMEthing xD / Ooh, alright. / NEVER xD / Oh. xD / I know, I've seen! :3**

 **the indecisive bird: (laughs) Indeed. / The second one was correct. xD / Yeah... although they didn't really stop. / Alrighty! :3**

 **RavenBlaze4850: (laughs) Yes, indeedy. / Hehehe, very true xD / Yes, veeeery smooth. xD / He's not allowed to tell you. That would also be breaking his contract. xD / (nods) I see. / Ahhhh. I post my PHANTASMAGORIA teasers there, so that's why I was asking.**

 **AquaK13: Yes indeed xD / Ahhhh. Thanks! / (coughs) Er, maybe next chapter. I'm not a dirty person, so it's awkward to come up with innuendos. / Hehehe xD**

 **Darkbeast Dend: Okay, literally, I just told you not to advertise other stories or authors, and then you go ahead and do it. Please don't keep this up or I will stop replying to your comments altogether. No role-playing or advertising stories in the comments of THIS story, please. This is MCSM, not Naruto or whatever the other ones are. Now, this is your second strike. If you have a third strike, I will have to start deleting your comments and I just won't reply. _Please_ stop doing that. I'm really sorry if this comes off as mean, but it's really irritating when I ask someone to stop doing something and they just do it _right after I ask._ / That being said, I will answer your question. I don't honestly know, I'd probably have something akin to my Author powers.**

 **Emily The Avenger: Only two more chapters! :3**

 **homeworkoverload: Le gasp xD / Bye!**

 **ChoyofBonk: Alright, I'll check you out :3 / Yes, indeed. xD How far are you on the next chappie of Decibels, by the way?**

 **NoItsBecky: Fair enough xD**

 **Rabbits rule: That was based more on what happens when you _really_ piss me off. I go from zero to freaking infinity if you make me mad. Looks like we've got something in common! :3 / Ahhhh. **

**sailor . mikuchan: So why don't you make an account? :3**

 **Guest: Hmm. Not a bad idea. (smiles) I'm not going to spoil anything for you, but we'll see if I can include that in there.**

 **LittleAngelbun: :3 I'm glad you like this!**

 **DarkPrincess2001: Oh, that was you! Yeah, I saw :3 / I know, right!**

 **x.X. A.L. X.x**


	99. Nice to Know

_**"WHAT?!"**_

Jesse simply snapped her fingers as the audience practically exploded in surprise. "Yep. My theory was correct."

Jace looked surprised, blinking several times. Lukas's arm had actually slipped off from where it had been around Jesse, and he was gaping at the screen in shock. Petra was staring at the screen with wide eyes, pointing at it, then at the chicken in Isa's lap, then at the screen again. Axel had actually _fallen over_ in surprise, and had managed to drag Olivia with him. The dark-skinned girl didn't bother scolding him for it; she was gaping at the screen in surprise as well. Reuben let out his own squeal of surprise.

Soren looked surprisingly unsurprised by this, while Magnus had followed in Axel's footsteps and simply fallen off the couch, Ellegaard now lying on top of and struggling to get them both back on the couch. Gabriel looked like a rabbit caught in headlights, while Ivor was wordlessly gaping at the screen, dark blue eyes as round as marbles. He'd slumped down a bit in his seat so that he was nearly sliding right out of the couch.

Gill and Maya were scrambling to right the armchair from where they'd knocked it over (again), while Aiden was exchanging a startled look- the first time he'd made eye contact with anyone for a while- with the person closest to him, who happened to be Cassie. Cassie had a faintly surprised look on her face, but also... not really? (This almost surprised Aiden more than the identity of the Eversource.) Winslow's fur had shot straight up, and he was now hissing from the loud havoc that filled the room.

Stampy was babbling incoherently, Dan was simply blinking at the screen in shock, Stacy was wordlessly opening and closing her mouth over and over again, while Lizzie was looking from Benedict, clucking away in Isa's lap, to the screen, thunderstruck. Sparklez was scrambling around on the floor, scooping up his sunglasses hastily from where they'd fallen right off his face.

Harper looked remarkably unsurprised by this, Hadrian, Mevia, and Otto having similar reactions and simply watching the screen, their deadpan reactions going unnoticed in the hullabaloo that had just been raised. (Well, almost- Jesse's eyes narrowed a bit at them curiously.) The gladiators were blinking at the screen, looking both surprised and unsurprised. (Because that makes complete sense.) Nell and Em were simply staring at the screen with wide eyes and slightly open mouths.

Unsurprisingly, Isa, Milo, and Reginald looked completely unsurprised by this, although Isa did look uncomfortable about the whole thing, and Reginald's hand automatically strayed to the hilt of his sword.

" _No_ way," Em said at last, as the din died down, still wide-eyed, "there is _no way_ -"

As if the universe was intent on defying her, Benedict let out a little squawk right at that moment, fluttering off of Isa's lap cheerfully. In the Founder's lap sat a white egg with gray spots.

Isa slowly picked it up, being very careful with it, her fingers delicately cradling the egg as she squinted at it carefully. After tilting it from side to side for a few seconds, she announced, slowly, to the silent audience, "I believe it's a Ghast egg..."

Jesse looked a bit worried as she pointed at Benedict and slowly asked, "Um, does Benedict just... lay Ghast eggs randomly?"

To Jesse's relief, Isa shook her head, still cradling the egg carefully with a bemused look on her face. "No, of course not. Usually, if Benedict _does_ lay eggs nowadays, it's because I asked her for a specific one... It takes her a while longer that way, but, back on Sky City, we have plenty from beforehand, so it's not usually that much of an issue. But I haven't asked her for one in a w-"

"Oh..." Jace's eyes had filled with a sudden comprehension when the audience looked at him, the boy blinking several times rapidly. "Do you think..." He looked at Jesse wordlessly, trailing off.

Jesse was just blinking at him in bemusement when she blinked again, the same comprehension hitting her. "Oh... I think we're on the same page here..."

"Well, we're back on page one here," Petra said, flinging her arms out to the sides in frustration, "mind clearing it up for us?"

"Remember back in the first episode? Aiden was bragging about being able to defeat Ghasts...?" Jace prompted, slowly.

The audience blinked at that.

* * *

 _"Oh, come on," Aiden scoffed, "I could beat five of those things with one arm tied behind my back."_

 _"You wanna try? We can spawn some in here and-" Isa asked sharply, obviously tired of hearing his bragging. Aiden's eyes widened and he shook his head and hands quickly._

 _"No! No. I'm good."_

 _"Thought so."_

* * *

"... ohhhhh." Isa blinked at Aiden a few times, who dropped his eyes from hers to his lap, and then back at the egg she was cradling in her hands. "That... yes, that might've been it..."

"Since we can hardly sit around with a Ghast egg in our hands all day," Petra spoke up, while Axel and Olivia righted themselves and the room began settling down a bit more again, shocked looks still fixed on their faces, "how about at the next possible stopping point, we'll take a break, and we can figure out a way to get rid of the egg?"

As if on cue, Gill's stomach growled loudly.

Everyone looked at him. His face turned pink. "What? I'm hungry."

Maya valiantly fought the smile that was threatening to make its way across her face.

"Yeah, we should probably take a lunch break after this..." Olivia hummed thoughtfully. "Alright, next time we come to a stopping point, we'll break for a couple hours. Cassie, since you've got the remote, you decide the next stopping point, alright?"

The redhead nodded, waving the remote in her hand a bit. "Got it."

That settled, they all turned back to the screen, Cassie pressing the play button again. (She'd paused it while everyone was trying to recover from the shock they'd received.)

Onscreen, the screen loaded for a few seconds, before it resumed. Petra's expression went perfectly deadpan, staring at the tiny chicken with the little golden crown on its head. " _What._ "

" _No way,_ " Lukas agreed, shaking his head and putting his hands on his hips.

The black-haired spider hybrid simply shrugged a bit at the denial. " _It makes sense, though, doesn't it? There's all these spawn eggs all over the place. And where else do you get eggs from but-_ "

" _A... chicken,_ " Ivor finished Jesse's sentence for her, putting his hands on his own hips with a faintly impressed look. " _Yes... it's so simple!_ "

The spider hybrid nodded in agreement. " _So... the chicken lays the eggs, the eggs make monsters, and the loot from the monsters makes this entire city!_ " she exclaimed cheerfully, clapping all of her hands together.

And then she looked at her lower arms bemusedly.

" _Still not u-_ " the narrator's voice suddenly got cut off with a staticky sound, making Jesse look back up at the ceiling in confusion. " _Wait, cr-_ " The voice momentarily changed to _female_ , before there was the distinct sound of something metal being banged against something else. " _This- stupid voice changer-_ " the narrator's now-female voice muttered. Or, well, that's what they _thought_ he- _she_ said. The sound of staticky white noise and metal banging incessantly was a little distracting.

"Wait, so is this narrator a girl, or a boy, or-" Harper threw her hands in the air, looking confused. "You know what, nope. I give up. I'm not trying to figure this out anymore."

Ivor hid a faint smile at that.

The narrator cleared their throat, sounding like a guy again. " _Ahem. Sorry. Technical difficulties, and all that jazz._ "

The spider hybrid had just begun to open her mouth to ask the narrator something when she was interrupted by Ivor, who was still squinting at the Eversource, a more dubious look on his face. " _So... are we still taking the chicken, or what?_ " he asked at last, looking over at Jesse.

Lukas shot Ivor a look. It was a mixture of disapproval and incredulity. " _The chicken that the_ entire city _depends on?! Are we sure that's a good idea?_ " he asked the man incredulously.

"Yeah, that- that might not be the _smartest_ move..." Sparklez winced, looking over at Ivor.

" _What are you talking about?_ " Milo argued, making Ivor and Lukas look over at him, " _we need to bring the Eversource to the people. With it, we'll finally be free of the Founder!_ "

"Can you even _fight_ monsters?" Axel asked, twisting to look at Milo and drawing the blonde's attention away from having a glaring contest with the Founder.

Milo scratched his head, a sheepish look coming over his face and replacing the glare. " _I_ can, because I occasionally practice in Build Club using an armor stand..."

"Oh, hey, like what I did back in the first episode!" Jesse exclaimed, pointing at Milo. The blonde innkeeper nodded, tapping the side of his nose and then pointing at Jesse with a faintly pleased look.

"Precisely. However, the other citizens _are_ more focused on building than defending themselves... besides, none of us have even seen a monster, except for maybe the sheep."

"Sheep aren't even monsters," Lukas pointed out, also twisting to get a good look at Milo.

Milo coughed a bit, scratching his cheek a bit. "Yes, well... like I said, we don't see monsters up in Sky City." There was a short pause as he regarded the screen thoughtfully. "Perhaps I should've thought that through a bit more."

"Perhaps," Isa drawled sarcastically.

Milo shot her a scowl.

" _It's cute!_ " And the spider hybrid crouched down and started patting the chicken gently, making Benedict let out little clucking sounds in contentment.

Isa beamed. It was nice to meet someone else who felt the same way about Benedict.

Real-Benedict, who was still running around on the floor, ran over to where Jesse, Jace, and Reuben were, clucking happily. Jesse grinned and began to imitate her onscreen-self, gently stroking the white chicken's back. Benedict let out pleased clucking noises and gave Reuben a cheerful greeting. Reuben snuffled a bit in reply, giving the chicken his usual piggy grin as Jesse started patting Reuben as well.

"You're good with animals, aren't you?" Reginald asked, smiling a bit at the petite black-haired girl sitting on the floor.

"I love animals," Jesse replied cheerfully.

"If Winslow goes over there, you're going to have a problem. You can't pet three animals at the same time," Cassie joked, patting Winslow happily and making the calico cat purr happily.

"Yeah, six arms would be helpful in this case," Jesse answered, grinning cheerfully at the thought.

Onscreen, Petra shook her head and crossed her arms in amusement. Her lips twitched a bit as if she was attempting to hide a smile. " _Yeah. Of course_ that's _what you notice about it,_ " she said, giving the spider hybrid a wry smirk.

" _Well, it is!_ " Jesse replied defensively, still patting the chicken gently.

Before anyone could say anything else, Petra was suddenly thrown aside by a blur of gold with a yell of shock, landing hard on her back.

"Petra!" Jace gasped, tightening his arms around the redhead next to him.

Half a second later, Ivor went flying as a blur of black and gold hit him in the side and crashed-landed right next to her with a grunt. Lukas' eyes flicked over his shoulder, and he darted forward as a dark blur whipped over his shoulder, _barely_ missing the blonde, dodging out of the way and rolling into a defensive crouch behind Jesse, cyan eyes glowing with alarm.

"What's going on?!" Em shouted in confusion at the screen, as if someone was going to answer her.

Hadrian suddenly made a soft humming sound in comprehension, snapping his fingers. He didn't clarify it to the members of the audience who heard it and gave him bewildered looks.

Finally, Milo was knocked aside as a blur of gold and black darted past him, landing right on top of Petra and Ivor, who were starting to get back up, and knocking the breath right out of them.

"Ah." Milo winced. "I am _terribly_ sorry about that, friends."

As the three of them scrambled to get back up, there was suddenly the scrape of metal on metal, and they found themselves staring at a pair of swords aimed right at their faces.

Slowly, the three of them raised their eyes.

The screen switched to show Maya and Gill holding their swords out at them, their nasty grins fading to rather concerned looks as they looked over their shoulders.

Real Maya and Gill's eyes widened, and they shared a dread-filled glance.

This was bad.

"Oh..." Gabriel blinked, looking at Isa with wide eyes.

The woman wearing _black and gold._

Several pairs of eyes widened in surprise, and the audience's heads collectively snapped back forward to face the screen.

The screen switched again to show Isa standing in front of Jesse in a martial-arts stance, her deep green eyes blazing with fury as she opened them, leveling a glare directly at Jesse. Aiden strolled up behind her, a sneer fixed upon his face as he stared right at Jesse.

The spider hybrid simply arched her eyebrow, standing up from her crouching position into an almost _lazy_ standing position, Benedict continuing to cluck contentedly next to her. " _Would've been nice to know that you're a martial artist,_ " she hummed thoughtfully.

The screen paused.

The audience blinked a few times.

"Wait, wh-?!" Magnus's head snapped to face Cassie, an accusing look on his face. "C'mon, it was just getting good!"

Cassie just shrugged in return. "It's not a bad stopping point."

"Oh, _come_ on!" he complained, pretending Ellegaard wasn't currently hiding a smile behind her hand. "What are you, the Cliffhanger Queen?!"

Cassie didn't take offense at that- quite the contrary, actually, an amused smile crept over her face. "Actually, it might just be because I've been reading that 'A.L' person's books for a while now. She tends to leave off on cliffhangers all the time."

The gladiators, Magnus, Gill, and Axel let out disappointed groans as the redhead bounced to her feet energetically. "Welp, it's a nice day outside. Harper, Ivor and I'll prepare lunch. We can eat lunch outside," she said, shooting them a grin.

Jesse cracked her neck a bit as she stood up, stretching out a bit, to the disappointment of both Reuben and Benedict- she'd been petting them for a couple minutes now. "Yeah, sitting inside all day's not really healthy. C'mon, Lukas!" And before the blonde could really react, she'd grabbed him by the arm, hauled him to his feet, and was running out the door with the blonde in tow.

The audience all exchanged amused looks, before Ivor and Harper got up, almost simultaneously. "I'm not an amazing chef, but I don't burn everything. Unlike someone _else_ I know," and Harper shot Mevia a faint smile.

The pale-blue-haired woman scowled in response. "In my defense, Hadrian was the one who thought nuking the pie in the furnace would be a good idea."

The white-haired man smacked Mevia on the shoulder, grumbling incoherently in response. Otto gave an amused smile as he regarded Hadrian. "Well, what do you know?" he said, to no one in particular. "Hadrian's speechless for once."

* * *

 **A/N: (laughs) Had to end that there.**

 **OMG YOU GUYS**

 **100TH CHAPTER SPECIAL IS NEXT CHAPTER**

 **NEXT**

 **CHAPTER**

 **(scREAMS)**

 **RQTC: Should I post the Phantasmagoria teasers here as well? (like under the A/N?) I feel like that's just annoying... if you want to see them, they're on my Quotev and my DeviantArt account. We'll just say that.**

 **the indecisive bird: (grimaces) I'm sorry, it's so hard to read their reviews that I didn't even realize they were talking to you. Sorry. / Uhh neither do I tbh xD**

 **LunarStarsMoons: That's kind of the idea xD / Heehee :3 / I think I voted...**

 **NinaNaranja: (laughs) Yep. / Him? Her? Who knows? xD / Squeeeee! / Please do! I'm kinda proud of 'em :3**

 **InsaneAcrobat: They're not annoying or long at all, don't worry x3 / Hi! And thank you! / (cracks up) We'll see if those questions are answered; I ain't spoiling this for ya. / Thank you, again! I'm glad to hear you like it so much :3**

 **Emily The Avenger: Glad to hear that!**

 **SofiaTheWriter88: Okay! I hope you'll check out my Phantasmagoria teasers as they keep coming x3 / Haha, same here tbh / ONE MORE CHAPTER (screams happily)**

 **homeworkoverload: So do I, but I get dizzy super easily, so I sympathize with Milo here xD / So should I post 'em here, or...?**

 **sailor . mikuchan: Ahhh. / (screams)**

 **LegoGirl794: (cracks up upon reading the review)**

 **FireBallin17: Yes indeed xD**

 **RavenBlaze4850: Feel free; I'm pretty sure Reginald and Isa don't want him to be vomiting everywhere. (winces) / Heehee, very true xD / (winks) / ? I have no idea what that means- are you saying there IS a girl in there, or...?**

 **J.M.M.: Ahhhh.**

 **Rabbits rule: (laughs) / Ahhh. Same here, tbh. We have stuff in common! / 0-0 uhhh**

 **AquaK13: Yep... xD / So do I, tbh xD / Cats are fluffy indeed x3 / (laughs) Never watched Miraculous Ladybug, tbh... It's fine, don't worry. Check it out when you've got time, tho :3**

 **x.X. A.L. X.x**


	100. 100TH CHAPTER SPECIAL!

Harper rummaged through one of the food chests. "What do you think we should make for the others, Ivor?"

No reply.

"Ivor?"

Still no reply.

Harper twisted around to see Ivor staring at her. She blinked twice, feeling a bit bothered by that. "Uhh... Ivor?" she repeated, tentatively.

 _Still_ no reply.

"IVOR!"

The black-haired man started and banged his elbow on the not-lit furnace, muttering a soft swear as he rubbed it. A faint blush came over his cheeks as he coughed sheepishly. "Er, what? Sorry, I wasn't listening. What were you saying?" he asked, his blush growing steadily more acute and resolutely ignoring Cassie's snickers at him.

"I was asking what we should have for dinner," Harper responded with an amused shake of the head. Standing back up, she poked his now-red cheek. "How about apples to match your cheeks?"

Ivor's face went even redder as Cassie actually _sat down_ , laughing so hard that she had to throw one arm out and cling to a nearby chest to steady herself. Harper grinned and chuckled a bit herself. It was nice being the one who was teasing rather than the one who was being teased for once...

Finally, the red-haired girl calmed down and stood back up, leaning over and rummaging through a chest herself. "Apples work for dessert, but they're not exactly filling. Um... how about..." she rummaged through a chest and picked something out of it. "Pork?"

Ivor gave her a perfectly deadpan look for a good ten seconds, before his eyebrow went up.

"No," Harper stated like a strict mom, shaking her head. "No pork. If anything, we're burning all the chicken and pork in here."

Cassie blinked at them both, before her face slowly turned as red as her hair as she realized her mistake. "Oh. OH. Yeah. That-" she coughed awkwardly. "That... might be a good idea. Let's do that now."

Harper nodded and went over to the chest with the meat in it, before the three of them were interrupted by the sound of the doors swinging open. They whipped around to spot two of the now-customary blue figures roaming the kitchen. One of them was the one with dark, curly hair and the odd streak of color, while the other one seemed to be Ariza. "How about some steak and potatoes?" the long-haired one asked.

Ariza shook her head with amusement. "We already had that last week, Gommie. I'm pretty sure we can go another few days without having your favorite," she replied, kneeling down to poke through the chest next to Cassie.

'Gommie' pouted a bit. "Aww, c'mon, Ritza-Cracker- wait, crackers. Crackers... how about crackers with fruit and peanut butter? We can put peanut butter on the crackers, and cut up some fruit?" she suggested, snapping her fingers thoughtfully. "And we could just have some water."

Ariza thought about it for a couple of seconds. "Mmmm, yeah, it's only lunchtime. We can do more of a snack than an actual meal," she mused. "What fruit? D'you think everyone would be okay with apples?"

"Yeah, and we can throw some watermelons to the mix. And... maybe some oranges?"

"Mmm, too juicy. Oh, Red loves strawberries," Gommie added, snapping her fingers again and doing a sort of finger-gun motion at Jesse. "Can't forget those."

"Oooh! Yes! Hm, and..." Ariza walked over to the chest next to the one Harper had been poking around in earlier, "I'm eighty-five percent sure I saw some bananas in here... yep, here we go," and she pulled out an armful of the fruit that she'd previously mentioned.

Gommie suddenly gasped, the shorter girl's eyes lighting up in excitement. "Fruit ninja style?"

A huge grin spread over Ariza's face, the tall girl's eyes widening with her own excitement as she exchanged the grin with Gommie. "YES."

Gommie stepped back a few feet, grabbing several plastic bowls and setting them on the floor around her, before flicking out a sword and holding it at the ready. "You ready to witness my graceful sword work, Ariza?"

"Aren't I always?" Ariza grinned at the playful jibe, picking up the banana and peeling the skin off. "We'll start out easy first. Go!" And she threw the banana at Gommie.

The flash of a blade darted through the air several times, and the banana peel landed in little chunks in the first bowl. Shoving it aside with her feet, Gommie then sliced the strawberries Ariza threw in half with expert precision, then the apples (although she kicked the bowl towards Ariza this time), before Ariza carefully hefted the watermelon into the air, tossing it up and down a couple times and then threw it.

The blade swished through the air again, and the watermelon landed in the bowl at her feet, although it rattled with the force of the impact. Leaning down, Ariza scooped it up and tossed it a bit, setting all the fruit bowls on the counter. "Man, every time I see you do that, I can never get used to it. You handle the crackers, I'll work with the fruit," she ordered Gommie cheerfully, and the two of them went about preparing lunch, Harper, Ivor, and Cassie watching the scene in stunned silence.

After a good three minutes, lunch was ready, the fruit arranged nicely on a big plate. Gommie grinned up at Ariza. "You use your mom's fruit-arranging technique?" she asked, slightly teasingly.

"Yep. Can't say this doesn't look nice," Ariza agreed, setting the big plate on the table and putting her hands on her hips with a satisfied grin.

"Mmhm. Guuuuuys, lunch is ready!" Gommie called out the double doors, the figures dissipating in the breeze.

Ivor tentatively approached and stuck his hand into the spot where Ariza had been. "It's... a bit chilly over here. You two saw that too, right?" he asked, looking over his shoulder to confirm that he hadn't been hallucinating.

"Yeah, we definitely saw that," Cassie said, slowly.

Harper continued staring at the spot where they'd been for a few seconds, before giving her head a small shake. "How... uh, how about we follow their example? Crackers with fruit and peanut butter? We can eat something while watching the episode that way..."

Cassie shook herself out of the slight daze she'd fallen into. "... yeah. As long as you don't want to do it 'fruit ninja' style, whatever that is," she said, smiling faintly in amusement.

"Yeah, no," Ivor said immediately, shaking his head. This made all three of them laugh.

* * *

After the outdoors lunch, everyone was just sitting around, chatting, getting some much-needed sunlight. After all, you don't get much of it sitting indoors watching episodes all day.

Jesse was playing with Reuben in the grass, Lukas watching with an amused smile while Jace and Petra were leaning against a tree nearby, chatting aimlessly with the shorter boy's head resting on Petra's shoulder.

Cassie was the only one who was sitting next to Aiden, the two of them just mildly chatting while Winslow napped in the grass, batting lazily at a random string of grass every few minutes. Maya and Gill were sitting together as well, while Magnus and Axel were chatting away about TNT, and Ellegaard, Olivia, and Harper were nearby, talking about redstone and making hand motions that none of the rest of them could understand.

Gabriel was talking to Reginald and Isa about something, the two of them nodding and occasionally shooting Jesse a glance from where the three of them were sitting near Jace and Petra's tree. Milo was sitting near the group but talking to Soren animatedly, Soren indulging in telling Milo about some of his builds from when he was in the Order and Milo listening intently. In fact, he was probably making mental notes.

The YouTubers were all discussing a video they'd seen, and something about 'channels' that the other members of the audience didn't understand. Ivor was sitting near Soren and Milo and occasionally interrupting the conversation to make a random comment. Hadrian, Mevia and Otto were sitting off to their own side, talking quietly, while the gladiators were playfully shoving each other around and Em and Nell were watching Jesse play with Reuben.

A light breeze blew through the area, suddenly materializing at least fifty people into a large, flat area of land. Some of them were standing off to the side and holding drinks, one of them immediately recognizable as Ariza, who was standing near where Jesse was playing, while most of the others were on the 'dance floor', dancing to the music.

" _Slide to the left!"_

 _"Slide to the right!_ "

Ariza gave her head an amused shake as a boy with frosted-tip hair walked over to where Ariza was watching the huge crowd dance in amusement. "Honestly, how did this many people want to come?"

"Weren't you the one who sent all those invitations?" the boy asked, looking a bit amused himself.

Ariza simply shrugged once at him before taking a sip of her drink. "To be honest, I expected ninety percent of them to decline the invitation. Let's see... I invited Rebekah... ooh, and then there's Nina-"

"Which one?"

"Nina Naranja, remember?"

"Oh, yeah. Continue on?"

Ariza gave an absentminded nod and continued pointing people out in the crowd of dancing people. "Oh, there's Lunar... oh, and there's Crystal. And there's Jess-"

Jesse blinked a couple times upon hearing that in confusion.

"Jess?" Toni gave Ariza a faintly confused look.

"Oh, Rabbits rule?"

The boy gave a comprehending nod. "Ah, keep going."

"J.M.M., I don't remember his name exactly... it's John or something. Oh, and then there's homework overload," Ariza ticked another one off, "and Beli, and then there's Sailor Mikuchan, ooh and Darkbeast came too, although I honestly wasn't expecting it... and then there's indecisive bird and Emily."

"The Avenger?"

"The very same. And then there's Sofia, and LittleAngelbun, and- yeah, I see Aqua K. over there. Oooh, and then there's Sasha over there... ah, and Kaos. Ah, and there's RavenBlaze, too." Ariza mentally counted on her fingers for a moment, raising her lime green eyes to the sky, before giving a satisfied nod. "Yep. That's them. That's all of 'em. I invited some other friends, too, but they were all busy."

Toni rubbed his chin. "Okay, so even with all the invitations, that only accounts for eighteen people." He paused, before amending the statement. "Well, _only_."

Ariza grinned as he continued, "Well, I invited my brother and some friends... most of the guests are probably Gommie's cousins, actually; since they were in town it was kind of just automatic invitation. Red brought the Colors..." A slightly alarmed look came over his face as he looked around. "Hey, wait a sec, where's Blue? I didn't see-"

"He's right over there with Gommie, stop stressing," Ariza said lazily, before taking another sip of her drink and then giving the glass in her hand an appraising look. "Okay, seriously, where did you get this non-alcoholic beer? It's actually really good."

"Butterbeer? Sammi made the trip to the town that sells it, so you'll have to ask her," Toni responded, taking a sip of his own drink and indicating one of the glowing blue figures.

"Mmm, gotcha." Ariza took another sip and glanced at Toni out of the corner of her eyes. "So, anyway, about half the guests, if not a bit more, should be accounted for. Did the others invite people too?"

Toni squinted back into the crowd of glowing blue. "Um, I think Cho invited a couple friends. But I'm not sure about Becky or Sammi..."

The music changed, interrupting their discussion about the attendance. "This is our jam, guys, c'mon!" Gommie called out to the duo as she moved onto the dance floor near one of her cousins.

Ariza exchanged a glance with Toni, before the dark-haired girl smirked a bit and set her glass down, raising her eyebrow at Toni. "Ready to witness my Notch-awful dancing skills, Toni?" she asked the boy with frosted-tips briskly.

"Mine might just be worse," Toni replied with a grin as the two of them moved onto the dance floor as Red hopped onto the dance floor with his friends as well, the music going into full swing.

" _They say we are what we are,  
but we don't have to be,  
I'm bad behavior  
but I do it in the best way~!_"

Ariza let out an amused laugh as she tripped over her own feet during a spin, catching herself and keeping herself from falling flat on her face.

Tentatively, Jesse stood up and approached the nearest glowing blue figure, who happened to be Ariza. She reached out to touch the blue figure, hesitantly-

Immediately, her friends seemed to disappear from view, and the glowing blue changed to vibrant colors, making Jesse blink several times as she tried to get her eyes accustomed to the sudden explosion of color.

Ariza did another twirl and spotted Jesse, giving the black-haired girl. "Hey, nice to meet you!" she said cheerfully, brushing some now-black hair with a bright red streak out of her eyes and adjusting her slightly disheveled dark gray flannel. Her jeans nearly covered up the pair of black combat boots she was wearing altogether, and Jesse spotted a slightly glowing blue pen tucked behind Ariza's ear.

She couldn't do much more than just stare at Ariza in stunned surprise.

The girl arched an eyebrow, lime green eyes still sparkling cheerfully. "I don't think I've seen you around here before. You new?"

"I-I-I-" Jesse stammered, unsure how exactly to begin.

The black-haired girl waved a hand dismissively and grabbed Jesse's, making the black-haired girl jump in shock. Ariza's hand felt warm and very, _very_ solid. "Never mind. Nice to meetcha anyway. Here, let me introduce you to my friends. Yo, Gom!" she yelled, flailing her free hand, "Red, Toni, Becky, Cho, Sammi!" Another girl passed by, and Ariza nodded and gave her a flail of the hand as well. "Hey, Emily."

"What's up, Ariza?" A girl with tan skin and long, rather wavy dark brown hair and a green streak through it drew level with them- Gommie. Her dark brown eyes glinted with interest as she tilted her head and slightly arched one of her bushy brows, adjusting her tan leather jacket over a dark gray t-shirt, strong-looking build, and dark jeans. When she smiled, a chipped tooth flashed at Jesse.

"This is- what's your name again?" Ariza asked, glancing over at the black-haired girl, who was staring at the two of them as if she'd spotted a pair of ghosts.

"J-J-Jesse," Jesse stammered out.

Ariza's lime green eyes dimmed a bit suddenly, making Jesse nervously edge back. Ariza regarded Jesse with a slightly blank face, eyes narrowed slightly, before the sunny smile returned to her face. "Well, nice to meet you, Jesse. I'm Ariza, and this here is Gommie."

Gommie regarded Jesse for a few seconds, her own face having gone blank, before smiling again, the chip in her tooth showing. "Nice to meet you," Gommie said, a little bit too loudly. Then again, the music _was_ pretty loud.

"Hey, hey, what's going on over here?" Toni edged his way over. His frosted-blue brown hair stood up a bit as he adjusted his black-rimmed glasses up, magnifying his freckly face a little less. His brown-green eyes matched the black, rainbow-sleeved hoodie with a grey creeper face on it, which in turn matched the blue jeans and brown boots he was wearing.

"Hey, Toni," Ariza said, Gommie nodding at the boy in a friendly way, "this is Jesse."

After a few seconds where the boy was just staring at Jesse (which was long enough to make Jesse start thinking of possible escape routes), Toni nodded at Jesse, giving a friendly smile. "Nice to meet you, Jesse. I'm Toni," he said politely, giving a little bow and laughing at the slightly flustered look on Jesse's face. He then reached out and appeared to pull another boy out of thin air over to him, making Jesse blink again- the boy looked like some sort of red flag. Red hair, eyes that seemed to be flashing red in the lighting, red t-shirt, red leather jacket... Jesse half-expected him to have red skin. (He didn't, of course.) "And this is Red," Toni introduced the red boy.

"That's... e-easy to remember," Jesse said, blinking at Red with a disoriented look on her face. "Nice to meet you, Red."

Red grinned and nodded. "Nice to meet you too... uh..." He hesitated, looking her up and down for a moment as he obviously attempted to grasp for something to call her or a name. Seeing as Jesse wasn't wearing a name tag or anything, the attempt sort of flopped. "Green Eyes."

Ariza cleared her throat and then pointed deliberately at her own lime-green eyes. "Her name's Jesse, Red."

Red's 'red' eyes blinked a few times. (Seriously, what was it with the group and her name?) "Ah, I see. Well anyway, hi," and Red gave his hand a little wave.

"Holy catnip, what's this? A little party I wasn't aware of?" A girl with long, dark auburn hair in a braid skidded to a stop next to them, blank red eyes glinting slightly as she grinned at the group. A tiny dusting of freckles rested on her face, and she was wearing a blood-red cloak that effectively covered everything except for her bare feet up.

None of the others even _blinked_ at this dramatic entrance, though Jesse certainly did. (She may have jumped half a foot into the air as well.) "Hey, Sammi," Gommie said, a little loudly, before expansively gesturing at Jesse. "Ariza was introducing us to Jesse here."

Sammi owlishly blinked at Jesse a few times in faint surprise, before she waggled her fingers at the black-haired girl in front of her a bit, playfully. "Pleased to meetcha!" she said, chirpily. "Do you like cake? I like cake! 'Specially chocolate cake, 'cause that's my favorite!"

Ariza arched her eyebrow a little bit; she looked as if she was deliberately hiding a big smile. "Er... Sammi, exactly how many drinks of butterbeer- it tastes amazing, by the way, you're going to have to tell me where you got it- exactly how many drinks of butterbeer did you have?"

"Oh, only about seven..."

Ariza waited.

"... dozen."

"Okay, we're going to have to unhype you," another female voice spoke up as a girl with a faintly yellowish skin tone, dark brown almond eyes, and thick shoulder-length brown hair appeared to materialize right next to Sammi, who was now bouncing around on the balls of her feet like some oversized bouncy ball. Her knitted sweater that started as dark green at the shoulders and faded to white at the bottom hung slightly over her gray sweatpants and the black, yellow, and pink braided bracelet on her wrist. She gave the assembled group a small bow, giving Jesse a friendly nod of the head. "Who's the new girl?"

"Ah, this is Jesse. Jesse, this is Cho Leung, one of our friends," Gommie introduced, still speaking a bit loudly, patting Cho on the shoulder.

Upon hearing Jesse's name, Cho's eyes had narrowed, but the suspicious look faded a few seconds later. "I see. Pleased to meet you, Jesse. Now, if you'll excuse me."

And she nipped out of there with Sammi in tow, the dark-auburn-haired girl cheerfully waving goodbye to the rest of the group.

"Oh, hey, Becky," Gommie called, waving yet _another_ girl over. This one had light brown hair in a braid that _just_ reached past her shoulders and hazel eyes that were somewhat hidden behind a pair of purple-rimmed glasses. She adjusted the pink t-shirt over her faded jeans as she drew level with the group, and Jesse was somewhat relieved to see that she and Becky were about the same height, unlike Ariza, who fairly _towered_ over the petite black-haired girl, or some of the others, who were also rather tall.

"Who's this?" Becky asked, raising her brows at Jesse.

The black-haired girl gave Becky a tiny wave. "Um... hi. I'm Jesse. Nice to meet you."

Becky looked Jesse up and down three times, a more appraising look coming over her face upon hearing Jesse's name, before nodding, her expression remaining in a faint scowl. "Nice to meet you too." She gave the other girls with Jesse a more friendly nod and look. "I'm going to head out and get some more butterbeer."

"Feel free," Toni replied, giving a friendly wave.

Becky just nodded and walked off again, making Jesse blink a few times.

"Ahh, sorry about Becky. She's a bit snarky... and foul-mouthed... and she's a bit of a tsundere..." Ariza thumbed the corner of her mouth. "... and sometimes she can be really rude..." The thoughtful look on her face was replaced half a minute later with a bright smile. "But, she's great."

"... I see..."

Ariza made a cheerful humming noise and checked her wrist, pushing the flannel sleeve back to show that she was wearing a wristwatch. Her face grew slightly more serious, before she let her hand drop back to her side and gave Jesse a tiny wave. "Well, looks like our time together's up." She let the arm with the wristwatch drop, sleeve falling back over it as she gave Jesse a searching look. "Do watch out, you might not be as lucky with the next time we have an incident like this."

"Wha-?"

"See you next time!" Gommie agreed cheerfully, before cocking her head to one side. "Ah, right. Watch out for murderers."

Red grinned a bit wolfishly and waggled his fingers in a wave. "Don't underestimate the Prototype: Autonomous Management Agent."

"Bye!" Toni added, bowing slightly and giving Jesse a crooked smile. "Do make sure that if you read the books in Becky's library, that you put them back in the place where you found them when you're done."

Ariza smiled cheerfully at the black-haired girl in front of her. "See you later, Jesse."

Before Jesse could ask what they all meant, a hand closed on her wrist and yanked her backwards powerfully.

Jesse flew backwards and crash-landed on someone, Lukas letting out a pained grunt in her ear. The black-haired girl blinked rapidly seven times, watching the scene of the party- or- well- whatever it was- dissipate in the breeze, back to a ghostly blue. Lukas's arms were wrapped tightly around her waist, keeping Jesse from moving around too much, and he didn't seem like he was about to let go any minute soon.

"Jesse, you okay?" Jace was staring at Jesse in concern. Now that Jesse was paying more attention, everyone in the area was staring at Jesse with worried expressions on their faces.

"Y-yeah, of course, I'm fine. Why wouldn't I be?" Jesse asked, voice shaking a little bit as she spoke.

"Well," Magnus cleared his throat once. Then again. "Well," he repeated, more tentatively.

"You were starting to dissolve, sport," Hadrian told her flatly.

Otto scowled at Hadrian. The white-haired man splayed his hands out in defense. "What?! She was!" he exclaimed, sounding a bit annoyed at the scowl Otto was now giving him.

"I was?" Jesse asked stupidly, blinking a few times at the surrounding audience.

"Yeah," Aiden spoke up, shrinking back a bit when everyone turned to look at him, "you were turning the same blue they were-" he pointed at the spot where the vision- or the memory- or the ghost- or whatever it was- "and starting to smoke at the edges. Lukas tried to pull you out three times and couldn't actually get ahold of you."

Jesse still felt a bit dazed by the whole situation. "He did?"

Lukas nodded, his arms still ensnared around her waist. "Yeah. It was like you were a ghost," he told her.

Jesse blinked a bit. "Really?"

Dan nodded from where he and Stampy were sitting together. "Yeah. We were yelling your name and trying to snap you out of it, too, but you couldn't hear a word we were saying. It was kind of like you were in a trance."

"Yeah, whatever was going on with you," Lizzie spoke up, "you weren't snapping out of it."

"... oh."

A little too calm considering the situation, but Jesse really didn't know what else to say to any of that. Maybe Lukas's arms being around her waist so tight was cutting off her oxygen circulation.

(Yes, she was joking.)

Her eyes strayed back to where she'd been only a few seconds before, but the scene she'd been in had completely disappeared from sight.

She wondered what those 'warnings' had meant.

* * *

 **A/N: HAPPY 100TH CHAPTER, GUYS! (blows one of those cheap noisemakers)**

 **But seriously, 100 chapters with over 250,000 words and 1,480 reviews... GUYS! This is amazing!**

 **Shoutout to the reviewers who tend to comment almost every single time, or who used to, anyway xD If you couldn't quite figure out who was who, just review and I'll put up a list next chappie. x3**

 **About a thousand words longer than usual! Wow, this took me way too long to write xD It didn't really help that I got a nosebleed towards the end...**

 **RQTC: Have you ever just randomly gotten a nosebleed for no reason?**

 **Yes. Multiple times.**

 **the indecisive bird: (winces) I'm sorry... / I'm probably going to be working on it anyway, tbh xD / I did! Took me way too long, tho xD**

 **LunarStarsMoons: (hums) I'll find a way to put it in. / Heehee (grins mischievously) / (screams) I KNOW RIGHT?!**

 **Darkbeast Dend: Hmm, I forgive you. / Yes, I think reading is healthy.**

 **homeworkoverload: (cracks up) I would've been a little worried if you had. / Ahhh, gotcha. / (winces) Ouch, that's gonna smart.**

 **Emily The Avenger: (grins) / Yeah, that should just be her villain name xD / Heehee xD**

 **sailor . mikuchan: (screams with you)**

 **Beli0304: (grins) / Ah. Gotcha.**

 **RavenBlaze4850: (grins cheerfully) / Very true. / No spoilers x3 / Kk. :3**

 **petra x jesse: Ah. / (laughs) I see.**

 **J.M.M. : ... ?**

 **Guest: Oh, that's a good idea! I might just do that! / (frowns) I thought it was pretty clear that it was Isa. Can you tell me why it was confusing?**

 **Shadow: Lol sorry xD / Yeep. :3**

 **AquaK13: (dies laughing) I never actually made that connection. Nice job. / (screams with excitement as well) / Mm, I see.**

 **Jack638: You better not be pranking me boi xD I'm getting super hyped up.**

 **Rabbits rule: Aww, c'mon Fluffy, most people don't have the _backbone_ necessary to make a pun like that. / (laughs) Bone puns are great.**

 **Kaos Ruin: (laughs) Very true.**

 **RapidSammi: IT'SFINEDON'TWORRYSTOPSTRESSINGOUTIDON'TMINDATALL / Yeep :3**

 **DynamiteHunter6: Thanks, bro! :3**

 **Rose: Nope :3 / Thank you!**

 **x.X. A.L. X.x**


	101. The Void

After another few hours (in which Ivor did a checkup on Jesse and declared her, to the bemusement of almost everyone there, perfectly fine and not at all affected from that very odd 'smoky' moment), they decided to return to the episode.

"So, when we left off a couple hours ago," Reginald was saying, to recap what they knew so far and get back on topic, "Jesse, Petra, Lukas, Ivor, and Milo found the Eversource."

"Which is Benedict," Jesse added, pointing at the little white hen in Isa's lap.

Benedict clucked happily.

"Yes, and as they're deciding if they're leaving the Eversource, taking it to the people, or taking the Eversource with them," Petra spoke up, "Isa throws me, Ivor, and Milo to the side using some seriously awesome martial arts skills."

Isa pinked a bit, but she looked pleased.

"That about it?" Magnus asked, bouncing on the couch in such a fit of impatience that he nearly knocked Ellegaard off the couch along with everyone else on the couch. Gabriel elbowed Magnus, who elbowed him back and accidentally caught Ellegaard in the ribs, and the redstone engineer yelped before poking him right back, making him kick out and catch Soren on the shin, making the architect grab a pillow and chuck it in their direction but hitting Gabriel in the face instead.

Jesse put a stop to that before it could go any further downhill.

"Yeah, just about," Cassie nodded, picking the remote up as she settled into the couch.

Maya and Gill exchanged anxious glances, and Aiden's short period of seeming a bit lighthearted had deserted him again, the celery-green-eyed boy staring at his shoes blankly.

Cassie pressed the play button.

The screen loaded for a few seconds, having been paused for so long, before it came back on, going back a few seconds to when Jesse was still crouching on the floor. Onscreen-Jesse hummed a bit, rising from a crouch into a faintly lazy standing position. " _Would've been nice to know that you're a martial artist,_ " she hummed thoughtfully.

" _I knew it!_ " Isa hissed, green eyes nearly _glowing_ with fury, " _I knew you were here to steal from me!_ "

The spider hybrid simply looked at Benedict, clucking happily on the ground next to her, before she looked back at the Founder, halfheartedly raising all of her arms in surrender. " _All I was doing was petting a chicken... let's just talk about this, alright?_ " she asked, calmly.

" _I'm not sure there's anything to talk_ about," Isa hissed, still in that martial-arts position and looking as if she might launch herself at Jesse any second now. " _Especially coming from the_ escaped convicts."

Real-Isa winced a bit.

"But I thought we were only being _detained_ ," Lukas complained

" _It's just like I told you, Founder!_ " Aiden exclaimed, pointing at Jesse accusingly, " _they're here to steal the Eversource!_ "

Ivor scowled a bit. "We just decided that we were going to leave it onscreen, didn't we?"

"Actually, technically, I think all I said was that it was cute," Jesse pointed out.

"But _before_ that, back in the jail. We were trying to _warn_ Isa, not steal the Eversource from her," Lukas corrected the black-haired girl sitting next to him.

Jesse nodded a few times, absorbing that statement. "Very true."

Onscreen, Jesse literally threw all of her arms into the air, making Benedict let out a squawk of alarm and flutter away. " _What was_ I _doing?! I was just petting the chicken!"_ she complained loudly.

Half of the audience was sent into a small giggling fit at that comment.

Onscreen, Lukas's tail flicked a bit, and he 'coughed' into his fist, although there was a small smirk tugging at the corners of his lips and there was more than a little amusement glittering in his eyes.

" _Aiden warned me that you were a pack of thieves,_ " Isa practically growled, straightening up into a standing position, while Aiden wandered out of sight of the viewers, " _and here you are, prepared to make off with the_ one thing _our City depends on to survive!_ "

The spider hybrid got as far as opening her mouth to protest, before sighing and simply shaking her head a bit, shutting her mouth again.

" _Boy,_ " Aiden's voice rang out, making both Jesse and the Founder look in his direction to see the dark-brown-haired boy reaching into another chest that was labelled 'CREEPERS', " _when you put it like that, I almost feel bad."_

Maya and Gill exchanged worried looks. Here we go.

Aiden straightened up onscreen, tossing the creeper egg that he'd taken out of the chest nonchalantly. " _Yep. 'Fraid_ I'm _going to be taking the chicken,_ " he said lightly, as if this sudden personality change- to the Founder onscreen, at least, not the rest of the audience or onscreen-Jesse- was normal. " _It's mine, now._ " And his celery-green eyes were filled with a cold light that was _infinitely_ more scary than the hot rage he'd been brimming over with at the beginning at the episode.

And considering that had already been pretty damn frightening, he had just graduated from 'frightening' to 'terrifying'.

" _W-what?_ " Isa looked shocked, and a little shaken. She regained her composure a second later, fists balling up. " _This is outrageous!_ "

Aiden looked remarkably unfazed, just shooting Isa a nasty grin, as if daring her to do something about it.

Jesse crouched down and whispered to Benedict, who turned her little crowned head in Jesse's direction. " _Eversource! Um... uh... 'Evie', okay? Imma just call you Evie. Evie, run over there for now, alright?_ " she whispered in a low voice.

Benedict just clucked a few times at her, blankly.

The spider hybrid let out an irritated sigh, rolling her eyes, before her eyes flashed red and she raised all six of her arms with a thrumming, malevolent _hiss!_ Benedict, or 'Evie', let out an alarmed squawk and fled to a different corner. The spider hybrid jumped to her feet and whipped out her enchanted sword, turning just in time to spot Aiden throwing the creeper egg right at Jesse's face.

"Jesse, look out!" Olivia shouted, as if that had any effect.

Onscreen-Jesse automatically threw herself backwards, doing a sort of crab-walk as the egg soared harmlessly over her head and bursting against the opposite wall, a creeper thudding into the ground with a loud hiss, while Lukas bolted past Jesse and launched himself at Aiden. Petra, Ivor, and Milo jumped to their feet, Maya and Gill halfheartedly keeping them trapped in place with their swords.

" _Why didn't we just ask Axel to come along,_ " Jesse groaned, lunging back into a standing position. The creeper hissed at Jesse curiously, tilting its head, before zeroing in on Isa and menacingly approaching her.

"Wh-? Why didn't it attack you?" Lizzie asked, blinking a few times.

Stacy snapped her fingers with a soft sound. "Jesse's a spider hybrid. That must've made the creeper hesitate long enough to notice a full-out human and attack them instead- and that just happened to be Isa."

Jace began to make a comment, before something occurred to him, and his face went pale. "Oh. Crap."

Before the audience could ask what he meant, the sound of metal screeching on metal sounded, making the rest of them look back at the screen to see that Isa had whipped out two swords to face the creeper- which exploded in her face half a second later, having already started flashing white upon passing Jesse.

The spider hybrid let out a shout of alarm as Isa staggered back, hands automatically releasing the hilts of her swords, which toppled _into the void of space beneath them_ , before almost following them. As it was, she barely managed to catch the edge of the ground with her fingers with a frantic " _Oh!"_

"ISA!" Jesse shrieked, bolting upright and dragging Lukas with her. Isa's normally stoic composure had broken, and she was now anxiously biting her nails. Reginald was scrambling to get back into his seat from where he'd simply fallen out, Milo was sitting on the edge of his seat, eyes wide.

Sure, he might not _like_ the Founder... but she definitely didn't deserve to be lost in the void below them for the rest of time.

" _No! No, no, no no no!_ " Isa chanted madly onscreen, legs swinging in the empty space beneath her as she struggled to pull herself back to solid ground.

Lukas let out a yell, making Jesse whip back around. The screen switched to show Lukas shoving Aiden in the chest, before drawing one arm back and swiping it. Aiden barely dodged it, but the claws that had shot out of Lukas's fingers caught Aiden in the cheek, leaving a few small claw marks on his cheek. Aiden's eyes widened, before his face contorted with rage and he slammed his hands into Lukas's chest, knocking him back a few steps. Lukas saw Jesse watching, already starting forward to help him. " _I've got Aiden- save the Founder!_ " he yelled.

" _Oh, you've_ got me, _do you, Lukas?!_ " Aiden nearly snarled, before going right at Lukas.

Jesse frantically nodded at Lukas as the ocelot hybrid turned back to deal with Aiden, sheathing her sword, and bolted forward. Onscreen-Isa let out a gasp as her hands slipped- Real-Isa screamed-

The spider hybrid dove forward and seized ahold of the woman's wrist just as she fell, half of her upper body practically dangling over the edge.

The audience relaxed slightly with a sigh.

Quickly, Onscreen-Jesse propelled herself backwards using her lower arms, managing to haul Isa and herself back onto solid ground, a few feet away from the edge of the island. Isa looked shaken, her hands trembling, but she managed a shaky nod in Jesse's direction. " _Thank you..._ " she told Jesse gratefully, " _thank you._ "

The spider hybrid gave a nod, but she was cut off as Lukas let out a yell.

" _Lukas!_ " Jesse gasped, whirling around just in time to see the blonde ocelot hybrid go flying past Jesse- _straight into open air._

"NO!" Real-Jesse shouted, Lukas's arms tensing in shock around her.

Besides Jesse's scream, the entire audience appeared frozen. The room was dead silent, and Jesse's voice seemed to echo through the hallways.

Hadrian's eyes were wide in shock, and Mevia had actually gasped a bit. Otto had a hand up to his mouth, his own eyes wide. Nell and Em were silently gaping at the screen, then at each other, then at the screen again. The gladiators were silently gaping at the screen, their jaws practically hitting the floor. Harper's hands were clasped to her mouth, eyes as wide as dinner plates.

Dan and Stampy were clinging onto each other tightly, gaping at the screen. Lizzie had actually _jumped to her feet_ , while Stacy was sagging against the couch arm and silently gesturing at the screen in shock. Sparklez was half out of his seat, and half sitting down, one hand braced on the couch arm while the other one rested on the back of the couch.

Isa had both of her hands to her mouth, eyes wide with horror. Reginald's hands had balled into fists on his lap, and Milo had actually slid out of the seat and was sitting on the floor, back resting against the couch. Even Benedict seemed to be silent, the chicken not clucking or fluttering around for once.

Magnus and Ellegaard had fallen off the couch into an entangled heap, although both were shocked enough that it didn't even occur to them to try to get out of the situation. Gabriel had instinctively grabbed for his sword but paused when it was halfway out of its scabbard, while Soren had practically catapulted out of the seat, tripped, and landed on Magnus and Ellegaard by accident. Ivor had jumped to his feet as well, although he knew full-well that it wasn't going to help matters in the least.

Aiden's hands were clenched into fists so tightly on his lap that he was starting to bleed a bit. Maya was on her feet, and Gill had turned into a stone statue, the only sign of life being that his hands were continually tightening on the armchair's arms. Cassie was actually standing up now, Winslow hissing from where the redhead had accidentally dumped him onto the wooden floor. For once, Cassie completely ignored Winslow, eyes wide with shock.

Axel's arms were tightening around Olivia so much that the dark-skinned girl was starting to try to swat him off to get a proper breath in. Petra had dragged Jace forward with her, eyes wide in what looked like _terror_. Jesse's arms had tightened around Reuben as she lurched forward, trying to reach to the screen and help Lukas. The blonde former-Ocelot was sitting there, his eyes wide with shock and beginning to shine with tears. He looked as if he'd been frozen in time.

They all knew that Aiden had, with the danger of sounding cheesy, lost his way. Insanity- or greed- or _something_ \- had affected him so badly that he'd lost his way and blundered onto a dark path that led nowhere good.

They just hadn't known exactly how lost he was.

"You... kicked me off the edge." Lukas's voice was so soft that had anyone else been talking, they wouldn't have caught it at all. As it was, it was perfectly silent in the room.

Lukas turned to stare at Aiden, a question on his lips, a question that he didn't _dare_ ask due to fear of what the answer was going to be.

 _Do you really hate me that much?_

Onscreen, the screen suddenly slowed down, showing that Lukas's eyes were wide and his mouth was slightly open in shock. The screen switched to show that Jesse's mouth was also open, her own eyes wide as well. The screen seemed to glitch again, and Jesse was back in the Witherstorm, being crushed by the Witherstorm's tentacle. The screen switched to show Lukas, and it glitched to show that Reuben was the one falling, not Lukas- then the screen switched back to Lukas-

Jesse's arm swung up, preparing to fire a web to catch Lukas.

She never quite had the chance.

A foot suddenly slammed into Jesse's back, time going back to normal for a few seconds but a dead silence still filling the screen. Jesse tumbled right into Isa and knocked them both back off the edge.

Someone in the audience screamed.

Onscreen, time slowed down again as Jesse pivoted in midair, eyes even wider- though from terror or shock, it was hard to tell.

Aiden had a line of red scratches running down from where Lukas had scratched him, wickedly grinning at the two of them as Benedict drew level with him, clucking quietly and breaking the stunned silence that had filled the room, but very quietly.

Jesse stared in shock, all six of her arms raised uselessly as she stared at Aiden in shock.

And then time sped up again, and Isa and Jesse fell.

The screen blacked out.

* * *

 **A/N: Gaaaahhh, the ending felt terrible.**

 **RQTC: What is one of your closet hobbies?**

 **(coughs awkwardly) Otome games.**

 **DON'T JUDGE-**

 **Oh, here's the list of readers that I did a sort of 'shoutout' for, in order of name appearance.**

 **RebekahTPE (Rebekah)  
NinaNaranja (Nina Naranja)  
LunarStarsMoons (Lunar)  
CrystalTearsofFaith (Crystal)  
Rabbits rule (Jess)  
J.M.M (J.M.M)  
homeworkoverload (homework overload)  
Beli0304 (Beli)  
sailor . mikuchan (Sailor Mikuchan)  
Darkbeast Dend (Darkbeast)  
the indecisive bird (indecisive bird)  
Emily The Avenger (Emily)  
SofiaTheWriter88 (Sofia)  
LittleAngelbun (LittleAngelbun)  
AquaK13 (Aqua K.)  
S4SH4L4SH4theGaMeR101 (Sasha)  
Kaos Ruin (Kaos)  
RavenBlaze4850 (RavenBlaze)**

 **Wow, that's a lot.**

 **the indecisive bird: Alright, if you say so :3 / (grins) / Thanks! / Ahhhhh. Same here. / I know, right?! And it had surprisingly good artificial intelligence for a PROTOTYPE. / Yep xD / Hahaha xD / You'll see, I'm not spoiling stuff x3**

 **LunarStarsMoons: Yes, I did, you are right before Crystal x3 / (squeals)**

 **Emily The Avenger: NO PROBLEM EMILY x3 / I'm glad to hear that! / x3**

 **LittleAngelbun: Yee :3 / (laughs) I get them all of a sudden. One time I got one in the middle of a math test. ... if you're wondering, I flunked the test.**

 **Insane Acrobat: (laughs) Wow, simultaneous nosebleeds. I guess there's worse things to be cursed with? / I'm glad you found it amazing yet confusing xD / Well, actually... (winks) / Nah, ti's fine. / Ahhhhh. Gotcha :3**

 **AquaK13: (laughs) Yeah, both were awesome to write. / (grins) / Ouch. I've run into a glass door twice. (It wasn't the same glass door, if you're wondering xD) / Thanks!**

 **homeworkoverload: (laughs) Yes, yes you are. / Gotcha (does finger guns) / :3**

 **sailor . mikuchan: ...? / Alright :3**

 **S4SH4L4SH4theGaMeR101: Ah, I see. (It was Undercraft: Musical Mode.)**

 **RapidSammi: Heehee x3 / I wish it did. I'm not sure if it does, tho xD**

 **Jay: (grins) / Haha, nope. We do work together, but the roleplay that scene was based off of didn't have any TFG references, and I stuck pretty closely to it. / Yeah, random nosebleeds suck. / Thanks!**

 **Beli0304: x3 Happy 100th chapter! / I'm pretty sure everyone caught that one xD and I ain't tellin'**

 **DarkPrincess2001: Toni's warning was a warning, too xD**

 **RavenBlaze4850: Thank you! / OMG, that would be amazing xD / xD / Not at all! / (looks at the ceiling and grins) / Ahhh.**

 **J.M.M.: Alright, I see. :3**

 **Jack638: I'm glad you like it! / I really hope too xD / Random ones, though?**

 **SofiaTheWriter88: (laughs) / (grins) That part was fun to write as well. / Aww, thanks :3**

 **NoItsBecky: (slowly smiles) I know full well. And I promise... this story will get even MORE confusing.**

 **x.X. A.L. X.x**


	102. Isa

The screen came back in to Jesse simply falling, plummeting through seemingly endless space that was interrupted every few seconds by a fluffy white cloud, her face blank with shock as she stared down at the nothingness beneath her.

"Uh..." Hadrian adjusted his glasses with a frown. "You okay, there, sport?"

Real-Jesse was still staring at the screen in faint shock, and she gave her shoulders a tiny shrug. "I... don't know," she said at last, voice sounding a bit hollow as she continued staring at the screen.

Lukas pulled Jesse into a slightly tighter hug than previous.

" _This is all your fault!_ " the Founder snapped at Jesse, making the black-haired girl raise her head a little bit to meet her eyes.

" _How_ exactly is this Jesse's fault?" Petra asked, twisting to get a good look at Isa.

Jace frowned and patted a still-slightly-shocked Jesse on the shoulder. "Yeah, Jesse was doing her best to _save_ you. Why is any of this her fault?"

Real-Isa made a sound somewhat akin to a grunt as she shrugged, making several audience members turn to look at her in slight surprise- she'd never made a sound like that before. "How am I supposed to know?"

" _What did I do?!_ " Jesse snapped right back, her eyes hardening as they began to glitter. " _All I did was pet your stupid chicken, and go through that_ stupid _portal, and try to save your_ stupid _life, and for what?! What good did any of that do?! What good do I_ ever _do?!_ " She was yelling now, both from the rushing wind and from frustration. " _So maybe this_ is _my fault. Because I'm not good enough to do_ anything _right!_ " The volume of her voice and the pitch had gotten progressively higher until she was no longer just speaking; in fact she was nearly screaming.

Real-Isa flinched a bit, looking extremely apologetic at this point.

Real-Jesse noticed the flinch and the apologetic look on her face and waved vaguely in her direction. "It's not your fault; I probably would've started blaming myself even without your comment. Though I guess it was kind of a catalyst to the situation," she thoughtfully added.

That probably did not help the guilty feeling Isa was experiencing.

"But it's not your fault," Isa sighed, rubbing her forehead. "All you've been doing is trying to help me. I probably just snapped at you because I needed someone to take that out on. I'm sorry."

"It's nothing, don't worry about it," the petite girl waved it off, even though she did dash the back of her hand across her eyes to clear the tears forming in them.

Lukas noticed, and his arm tightened even more around her comfortingly.

The Founder stared at Jesse perplexedly for a few seconds, the spider hybrid stubbornly turning her head towards the ground and blinking several times, extremely hard, to try to clear the tears that were forming in her eyes. Finally, she sighed. " _That's not what I meant. Perhaps I was a bit out of line..._ "

Onscreen, Jesse's expression changed to one akin to shock. The screen switched to show blurry, indistinct shapes through the clouds, growing clearer and clearer with every passing moment. " _I just-_ "

" _Land!_ " the spider hybrid abruptly blurted out, a relieved smile coming over her face. As they kept plummeting through the clouds, a huge lake came into view, with twin streams of lava pouring into it from Ivor's lava statue on the bridge.

"What?!" Reginald bolted upright, overbalanced a bit, and crashed to the floor.

Milo winced sympathetically, even as he turned to stare breathlessly at the screen.

Isa's eyes widened. "What...?" she breathed, sounding shocked. "There's land...?"

"It must've been too far down to make it out," Milo hummed, squinting at the screen and biting his thumbnail a bit.

Onscreen, the Founder looked down as well, her own green eyes widening in shock. " _Impossible..._ " she breathed, " _that's impossible!_ "

"Seeing as there _is_ land beneath you, I'd say that it is one-hundred-percent _possible_ ," Mevia drawled.

Isa scowled at her.

The Founder glanced up at Jesse, worry shining in her eyes. " _Jesse...?_ " Her voice rose a few octaves at the end.

The spider hybrid looked down again, before looking back up at Isa and using one of her lower arms to point at the huge lake. " _There!_ " she summarized.

Isa's eyes followed where Jesse was pointing. " _Can we get to it in time?_ "

The spider hybrid looked down once more, before glancing up at Isa. " _If I have anything to say about it, yes. One quick suggestion, though._ "

" _And what would that be?_ "

" _Dive_ in _to the water. Don't land on top of it!_ " With that, Jesse quickly adjusted her fall, kicking and flailing herself into an upright position. A few seconds later, the screen switched to show Jesse plunging into the water with a slight yelp.

Petra winced a bit. "That's gonna smart."

"Looks like," Jace agreed, wincing a bit at the huge wave of water Jesse had generated with her splashdown into the lake.

A few seconds later, the spider hybrid flailed to the surface with a gasp, spitting out a little stream of water and flinching a bit as the Founder hit the water and sent another wave splashing over her.

Axel, Gill, Hadrian and Magnus couldn't help grinning a bit at that.

A moment later, the spider hybrid looked around. The screen panned over the shore, scanning over a guy with blonde hair- and then zeroing in on him. Lukas had rivers of water pouring off his hair and ears, he was clutching his arm, but he was _alive._

"He's alive!" Axel yelled, tackling Lukas in a hug. He didn't plan this very well and managed to knock the entire group on the floor into the hug, before knocking the entire group hug onto the floor.

Half the audience couldn't resist sniggering at this.

" _Lukas!_ " The spider hybrid practically vaulted out of the lake, still half-in-the-water, and glomped the ocelot hybrid in a tight hug. " _You're okay!_ "

The ocelot hybrid jumped half a foot into the air at the sudden hug attack, tail bushing out and sending a shower of water everywhere as he let out a laugh and a wince. " _Jesse! You're down here, too?_ "

"Quite unfortunately," Jesse replied breathlessly from where she was still lying on the floor, but she was beaming.

" _You made it!_ " the spider hybrid stated the obvious onscreen, still hugging him, before releasing him and letting him help her out of the water, rivulets of water pouring onto the grass off of her armor and her slick, wet black hair.

" _Yep, and only-_ " Lukas suddenly winced, his face tightening with pain. " _\- slightly worse for the wear._ " And he took a cautious step back, going back to clutching his arm.

Jesse frowned a bit, her lower arms automatically beginning to weave string together. " _Hang on a second- could you pull off your armor a second?_ "

" _Do you have some weird fetish where you don't get excited unless you see a guy half-naked or something?_ " the narrator suddenly spoke up, making Jesse jump.

Real Jesse and Lukas _choked_ in perfect unison. Their faces turned a very similar shade of hot pink.

" _HhhoooOOOH-_ " Jace spluttered, his own face hot red. "That- what- _no_ -"

Petra had a similarly embarrassed reaction, having buried her face in Jace's back and now refusing to re-emerge. _Reuben_ had a faint blush on his piggy cheeks, while Olivia had her head buried in Axel's shoulder and refused to come back out. Axel had turned hot pink as well, gaping at the screen with his mouth hanging open. Aiden was covering his mouth, feeling his cheeks burn with embarrassment. Cassie's face had turned as red as her hair, which she was now using to hide her face. Maya had turned around and buried her head in Gill's chest, the bearded boy covering his eyes and valiantly trying to forget that statement.

He was failing miserably.

Isa's composure was in shambles, a rather mortified expression on her face as she exchanged glances with Reginald and Milo. Not that she could actually make eye contact with either, Reginald had buried his head in a couch cushion in a heat of embarrassment, while Milo had leaped over the back of the couch and was now completely out of sight. Sparklez was clearing his throat so vigorously he was nearly choking, Stampy had his head buried in Dan's chest while Dan's face had turned as red as his _own_ hair (wait, but- was his hair changing color-?), Lizzie's face was almost camouflaging with _her_ hair, and Stacy just looked horribly embarrassed.

Soren found something to be _utterly_ fascinating on the floor, Gabriel was now loudly talking about the weather, Magnus and Ellegaard were exchanging mortified glances with each other, and Ivor's pale face was bright red. Harper's own cheeks were rather red, too, gray eyes riveted on any spot that wasn't the screen. Em had a combination of amusement, horror, and embarrassment on her own facial features, while Nell had buried her head in a nearby pillow. Slab coughed loudly, suddenly looking a little hot, while Facemeat was choking in surprise and Clutch's jaw was hitting the floor.

Hadrian, Mevia, and Otto all exchanged looks, all of them looking sufficiently embarrassed about that situation.

This stopped onscreen-Jesse short, her own cheeks turning pink as she, with a valiant effort, managed to ignore the narrator. " _Er... I'm assuming you have a shirt on underneath that._ "

" _Yeah, of course I do. Why?_ "

" _Never mind then, just pull it off..._ "

Looking a bit perplexed by the question, Lukas did as he was asked, wincing slightly as he pulled it off, revealing that, yes, he was wearing his usual white-and-purple striped shirt underneath. Jesse carefully tore her makeshift woven bandage off her fingertips and wrapped it around his arm, Lukas flinching slightly as she pulled the bandage taut but not complaining about it. " _I'm sorry I didn't try to help you out up there, I-I only had a couple of seconds, and- everything went so fast-_ "

" _No no no,_ " and Lukas pulled Jesse into another hug, a quicker one this time. " _Don't worry about it. Aiden was-_ " He winced slightly, making Real-Aiden wince a bit in his own turn, "- _stronger than I was expecting. It was good of you to try and save the Founder._ "

He looked over at her, to show Isa gaping at everything around them in silence. " _Um, speaking of whom... is she okay? She's just sort of... staring._ "

" _Er, let me ask... um, Founder? Miss Founder?_ " Jesse winced a bit as she heard the awkward term come out of her mouth. " _Are you doing okay?_ "

The Founder just shook her head, sounding a bit shaken. " _I just- I can't believe it._ " She looked around, touching a tree that happened to be nearby. " _This has been down here the whole time...?_ "

" _Ahhh, that's not your fault,_ " Jesse said hastily, putting a hand on the Founder's shoulder and making Isa glance at her worriedly. " _It_ was _a pretty long fall. Besides, there's no way to tell that this was down here, or even that there_ was _land down here. Besides, what if this lake wasn't here? People would've still died in the fall. I mean- I do think people will be pretty upset when they find out that this was down here the whole time, but- you aren't just sending citizens to see what might or might not be down here. You cared about them._ "

Milo made a soft 'hm' sound. "Yes, I _do_ see what she's saying..." he glanced at Isa out of the corners of his eyes, his lips going a bit thin as he remembered the little 'spat' he and Isa had had earlier.

Onscreen, Isa gave Jesse a grateful look. " _Thank you, Jesse... but I was too cautious. I didn't want to create false hope. I was so certain that the only thing down here was death._ "

"You and me both," Real-Jesse said, giving her head a wondering shake, still recovering from that little _statement_ the narrator had just made.

Lukas let out a low whistle, looking all around him. " _Look at this place. Totally untouched biomes, all around us._ "

" _And a baby spider,_ " Jesse added playfully as said baby spider crawled over from where it had been perching in the tree and landed on top of the spider hybrid, who chuckled a bit. " _Hey, hey, watch it, little one..._ " she teased, scratching it under the chin like a cat and making it purr in pleasure. " _I'm ticklish._ "

"I'm honestly starting to think you're Snow White in disguise," Dan joked to Jesse.

"Oh yeah!" Lizzie grinned, catching on to the joke. "'Hair black as ebony... skin white as snow...'" she quoted the book, gesturing playfully at Jesse. "And you're good with animals."

Stampy pouted a bit, which went unnoticed except for Stacy, who grinned.

"Now all we need are 'eyes green as emeralds' and we're good to go," Lukas added, grinning at the two YouTubers and giving the girl next to him a slight squeeze.

Jesse beamed at him.

Onscreen, Lukas and the Founder both chuckled a bit at the sight of that, before Isa looked around her again, looking almost dizzy. " _Yes, it's all a little... overwhelming._ "

"I'll bet," Soren mumbled.

" _What do I do now?_ " Isa finished, slowly turning back to Jesse.

" _Well, first, take a second. I mean, I know this is overwhelming, but you need to relax a minute before we try to get anyone else down here. Just... look around you, it's_ gorgeous!" the spider hybrid spread all of her arms out, making Isa smile slightly as she looked at the extra arms. " _And then, of course, we try to get the other citizens down here._ " Jesse paused for a moment, before thoughtfully adding, " _and maybe kick Aiden's butt in the process, that would be kind of nice._ "

Aiden's faint smile dropped right off his face again.

Isa laughed a bit at that, running one hand through her hair. " _Hm, yes, that- that would be nice._ "

" _Miss... Founder... okay, do you have a name, or...?_ " the spider hybrid asked sheepishly, after a few seconds, " _because I feel really awkward just calling you 'The Founder'._ "

The Founder chuckled again, as Jesse finally- but gently- shooed the baby spider perching on her shoulder away. " _Ah, yes. Call me Isa._ "

* * *

 **A/N: So sorry about the late chapter!**

 **RQTC: Has anyone heard of the comic 'GRANTED' by Sam on Tapastic?**

 **LunarStarsMoons: Yay! / (laughs) I see. / Ahhhh x3 That makes sense. / (laughs) I know, right?**

 **pensuka: (nods)**

 **Kaos Ruin: (cracks up) Beautiful xD / Jesse wouldn't attack, she just kind of lost her temper with Isa and Milo. Jace was just a bit too shocked.**

 **the indecisive bird: Very true :3 on both counts. / (whistles) I've got to try it, then. / You are very right about that, I'm not directly answering xD**

 **Emily The Avenger: (sCREAMS)**

 **homeworkoverload: Ahhh xD / (cracks up) / Lol I see what you did there.**

 **Jack638: Uh, feel free xD / (nods) / (nods)**

 **Rabbits rule: (glomps you) I'D CARE / Uhhh...**

 **Shadow: JESSE YES (lol, sorry, had to do that xD)**

 **RapidSammi: (laughs) Honestly, that's how I felt when I was playing the episode.**

 **Beli0304: (cracks up) Very true. / (nods)**

 **sailor . mikuchan: (whistles) Nice!**

 **AquaK13: (laughs) That was very abrupt. / I like drawing, too! / Bai!**

 **NinaNaranja: Of course you did! :3 / Is fiiiine x3 / (blinks) Let's... not. / (nods) I see.**

 **LittleAngelbun: Lol same here xD**

 **RavenBlaze4850: Yeah, that's pretty accurate xD / No, she's not just going to pause it xD / (sniggers) / Ah, I see. Flowerfell is pretty awesome :3 but sad**

 **S4SH4L4SH4theGaMeR101: (laughs) But it was appreciated drama. / (nods) I see. / :3 / No problem!**

 **CrystalTearsofFaith: Nah, it's fine :3 / (laughs) I'm surprised that some people had such strong reactions, tbh. / No problemo!**

 **J.M.M.: No problem :3 / Of course! / They called it a 'void', I think xD**

 **Darkbeast Dend: (nods) / Yes, magic existing would be very nice. / No problem :3**

 **LegoGirl794: (nods)**

 **InsaneAcrobat: Ooooh, Dungeons and Dragons! I never played, but I think it'd be fun :3 / (blinks) Oh- wow, really? / I mean, I never logout, so... xD**

 **petra x jesse: Nope xD / I'm not going to say this again, all other stories are on hiatus until HCM is finished.**

 **Luna96: A wild Luna96 appears! / Thanks! :3 / (nods)**

 **x.X. A.L. X.x**


	103. Tower to Sky City

A few moments later, Jesse tilted her head back and squinted up at the graying sky. " _We should get back up,_ " she remarked quietly.

Isa started, dark green eyes widening. " _Getting back up... my word, you're right, we need to do that. I hadn't... even thought that far ahead yet,_ " she murmured, tilting her head back as well.

Jesse stepped forward and stared at her reflection in the water, a thoughtful look coming over her face.

The image faded to show Jace again, holding both his clenched hands out to Jesse with a beaming grin. " _Your turn!_ " he chirped happily, his ears pricked up- his _wolf ears._

Jace's eyes widened a bit in surprise at the sight of the brownish-gray wolf ears sitting on his head, no longer blurry and out-of-focus. Axel blinked in surprise, Olivia let out a little gasp, Jesse made a 'hmm!' sound, and Lukas put one hand to his mouth in realization.

Petra just let out a low whistle and leaned on him a bit, shaking her head. "Well, well, well. Looks like we don't only have one Jesse who's a hybrid."

Onscreen, the spider hybrid considered his two hands, tapping her lip with a thoughtful look. " _Umm... I pick-_ "

Light suddenly spilled into the dim room as the door creaked open, making both hybrids flinch a bit before turning to look up in the doorway.

Two backlit silhouettes stood there, one of them tinged purple, the other tinged a painful white. The white one walked into the room, the light fading a bit- enough to show that he was some sort of scientist. " _Let's see... well, we can probably spare this one._ " And he adjusted his path so that he was walking straight for Jace, to both the two small hybrids' and the audience's near _horror_. " _He's usually a pretty good pup-_ "

" _No! Leave me alone!_ " Jace yelped, dropping whatever he'd been holding and darting away so that he was behind Jesse.

Little-Jesse looked at him, before getting back up and shaking her head. " _Why do you need him?!_ " she demanded.

The scientist didn't give an answer, simply continuing to walk towards the two. The little spider hybrid's eyes were beginning to turn red, anxiety in her expression. " _D-don't come near h-h-him-!_ " she commanded, but her voice was wavering, and she was beginning to tremble in fear.

"I don't like the look of that," Ivor said, quietly.

The scientist sidestepped Jesse and picked Jace up as if he was a rag doll. Jace started snarling, flailing his his limbs frantically as he tried to twist himself out of the scientist's grip, snapping suddenly sharp canines near the scientist's face and just _barely missing_ before-

 _SLAP._

Jace's eyes widened.

The little wolf hybrid was whimpering a bit, rubbing his rapidly reddening cheek where the scientist had just delivered a vicious backhand blow. Meeting no resistance now, the scientist flung him unceremoniously over his shoulder- almost like a sack of potatoes- and began walking back to the door.

"No!" Axel protested. "Jesse, you have to stop that guy!"

"I'm sure I'll try," Jesse said quietly.

"Did you forget that they can't hear you?" Ellegaard asked, sounding faintly amused by that.

"As if you haven't forgotten that fact yourself before."

The spider hybrid raced towards the scientist, who turned on the spot and began reaching into his pocket. " _Give him back!"_ she shouted, desperation making the pitch of her voice rise dangerously.

"Go, Jesse!" Nell crowed, cupping her hands to her mouth as she shouted at the screen.

Jesse was almost upon them when there was a sudden _bzzt!_ and a dazzling flash of lightning flung her backwards, smoke rising off of the little girl's body.

"JESSE!" half the audience yelled. Maya was biting her nails now.

Jesse slowly struggled so that she could see Jace, who was reaching out for her. " _Noo... Jesseeeee!_ " he cried, tears beginning to spill out of his eyes. " _Ahhhhhh!_ " The childish wail that had begun erupting from his mouth was growing to a nearly hysterical pitch.

" _I'll come find you!_ " the spider hybrid tried to scream, but she was shaking so bad and her vision seemed to be blurring in and out that it came out as more of a croak. " _I... promise!_ " And she crossed her heart and covered her eye, hand shaking so much that it actually took her almost ten seconds to do it.

The scientist handed the crying wolf hybrid over to the other backlit silhouette, before turning back and withdrawing a gray remote with a buttons on it. " _Hm, I've been wondering if these chips that she made work._ "

"'She'...?" Otto wondered.

And then the scientist pressed a button.

Jesse grabbed at her head, dropping back to the floor with a gasp of pain. " _I-it hurts!_ " she cried out, tears beginning to force their way out of her eyes, pouring down her cheeks, dripping onto the floor, and this scene was so emotionally _painful_ to watch that several members of the audience were turning away from the scream, but that wasn't stopping the audio of the episode.

Too bad there wasn't a volume control on the remote.

" _Stop hurting her! Stop hurting my sister!_ " Little Jace screamed, his voice hysterical and raw from sobbing, " _stop it!_ " And Jesse was crying too, sobbing her eyes out, clawing at her head and futilely trying to stop the pain, and Jesse wasn't even watching herself on the screen anymore, she was curling up into a little ball and clamping at her ears and that horrible keening noise was starting up again, and Real-Jace was shaking as well, shaking and shaking and shaking so bad that Petra, her arm still around Jace's shoulders, was also vibrating with how hard he was shaking.

And suddenly, there was a soft, electrical hum, and Jesse's body jerked, before her head collided with the ground, the screen going black almost simultaneously with an echoing scream the only sound that lingered before fading away altogether.

Slowly, Sparklez unclamped his hands from his ears. Real-Jesse was slowly uncurling from her ball, Lukas's hands wrapped around her wrists from behind as she lifted her head to look at the screen.

Finally, the screen faded back in to show Jesse struggling back upright, one hand holding her head painfully. She touched her face and watched with almost detached interest as tears dripped down her fingers.

" _Where..._ " Jesse looked around the dark room, as if this was the first time she'd ever seen it. A moment later, she slowly corrected her statement.

" _Who... am I?_ "

Suddenly, the screen zoomed out to show the older spider hybrid jumping a bit as a loud groan and a _poof_ sound rang out loudly behind her. She twisted around in time to see a flaming zombie slam into the ground and burst into smoke, Isa jumping a bit as she also turned to look at the spot.

"Wait- they're not going to elaborate on what the heck that was?! What's that about?" Magnus complained, looking a bit shaken by the scene he'd just witnessed and mopping his eyes before anyone could get a good look at his face.

"Someone took Jace away from Jesse, and erased her memory..." Ellegaard spoke slowly, squinting at the screen as if that would help her piece together what was going on.

"Hey, that explains that first scene we saw! Remember how they all suddenly collapsed? They must've been using the memory chips or something!" Cassie exclaimed, snapping her fingers in realization.

Soren's eyes widened as he processed Cassie's exclamation. "You're right... and that would explain why Jesse had no recollection of Jace before that moment!"

Jesse and Jace exchanged wide-eyed glances.

Onscreen, Jesse and Isa exchanged bemused looks at the fact that a zombie had just fallen from the sky, before both of them slowly tilted their head back and up to see a flaming skeleton- accompanied by more and more falling, burning monsters- falling right at them.

The spider hybrid lunged forward, grabbing ahold of Isa's arm, and yanked herself and the Founder sideways as the skeleton came crashing down right where the two of them had just been, barely missing hitting the both of them.

Isa let out a relieved sigh. "It looks like I'm going to owe you quite a bit in the future, Jesse," she sighed, one hand over her heart from where it was rapidly fluttering in fear.

"No problem, happy to help," Jesse said quickly in return, smiling at Isa. "You don't owe me a thing."

Onscreen, Jesse let out a relieved sigh and looked up to watch for more falling, flaming monsters. " _I've heard of it raining cats and dogs before, but I've never heard of it raining zombies and skeletons,_ " she said breathlessly, her attempted joke falling flat from how outright _frightened_ she sounded.

Isa looked up as well, fear creeping into her expression. " _What's going on up there?_ " she asked, the fear invading her voice as well.

Jesse frowned thoughtfully. An expression of realization slowly dawned on her face, but not the good kind of realization- rather, it was the kind of realization you get when you realize something _awful_. " _Aiden must be going crazy with all those spawn eggs..._ " she whispered in realization.

Aiden flinched a bit.

" _... monsters everywhere,_ " Isa finished, her face going about twenty shades paler. And she was already pretty damn pale.

" _This is going to be bad. This is going to be very, very bad,_ " the spider hybrid said, one hand going up to her mouth in worry.

"We can see that," Ivor muttered sarcastically, but he was getting quite nervous too, if the way he was fidgeting with a loose thread on the couch arm was any indication.

" _We can see that,_ " the narrator mumbled, making Jesse's eyes flicker up to glance at the sky.

"Hey, I just said that."

Thankfully, the narrator didn't echo this statement, or else that would've just been really weird.

Lukas glowered at the ground. " _I can't believe Aiden could be so..._ "

"Crazy?" Petra suggested.

"Schizophrenic?" Mevia added.

"Delusional?" Ivor snarked.

"Angry?" Jesse meekly interjected.

" _\- stupid...!_ " Lukas finished, looking irritated.

"That works too."

" _I can't leave my subjects in whatever trouble they're in!_ " the Founder exclaimed, another tone of anxiety creeping into her voice, staring into the sky, before whipping around to look at Jesse, fear shining in her eyes. " _Jesse, will you please help me get back to Sky City? Stop Aiden?_ "

" _Why would I_ not _help you? You're the Founder. You care about your people, you risk your life everyday to get materials for people, and you built the entirety of Sky City itself without help. The people-_ your _people-_ " Jesse corrected herself, " _need our help."_ She glanced up, anxiety creeping into her voice a bit. " _I hope my friends are okay, too._ "

"I'm sure we're fine," Petra said, gently (GENTLY) clapping Jesse on the back.

"Yes. Petra's a Blaze hybrid and a member of the Hybrid Order of the Stone, while I used to be a member of the Order of the Stone. We can handle ourselves," Ivor nodded from where he was sitting.

Real-Jesse smiled worriedly. "I know you guys can handle _yourselves_. But... I'm not sure you can handle yourselves _and_ the citizens of an entire city," she said at last, voice growing smaller.

"Yeah, Peets," Jace said to Petra, who flicked him gently on the head and murmured something about not calling her that. "I mean, I know you're strong, but... you're not that strong."

Real-Isa was looking more and more distressed as this conversation went on.

Milo reached out and patted her on the shoulder, making her head snap to his. Reginald narrowed his eyes and touched the sword on his hip, but Milo, for once, was regarding the Founder with an almost _kind_ expression. "I'm not the only one who knows how to fight a little in Sky City. Between those two-" he jerked his head at Ivor and Petra- "Reginald, some of the members of the guard, and the few citizens who do know how combat works, I'm sure the people will be alright for the most part."

Isa slowly managed a weak smile in his direction, her lips trembling a bit in fear. Milo gave her an encouraging pat and sat back, turning back to the screen.

Onscreen, Isa looked grateful and a bit relieved. " _Thank you, Jesse,_ " she sighed.

Jesse gave the Founder a nod and a small smile, before scanning their surroundings. The screen switched to pan around, before stopping on a small tower of dirt nearby. It looked like a makeshift beacon. A small smile crept over the spider hybrid's face. " _Hm... that'll work._ "

Soren squinted at it, before nodding. "Yes... enough dirt, and it just might work."

"What might work?" Reginald asked.

Hadrian was nodding grudgingly as well. "Not bad," he uttered.

"What's not bad? What are you talking about?" Isa asked, looking around at the other members of the audience, who were starting to nod and make affirmative sounds.

Lukas drew level with Jesse, following her gaze, before nodding a bit himself, smiling slightly. " _I see what you're getting at. Nice._ "

" _Well, would someone care to explain it to me, please?_ " Isa asked, looking a bit disgruntled that she couldn't catch their drift.

Jesse gave a dry chuckle as she turned back to the Founder. " _You'd better get ready to build something_ huge _. Maybe one of the biggest things in your life. We're building a tower of dirt all the way back to Sky City._ " Jesse started jogging towards the structure, the other two following. " _Grab as much dirt as you can carry!_ "

The screen sped up as she and Isa- Lukas was still clutching his arm, and she actually stopped him during the sped-up portion- mined dirt away at a prodigious rate, so much that soon, Jesse's inventory had to have been filled with dirt, her sword, dirt, the pumpkin, dirt, and dirt. Did I mention dirt?

" _Mmmmkay, that should do it,_ " Jesse decided as the screen slowed back down, scooping up one last dirt block.

Isa had her head tilted, staring at something past Jesse. " _Jesse... what is that?_ "

Jesse turned to look, the screen following her gaze... to show a golden structure that matched the one back at the temple to a T, albeit a bit dirty and muddy but otherwise standing as proudly as the one in the temple.

"Oh, hey!" Stacy exclaimed, "it's the portal out!"

"Yeah, I was kinda wondering how the heck you were going to get _out_ of there after you were done," Magnus nodded, squinting at the screen.

Jesse approached it, Isa following as Lukas came down to see what they were looking at. His lips twitched into a smile, and he gave his head a slow shake. " _Just... wow, what are the odds?_ " he murmured with a chuckle.

" _Well, what is it?_ " Isa asked curiously, and perhaps a bit crossly.

The spider hybrid turned to Isa, grinning a bit. " _It's... the other half of the portal that brought me here,_ " she said, a low chuckle sounding in her throat as she turned back to them fully.

Lukas nodded. " _Yeah, what a relief. I mean, once you get that flint and steel back, it should just be a straight shot home, now._ "

"Very true," Gabriel hummed. "That'd probably be a bit nice. I mean, that WAS an exciting adventure, but I imagine you four must want to get back home now."

Onscreen, Jesse was climbing out of the hole to the tower of dirt, twisting to look back at the other two. " _Well, guys, you ready for this?_ "

The Founder nodded a bit, shakily. " _Y-yes, I- I think so._ "

Lukas winced a bit as he slowly moved his hand away from his arm, letting it slowly drop back into place at his side. " _I, um..._ "

"Oh no... what is it now?" Maya mumbled, low enough so that only Gill heard it. The bearded member of the 'Blaze Rods' just winced.

" _I think I've actually gotta sit this one out, Jesse,_ " the ocelot hybrid said, apologetically. " _I'm still not 100 percent after my little 'duel' with Aiden._ "

Aiden winced. He'd been doing a lot of that lately.

" _Not sure I'm up to towering all the way back to Sky City._ " Lukas shook his head, looking absolutely dejected. " _I'm really sorry._ "

Jesse shook her head, reaching out and giving his shoulder a squeeze with a concerned smile. " _Hey, it's fine. Make sure you're okay... okay?_ " she asked, hesitantly.

" _Can do._ " Lukas scowled a bit. " _Make sure to hit Aiden for me._ "

" _Can do, chief,_ " Jesse said, grinning at Lukas and helping him lean back against a tree. He grunted a bit when he accidentally put some pressure on his bad arm, but otherwise was quiet.

" _There ya go,_ " Jesse said, smiling at him and patting him on the head. The ocelot hybrid closed his eyes with a soft purr, a pleased smile coming over his face.

" _Yes, thank you... for trying to help,_ " Isa told Lukas gratefully, " _it was very noble of you._ "

Lukas glanced back at Isa. The black-haired woman gave him a grateful smile when she spotted the glance.

He returned it with a smile of his own.

Onscreen, the ocelot hybrid raised his eyebrow at them with a soft chuckle. " _What's with the 'last goodbye' tone? I'll see you guys when you get back._ "

"If they get back," Hadrian muttered.

Everyone looked at him.

"What?"

The spider hybrid nodded at that and gave his good shoulder a squeeze. " _We'll be back before you know it. I promise,_ " and her childish voice seemed to echo along with her real one, making the girl falter, before giving him a smile and straightening back up. She turned to look directly at the Founder, a small smile making its way across her face.

" _C'mon. We've got an epic climb ahead of us._ "

* * *

 **A/N: Yes, I am still alive xD**

 **RQTC: What social media (if any) do you have?**

 **Let's see... YouTube, DeviantArt, Quotev (does that count?), Twitter (which I don't really use), and... that's it.**

 **I'm planning on posting a blog for my original projects, or my own website. What do you guys think?**

 **Kaos Ruin: xD**

 **LunarStarsMoons: Okey :3 / Yes indeed. The Narrator is a horny little bastard. (So, not me. xD I will give a hint to who it is, though; you don't know the person because I haven't introduced 'em yet. The Authors from TFG (with maybe the exception of Gamer) should know who it is, though; they have showed up on the chat a few times before. ... okay, once.) / Yes, AquaK13. I thought it was the most perfect thing I'd ever seen xD / Thanks!**

 **S4SH4L4SH4theGaMeR101: I've literally memorized your username at this point xD / Lol, I do too. Sometimes xD**

 **RapidSammi: Ahh. It's really cool, check it out x3**

 **Emily The Avenger: Lol go ahead if ya want xD / YES IT IS xD / Bai!**

 **sailor . mikuchan: Heehee xD**

 **RebekahTPE: Ahhh, that sucks xD / Thanks! And don't worry, you're just fashionably late. x3 / Heehee / Green. Green all the way. (ALL THE WAY, FEELS GOOD TO BE A WINNER, EVERY NOW AND THEN- lol, sorry, Jacksepticye is a thing xD)**

 **AquaK13: (cracks up) Yeah, that was my reaction to that part as well, tbh xD / I haven't done anything xD / Yes, it is! / Heehee xD / It's good, you should check it out :3 / x3**

 **the indecisive bird: It's soooo good, I'm planning a MCSM crossover with it after this story's done. Just... add that to the very long list of projects I have to work on after HCM xD**

 **giriri: Very true x3**

 **Immapotato101: (cracks up) Aww, I'm sorry I got you in trouble, but I'm glad to hear you liked that part xD / Thank you!**

 **CrystalTearsofFaith: (nods) / IT'S AMAZING / Lol, nice x3 / (cracks up) / Oh GOD (jk I love puns)**

 **RavenBlaze4850: Very true x3 / Oh my god, I should totally put that as the reason for the rating xD / The Narrator is just there to be an annoying little presence to Jesse xD buuuuut... there might be some helpful info later (totally innocent face) / Very true xD and also Jesse is badass. Snow White just sings and cleans. / I'm not spoiling it, go read it. I will say that the sass is real xD**

 **RWBYSTRQ: Lol same here xD And I'm the one writing this. / Ahhh xD**

 **Jack638: CHECK IT OUT IT'S AMAZING / I know, right? / (smiles)**

 **SofiaTheWriter88: Such a dramatic name xD / Thank you!**

 **homeworkoverload: Nope, not quite. x3 / Lol same here.**

 **InsaneAcrobat: Isa was kind of pissed at Jesse and then trying to apologize... I don't think she would've been able to work in a "Oh by the way, my name is Isa" in there xD**

 **See y'all next chapter!**

 **x.X. A.L. X.x**


	104. Worse than Boom Town

Jesse clambered up onto the dirt tower and looked over at Isa. " _Well, we've got a city to save. Ready?_ " she gave the Founder a friendly grin.

Isa nodded firmly. " _I believe so. And when I get up there-_ " her dark green eyes hardened. "- _I am going to_ tear _those Blaze Rods_ limb from limb."

Gill, Maya, and Aiden surreptitiously scooted away as far away from the Founder as they could.

" _That's what I wanna hear!_ " Jesse joked.

Well, at least, she was probably joking.

Maybe she wasn't.

... she might've been serious.

The two of them started turning towards the dirt tower again, when Isa cleared her throat. Jesse twisted around to get a good look at the Founder, who looked faintly awkward. " _Oh, and... Jesse? I appreciate what you did up there._ " A short, awkward pause. " _Trying to save me, I mean,_ " she clarified.

"Yes, that was very kind of you," Real-Isa said quietly, managing a shy smile at Jesse.

"No problem," Jesse said cheerily. "Always happy to help a friend in need."

Onscreen, Jesse gave Isa another friendly smile as rain began to drip down, before the two of them started stacking dirt blocks beneath them, hopping up slowly.

The screen sped up a minute later, the two of them towering into the sky in fast-forward, practically blurring from how quickly they were moving, before the screen finally slowed down to show them drawing level with the bridge and Ivor's skull-lava-thing.

Jesse quickly flicked her wrist, shooting a web, before grabbing Isa by the waist (making the Founder yelp in surprise), before retracting the two of them onto the bridge, doing a swing and a flip onto the bridge.

Magnus blinked, the image of Jesse doing a neat swing-and-flip onto a block back at the Death Bowl flashing into his head. "Talk about déjà vu."

" _Sorry, probably should've warned you before I just grabbed you out of the blue like that,_ " Jesse apologized, setting the Founder onto the bridge, before something caught her eye and she let out a gasp.

Real-Isa flinched, Reginald's shoulders stiffened, and Milo's jaw tightened as they stared at the screen, trying to comprehend what they were seeing. The rest of the audience dissolved into gasps of shock, Maya's hands going to her mouth.

Great sections of Sky City were destroyed, water pouring off the edges in rough waterfalls. They were too far to see it clearly, and the rain was coming down in a dark sky so heavily that it made seeing a little difficult, but _one_ thing that was abundantly clear were the Ghasts floating around the city like bizarre balloons. A whipcrack of lightning made the entire audience flinch a bit as thunder practically exploded in their ears.

" _We have to get over there, now!_ " Jesse shouted to Isa over the rain and the thunder, the Founder nodding back as she squinted at Jesse through the rain. With that, the two of them charged down the bridge towards Sky City.

" _Waaah!_ " Jesse slipped and fell forward, the dirt bridge having become incredibly muddy from the heavy rain. Isa tripped forward as well, landing right on top of Jesse and making the two of them grunt in pain.

Isa winced a bit. "Ahhh, I'm sorry, Jesse."

"It's fine, it's not like you were doing it on purpose," Jesse waved it off. "Besides, I slipped first."

A loud sound rang out in the air, sounding like a crying child (albeit a rather angry one).

It was a sound the entire audience had heard before.

Onscreen-Jesse, who had been starting to get back up, froze, Isa freezing from where she was trying to get up as well. Slowly, and in nearly perfect unison, the two girls raised their head.

A Ghast stared back at them.

" _Hold on!_ " Jesse yelled to Isa, the Founder looking startled before latching her arms around Jesse's neck in a tight hug.

She'd barely done so when the spider hybrid practically shot forward like a bullet, making the woman yelp in shock as a fireball demolished the bridge behind them. Jesse glanced up and back to see the Ghast slowly revolving on the spot to face them, and her head snapped back forward.

Lukas let out a relieved sigh. "That was close."

"Maybe a little _too_ close," Reginald murmured. (Isa nodded in agreement.)

Jesse let the Founder slowly clamber off of her, looking over at Isa. " _That was insane... you okay?_ " she asked.

Isa wasn't looking at her, her hands going to her mouth in fright as she let out a soft, anguished sound. " _What have they_ done...? _"_ she whispered, sounding frightened.

Jesse turned to see what she meant... and her eyes widened. The screen switched to pan over Sky City, showing that fire was consuming several areas. Zombies were roaming everywhere, creepers were chasing after citizens, citizens were fleeing left and right for their lives... it was chaos. Honestly, it might've been worse than _Boom Town_ , and knowing what Boom Town's like, that's hard to top.

There was a loud yell, and Jesse whipped around to see a guard get knocked down by a zombie, more of them approaching.

"Crap!" Petra yelled, summarizing the situation quite accurately.

" _He needs our help!_ " Isa shouted, her dark green eyes narrowing. The spider hybrid nodded and drew her sword in agreement, before charging forward. Isa drew two of her own swords as Jesse leaped in front of the guard and slashed her sword in a wide, cutting arc. The zombie went down in a puff of smoke. A loud battle cry rang out, and Isa flipped over Jesse's head and landed right in the middle of the horde of zombies, cutting one down as she landed before whirling around in a circle and cutting down another few.

Jesse slashed the head right off another zombie as Isa whipped around to face the guard, her dark-green eyes hardening, face going back to her usual mask of composure. " _What is going on here?_ " she asked.

A guard threw his hands up in the air. " _The city is under attack by monster, ma'am!_ " he exclaimed, voice rising an octave in fear. " _Everywhere! They seem to be coming from inside the palace itself!_ "

Jesse's eyes scanned the city and spotted the Blaze Rods with bows and arrows. Maya narrowed her eyes and pulled the arrow back, before letting it fly. It skewered a creeper that was about to detonate in a citizen's face, making it dissolve into smoke before it could do so. Gill was fumbling around in a chest and throwing other spawn eggs, spawning iron golems near the citizens who seemed to need it the most, but he was having trouble finding the right eggs, if his mindless rummaging seemed to be any indication.

Isa blinked a bit at that, although several of the other audience members didn't seem quite as surprised.

" _Aiden..._ " Jesse muttered, eyes hooding over in irritation, before she turned to Isa. " _C'mon, we have to stop him._ "

Isa shook her head, despair shining in her eyes. " _I'm sorry, Jesse, but... I have to save my people,_ " she apologized.

Milo made a soft sound, but when everyone looked at him he didn't elaborate on the sound.

Jesse nodded with understanding, staring at Isa seriously. " _You... take care of yourself out there, okay?_ " she asked, firmly and a little awkwardly.

" _And you as well,_ " Isa replied, before Jesse turned away and ran through the city.

Another explosion of lightning smashed through the sky, drowning out the sounds of battle and screaming, before someone shouted. " _Jesse, you're alive!_ "

The spider hybrid turned to see Milo flailing a sword furiously in a bizarre wave. " _Please, can you help us?_ " And he smashed through a zombie that was approaching him and a few other citizens that were cowering behind him.

" _Hang tight, Milo!_ " and the spider hybrid adjusted her path and charged at a group of skeletons, who all raised their bows to fire at her.

"Jesse, look out!" Stampy squealed, forgetting that onscreen-her couldn't hear him.

All the skeletons fired their arrows- the audience gasped-

Jesse then did something that was completely and wholly inexplicable. Nor would she ever be able to replicate what she did. It appeared she just did it out of pure instinct.

Jesse jerked the sword out of her hand, a string of silk following it from where it had been sticking, before letting go of her hand holding the sword and giving the bizarre yo-yo-like object in her hand a sharp swing, the sword flicking in a long, swinging arc in front of her.

The five arrows that fired- for that was how many that were coming at her- all screeched off of the blade and clattered to the ground harmlessly.

Lukas let out an impressed whistle. Jace blinked, a silly grin spreading over his face. "My Notch!" he exclaimed. "How did you do that?"

The black-haired girl was staring at the screen, an odd grin of her own spreading over her face. "I... I don't know," she replied honestly.

The skeletons readied more arrows, but never got to fire them. With two, well-placed slashes, the five skeletons went down in puffs of smoke.

Milo came out of the building he'd been taking refuge in, holding his sword tightly, as a spider jockey came towards them. Milo drew his sword back, before charging at the spider jockey, lashing out with his sword and smashing the blade into it. He knocked the skeleton over before raising the sword above his head and bringing it down in a sharp swing, and with that, the skeleton exploded into dust.

The spider tilted its head at Jesse, who blinked at it, before slowly lowering her sword. " _Go and tell your friends to stop attacking, all right?_ " she hissed (subtitles popped up on the screen to indicate what she was saying) at it.

The spider 'nodded', before creeping away rapidly.

" _Good to see you,_ " Milo said, hustling over to Jesse, a smile on his face, before it grew more serious. " _But with all seriousness, how are you alive? I saw you go over the edge..._ " He glanced over at Isa, who was taking down a horde of zombies with little trouble. " _Both of you!_ "

Jesse thought about how to phrase this, before apparently deciding it wasn't the time to break the news to him gently and cutting right to the chase, " _Quick version: you know how you all thought it was the big white void or abyss or whatever beneath you? Turns out there's land._ "

Hadrian snorted a bit, unexpectedly. "That's... one way to break it to them."

Milo's eyes widened in surprise. " _You speak truthfully, my friend?_ " he asked. " _That... that is amazing._ "

"Yes... it is," Isa nodded in agreement.

Real-Milo glanced at her in surprise.

A fireball soared over their heads, and the blonde innkeeper looked back down at Jesse and gave her a sheepish look. " _I can't wait to hear all about it later,_ " he told her.

" _I have to get to the palace,_ " Jesse said, pointing at the entrance to said palace.

Milo nodded, his hand tightening on his sword. " _Thank you, my friend. I will see you on the other side._ " A determined grin spread over his face. " _That's a promise._ "

" _Watch your back, okay?_ " Jesse replied, giving him a nod, before veering back out of the alleyway and racing towards the steps of the palace- before skidding to a stop, astonishment coming over her face. " _Petra!_ " she stated, sounding shocked.

"What? What about Petra?" Jace asked, jolting straight upright and accidentally jerking Petra with him.

The screen switched to show Petra standing in the center of her very own little firestorm, gold eyes glowing red-hot with heat. A circle of flames surrounded her, sending sparks flitting into the air and burning through most of the monsters that were trying to attack her. Her sword was wreathed in flames, and her gold armor was glowing so intensely that the rain seemed be dissolving into a halo of water vapor around her.

"Wow," Sparklez summarized, goggling at the screen. "That is... um, that is amazing."

"I know, right?" Lukas agreed, staring at the screen himself.

" _She's_ amazing," Jace said, although it sounded more as if he were speaking to himself. Petra grinned and turned back to the screen, choosing to pretend that she hadn't caught that.

" _Jesse!_ " Petra shouted, spotting the spider hybrid. " _You're alive?!_ "

Jesse waved furiously to Petra, before her eyes flicked upwards, and she dove sideways, a Ghast sending a fireball in her direction. As she got back to her feet, she heard three simultaneous angry-child-cries, and slowly turned to her left to see three Ghasts staring at her.

Cassie swore so violently that even Winslow looked appalled.

" _Well,_ crap," Jesse stated, as all three of them shot fireballs at her simultaneously- before someone plowed into her side and bowled Jesse out of the way and into a little crevice, therefore saving her life but probably giving her a bruise.

The audience winced a little bit.

" _I'm glad you're alright,_ " Ivor sighed with relief, getting off Jesse but giving her a relieved half-smile.

Jesse let out a laughing sigh of relief. "I... wow. Thanks, Ivor."

"It's no trouble," Ivor replied, letting out his own, rather relieved sigh.

Onscreen-Ivor's face grew incredibly serious. " _Aiden's taken over the palace- he's holed up inside the throne room tossing those damned spawn eggs everywhere. No one can get inside._ "

Real-Aiden flinched a little bit but said nothing. Had he really gotten that bad?

" _We have to stop him..._ " Jesse said, mostly to herself. Ivor heard though, and his dark blue eyes lit up in realization. He whipped out several bottles- the ones Jesse had tossed back to him back in the dungeon- and held them out.

" _I know- Jesse, take one of these!_ "

"Oh, yeah," and Gabriel relaxed a bit from where he'd tensed up. "One of Ivor's potions would definitely help in this situation."

The spider hybrid's green-and-red eyes also lit up in realization as she glanced through them, before back up at Ivor. " _Lemme try a Potion of Speed!_ "

" _Here!_ " and he tossed said potion to her. Jesse's lower arm shot out and caught the bottle, her free middle set uncorking the bottle before moving up to her mouth and pouring the contents of the bottle into her mouth in a smooth, swift motion.

Ivor had been blinking, when suddenly everything slowed down. Jesse looked around to see that everything was moving so slowly that she probably could've gone and crafted six swords, come right back to this spot, and everything would've barely moved.

The spider hybrid got to her feet and began to walk through the fighting, past the fleeing citizens, the sounds she could no longer hear, and cut down a few monsters that were about to get to certain citizens, and had just about drawn level with the Blaze Rods when the potion wore off.

Gill blinked at her. " _Jesse!_ " he exclaimed. " _You're alive? Didn't you get knocked off of Sky City?_ "

Jesse gave her shoulders a little shrug, a faint smile on her face. " _Eh, I'm pretty tough to kill._ "

Maya shot another arrow before turning back to the spider hybrid. " _We've been doing our best to keep all these monsters away from the citizens, but... well, there's a lot of them,_ " she muttered, before something caught her eye and she hastily turned and fired an arrow away into the mob.

" _Yeah, where did all of them come from... did Aiden throw all of them out here?_ " Jesse frowned, looking over her shoulder in the direction of the fighting.

" _Uh, no,_ " Gill sheepishly rubbed the back of his head at Jesse's questioning look. " _Aiden told us to throw spawn eggs out here, which we weren't planning on doing... but then I knocked over one of the chests holding all the monster spawn eggs and... yeah..._ "

Gill put his head in his hands.

Jesse looked around, spotting a chest at the bottom of the staircase, the box having smashed apart. " _... ah._ "

Stacy arched her eyebrow, a smile unwillingly tugging at the corners of her lips. "I'm, uh... I'm not sure whether to facepalm or laugh, there."

" _Enough small-talk- you've got to stop Aiden,_ " Maya spoke, still firing arrows away into the crowd with an anxious expression. " _I mean, we knew he wasn't exactly_ sane _after all that Witherstorm stuff... but I never imagined that it'd get_ this _bad_."

Aiden winced again, as did Jesse.

Her guess had been right on the money.

" _We thought maybe if we played along, things would get better fast..._ " Gill shook his head. " _Only they didn't. Things only got worse. Fast._ "

Jesse nodded seriously, the spider hybrid beginning to run past them. " _I'll get Aiden to stop. I promise!_ " she shouted the last two words, before racing down the hallway.

The screen blacked out.

Soren took a shaky breath. "I... guess some stuff's going to go down now."

"Perhaps not the most eloquent way of putting it," Harper murmured, looking both amused and sick to her stomach, if one could be both at the same time, "but quite accurate."

The screen came back in to Jesse shifting the throne room's doors open. Aiden was sitting on the Founder's throne almost lazily, glaring at Reginald with an almost _lazy_ look on his face. He was snapping back at Reginald, their voices mingling together in an indecipherable mess.

"Here we go," Mevia muttered under her breath so that only Otto and Hadrian could hear.

The spider hybrid took a deep, shaky breath, before her eyes hardened with determination. She slammed the throne room door shut behind her, the sound of the door slamming ringing out in the room and making both of their heads snap over to her in shock, but Jesse wasn't looking at Reginald.

She was staring Aiden down.

" _This is between you and me, Aiden!_ " she yelled at him, voice filled with an authority that made the entire audience balk a bit in surprise, because they had _never_ imagined that the girl could sound this commanding. " _Leave Reginald out of it!_ "

She slowly raised her sword so that it was in a both defensive and offensive position. " _I think it's about time we finish this, don't you?_ "

* * *

 **A/N: My god, I'm so excited now. xD Like, legitimately, I can't stop grinning like a maniac while writing this.**

 **Oh, guess what? I now have over 30 stories and a bunch of planned series on my plate after this story is over (although the series may start before that, but yeah xD). I plan well. xD**

 **RQTC: Does anyone want to guess who the narrator is? (Not a lot of people are going to be able to guess...) If you want hints, just comment!**

 **the indecisive bird: I know it, but I can't stop xD / (nods) I see. / Alright, I'll figure that out as soon as possible!**

 **pensuka: No one's taking that bet xD**

 **LunarStarsMoons: Ahhh x3 Yeah, I see why you'd hate being sick. / Yeah, it got a little intense for me to write. / (nods) I see... what's your Twitter? (I have one too, so xD)**

 **Jack638: (laughs) Nice. Same here, tbh xD xD xD / (nods) Okeydokey, cool! / Yeah, Jace is great... but the scientist sucks. xD**

 **CrystalTearsofFaith: Ahh, I see. What's your Twitter? I have one, so... yeah xD / YEP**

 **Immapotato101: Ehh, sure? / Yep :3 / Remember how the memory chip represses their memories? Whenever something triggers a memory (for example, the sight of something similar, or a smell, or a certain event), the memory 'busts out' of the part of the memory that has been suppressed.**

 **homeworkoverload: No, it's not one of the Authors, either. They're not nearly as horny as the narrator is xD / (nods) I see. / Go for it! / But to your dismay this isn't your day, for the happy fun time has begun to fade! / Nah, it's cool x3**

 **DarkPrincess2001: Yep! x3**

 **Luna96: I don't know, I don't use it very often... / Oh, yeah, that'll be pretty interesting xD And that's one of the episodes I have significant changes in, so yee!**

 **RapidSammi: Eeee :3 / Yeah, that's not a great moment for any of them. To watch or to experience. / (laughs) Don't read it at school, then. / (grins)**

 **BeliTheGhoti0304: (laughs) Yeah, it's not a great memory. / (laughs) Same here. / (laughs) Nice.**

 **Darkbeast Dend: My favorite game is MCSM. / Fidget spinners are cool, but I don't have any, so...**

 **RebekahTPE: Alright, cool :3 / Yes, Tumblr is spelled right. / Okay, I'll work on that ASAP! / (laughs) Shhh, it's a secret xD / Yep xD / I think I'm aiming for more like 200, since the extra scenes keep adding extras and we're already over 10 chapters over the amount that the first Hybrid was at at this point :3 / (laughs) / I haven't had either, so neither? xD / Penny. Penny is awesome. / Yes, yes it is xD**

 **S4SH4L4SH4theGaMeR101: When you literally have memorized this incredibly long username... xD / Yay :3**

 **LegoGirl794: (shrugs) Understandable.**

 **sailor . mikuchan: (nods) Alright.**

 **RavenBlaze4850: Very true. / Also very true xD / (laughs) / Ooh, I have Twitter too xD / (nods) I'll keep that in mind.**

 **LittleAngelbun: Oh, you have an account here? / (nods) I see.**

 **SofiaTheWriter88: Yeah, it wasn't exactly easy to write :/ / Nice :3 / (cracks up) Wow, I... never realized that!**

 **Emily The Avenger: Nope. / (laughs) Yes, very true.**

 **InsaneAcrobat: Indeed xD / (laughs) / Aw, no, I don't mind long reviews at all. :3**

 **Rabbits rule: YES. / A glomp is** **NOT sexual, it is the action of one person lovingly (and dramatically) attacking another with a hug.** **A glomp is often predatory and lies somewhere in the grey area between a caring embrace, and a flying leap to tackle someone. / (laughs) Yeah I died when I wrote that sentence. / Okey :3 / Thanks!**

 **J.M.M: (shrugs)**

 **And that's all for this time! (Wow that was a lot). See ya next time!**

 **x.X. A.L. X.x**


	105. Insanity

Aiden's eyes widened as he straightened up, starting to stand. " _I saw you fall!_ " he shouted at Jesse. " _You went down!_ "

" _Just because I fell down doesn't mean I can't get back up, Aiden,_ " the spider hybrid told him warily, eyes still focused on him.

"That's... kind of philosophical, actually," Hadrian hummed, tapping the corner of his mouth.

"I assure you, that was completely accidental," Jesse replied drily, making half of the audience snort at this comment.

" _You're alive! YOU'RE ALIVE!_ " Reginald shouted in excitement, eyes wide as he whipped around to face Jesse fully, " _is the Founder with you? I heard-_ " Jesse's eyes flickered left to show Aiden drawing his arm back in a throwing motion, the egg in his hand perfectly poised.

"Look out!" Lizzie screamed.

Seriously, it was moments like these where they forgot that the characters onscreen couldn't hear them.

" _Yes Isa is fine now MOVE-!_ " Jesse yelled at Reginald in a panic, but the egg Aiden had just thrown smashed against his back and knocked Reginald forward violently, a creeper seeming to unfold from within the egg with a feral hiss.

"Get out of the way!" Axel yelled at the screen, Olivia joining in in a panic, both of them forgetting (once again) that they couldn't hear them. Real-Reginald's hands were fidgeting rapidly.

Reginald pushed himself back up, turning around and furrowing his brow at the creeper in confusion. " _What-?_ " he began, but the creeper, already flashing white rapidly, detonated and blasted him back.

"NO!" Isa screamed, hands going to her mouth. She automatically grabbed for the nearest person's hand; and with Reginald otherwise occupied in panic, that person's hand happened to be Milo's.

The blonde innkeeper's eyes flicked to Isa in surprise, his eyes slightly wide as he regarded the black-haired woman, before he returned his gaze to the screen, acutely aware of the faint blush beginning to make its way across his cheeks.

Reginald hit the opposite wall _hard_ , before sliding down a bit and slumping against the wall, his head dropping forward limply. Benedict clucked as she trotted over to Reginald, looking completely amiable about the whole situation.

"Sh*t!" Cassie swore. Aiden didn't tear his eyes from the screen, completely absorbed in what was happening. Real-Isa glanced at Reginald, who was the color of tea at this point he was so pale. His hands were tight fists on his lap now. Isa's hand tightened as well, making Milo wince a bit in pain. He didn't say anything, though.

Real-Jesse uncomfortably glanced in Aiden's direction, but he didn't notice.

The spider hybrid started towards Reginald, but then stopped dead in her tracks at the shout that rang out in her ears a second later. " _Not one more step!_ "

She turned to look at Aiden, who was now standing, an insane sort of rage dancing in his eyes. " _I killed you once-!_ " he shouted at her, as if volume equaled power, " _I can do it again!_ "

A lot of sideways glances were sent in Aiden's direction. The green-eyed boy was looking sick to his stomach now.

The spider hybrid simply shrugged a bit onscreen, looking rather wary still. " _And you thought it'd be that easy?_ " she asked him mildly. " _Sorry to be the one to break this to you, Aiden, but, if you haven't noticed by now..._ " Her eyes turned blood-red, cutting through the darkness, her mildly wary expression turning deadly serious. " ** _I'm pretty tough to kill._** "

Aiden growled, celery-green eyes wide with fury. " _Just **DIE ALREADY!**_ " he screamed at her, thunder and lightning blasting the sky apart, making the audience jump a bit.

"Whoa!" Dan blinked multiple times at the sinister declaration. "He's _seriously_ lost it!"

The room glowed sinisterly from the lightning blast as he raised a gold egg with gold spots, his green eyes filled with a mad glint that none of the audience members had seen in his eyes before.

A mad glint that showed exactly how far gone Aiden was.

" _You should've run when you had the chance,_ " he snarled, before hurling the Blaze egg at the ground, the egg bursting apart on impact and releasing a Blaze that rose up in the air, staring at Jesse with dead eyes.

Lukas's arms were in a death grip around Jesse. Petra was clinging to Jace so tightly that her nails were digging into his skin, and he was wearing a _long-sleeved shirt_. Stampy was probably considering it a good thing that no one was paying him any attention right now, because his teeth were chattering so bad that he was practically gnawing his nails off.

The spider hybrid dodged under a fireball, before flipping herself out of the way of another one, almost doing a cartwheel in the process. The moment her feet touched back down, her knees tensed, and she lunged into the air, launching herself so high that she nearly went above the Blaze, which slowly started to tilt its head back to look at her-

Too slowly.

"Whoa!" Dan shouted, as if the others couldn't see this.

Her sword flashed up, reflecting another blast of thunder and lightning outside, before it came slashing down.

Jesse landed in a kneeling position, the sword resting on the floor lightly. Behind her, the Blaze keeled over and died on the spot.

"Awesome," Nell whispered, although she still looked horribly anxious about the whole situation. That actually might just have been her way of coping with it, though.

There was a loud yell, and Jesse's head snapped up and to her left to see Aiden lunging at her with his sword, raising it into the air above his head as he prepared to strike. Jesse whipped around and flicked the sword up into a block-

His sword smashed into hers, the force of the hit practically blasting her backwards into the floor.

"Jesse!" Olivia gasped in horror.

" _Whoa!_ " Onscreen-Jesse shook her head furiously a few times to clear it. " _Lukas wasn't_ kidding _, this guy's_ way _stronger than he was before!_ "

Lukas was muttering something under his breath that sounded suspiciously like " _don't die don't die don't die_."

This probably didn't make Jesse feel any better about the situation.

Aiden raised his sword into the air again, above his head, face a grotesque mask of fury and pure, unadulterated _hatred_. Jesse rolled sideways as his sword shrieked against the floor, the enchanted diamond grating against the stone to make a sound that sent chills up the other audience members' backs as it _barely_ missed the spider hybrid. Jesse's six arms shot out, launching the spider hybrid into a flip, where she landed on her feet and whipped back to face Aiden, sword held out defensively.

Had any of the audience members been actually watching closely, they would've noticed the way her hands were trembling.

Aiden was glaring at Jesse, eyes practically glowing with insanity, his hands trembling. " _This was supposed to be_ my _world!_ " he nearly _screamed_ at her, " _and you ruined it!_ "

Isa frowned, but she was a little too shaken to say anything. Maybe one of the audience members would've commented as well, but they were completely absorbed in this scene and couldn't tear their eyes from the scene.

" _Are you_ listening _to yourself?!_ " Onscreen-Jesse yelled back in response, her sword still raised defensively as her voice rose an octave or two in surprise at the statement. " _That's insane!_ "

Real-Jesse winced. "Um, that might not have been the most diplomatic way of putting it..."

And she was right- that seemed to be the wrong thing to say.

Aiden brought his sword down at her with another scream, and Jesse lashed upwards in response. The two enchanted blades smashed together with tremendous force, both blades pressing together intensely as both of the wielders refused to back down.

At least, until Jesse let her blade slide free, just a little bit.

Aiden stumbled forward, his overwhelming force sending him forward, and Jesse slid her sword out of the lock it had gotten stuck in and slammed the flat of the blade into Aiden's chest. The brown-haired boy flew backwards into the base of the throne, his sword sliding out of his hand a bit from the force of the hit. He opened his eyes, staring at Jesse with wide, slightly frightened eyes.

"Go, Jesse!" Axel cheered. Several of the other audience members cheered in response themselves.

Jesse didn't respond, simply sitting forward a bit with her heart thumping away in her throat.

Onscreen, the spider hybrid slowly approached, her expression changing slightly to something that was rather hard to identify. It might've been anger. It might've been concern.

It might have just been pity.

Aiden's eyes hardened again, and he let out a furious scream as he threw another egg at her and fled outside.

"Aiden! You _coward_ , get back here!" Gabriel snapped at the screen.

It was Ivor's turn to blink, a scene from the first episode flashing into his mind. "Deja vu," he remarked quietly, soft enough so that .

Another Blaze rose into the air from the spot it had hit, Jesse having ducked out of the way just in the nick of time. It sent a flaming fireball at Jesse, the spider hybrid hopping back in the nick of time to avoid it as it plowed into the floor, barely missing her toes. She regarded the spot it had hit for a moment, before looking up at the Blaze. A moment of silence followed, Jesse sheathing her sword and dropping to all eights, before she shot forward like an arrow.

The Blaze followed her outside- _into the rain_. It jerked, sizzled as copious clouds of smoke began pouring off of it- and then burst into dust and smoke, keeling over. The spider hybrid slowly got to her feet, panting heavily as she turned to stare into the rain, the rain really pouring down and making visibility go down by quite a bit.

Aiden was standing at the end of a narrow strip of land, staring her down with a death glare, hand practically strangling the hilt of his sword.

Isa frowned, momentarily distracted. "I don't remember that being there."

Jesse slowly approached him, coming to the spot where the island branched out into that tiny strip of land and coming to a slow stop.

Aiden let out a sarcastic, insane sort of laugh that made Maya and Gill look at each other uneasily. " _You just can't_ stand _to see someone else in the spotlight,_ can _you?!_ " he snarled at her. " _You just can't let anyone else win!_ " Another insane chuckle that made Real-Jesse's hands tighten even more in her lap. " _It just drives you_ crazy _to see someone else succeed,_ doesn't it?!"

"Yeah, okay, it's official- this guy has gone completely cuckoo," Em announced.

" _Aiden, stop doing this to yourself!_ " Jesse called back to him, a worried look coming over her face. " _This isn't about winning or losing, it's about what's right!_ "

" _And_ that," Aiden seethed, " _is why_ you're _gonna_ LOSE!"

The spider hybrid simply let out a tired sigh at that, thunder and lightning exploding through the sky.

Aiden drew his sword back, but Jesse simply dropped to all eights, green-and-red eyes narrowing in concentration.

"Jesse... what are you planning on doing?" Lukas asked slowly, his eyes narrowing.

The girl didn't respond, sitting forward even more and inadvertently dragging Lukas with her. (Not that he really minded that much...)

Both parties ran at each other.

Aiden swung downwards at the spider hybrid. Jesse simply threw all of her weight forward onto her uppermost arms, launching her legs into the air and kicking the blade aside enough that it slammed into the ground beside her. Doing a backflip, she landed on her feet and dodged the stabbing lunge he did, before leaping over him.

He pivoted on his heel and slashed downwards violently. Jesse simply dodged sideways, her entire body teetering over the gaping abyss-

"JESSE-!" Petra shouted.

The spider hybrid tapped her palm to the ground, a sticky web connecting herself to the ground, before she swung downwards and ended up on the other side of the narrow strip of land, making Aiden whirl around to face her again, the brown-haired boy practically _growling_. " _Stop running away!_ " he nearly screamed at her.

Jesse shook her head simply. " _I'm not running away. If you want to fight me, you're going to have to trap me._ "

Aiden's brow furrowed, and he slowly relaxed a bit as he tried to process what she was saying. " _Are... you planning on dodging around until I'm tired out...?_ " he finally asked, voice no longer a near-hysterical scream.

The spider hybrid let the tiniest ghost of a smile sneak over her features. " _If you want to fight me, trap me. But I'm not going to fight you."_ She paused for a moment, rather thoughtfully, the smile fading slightly. " _I don't_ want _to fight you._ "

There was a long moment of silence, only interrupted by the sound of rain following and the sound of thunder.

" _You don't have a choice._ "

And then Aiden was sprinting right at Jesse.

"Jesse, watch out!" Stampy cried out.

His sword came whistling down at Jesse, who was completely unarmed-

Her hands clapped together.

The audience goggled at the screen.

The spider hybrid's uppermost set of arms had slapped together, trembling slightly from the exertion, but the blade had stopped, inches from her head, her hands keeping the blade away from her head. Jesse slowly shifted her weight to her left, the blade wavering a bit... and then let go of the blade.

The sword's edge slipped down the edge of her palm, leaving a bloody gash there as the sword thudded into the dirt ground, inches from the edge, the force of the impact jarring Aiden's arm and making him go "oof" in surprise.

"Jesse, your hand!" Mevia exclaimed.

Otto and Harper didn't even bother hiding it this time; they looked at one another in surprise.

The spider hybrid flipped right over Aiden's head afterwards, making him whip around and fall to one knee, his foot slipping in the mud that the dirt bridge was becoming.

Jesse slipped as well, her feet touching down in a rather slimy mud puddle and skidding before giving out beneath her and making her slide a few feet so that she was more at the edge of the narrow strip of land, half of her body dangling off the edge.

Lukas let out a very manly yelp at the sight of that.

She quickly scrambled back to her feet, ignoring the way mud and blood mingled together on her palm from where she'd tried to catch herself using her injured hand.

Aiden snarled in an almost _feral_ way before raking his way back to his feet and running straight at Jesse. Almost instinctively, Jesse did another leap into the air, although a smaller one- she didn't want to _actually_ slide off the edge of the narrow strip of land- and kicked off of Aiden's back to give herself enough boost to land safely on the other side.

Aiden slipped again, his sword whipping around and the flat of it hitting his pocket, knocking the flint and steel out and over to Jesse, who picked them up.

"Oh- there's that taken care of, I guess," Gill said, blinking a few times.

The sword twisted itself out of his hand, clanging against the edge of the muddy strip of land, before falling down into the abyss.

Aiden struggled to get up, his entire front covered in mud- before his left hand landed in a mud puddle and skidded-

Right off the edge.

Unbalanced, Aiden desperately tried to lunge to his other side, but his momentum was already too heavy, and he was already rolling off the edge of the tiny peninsula of land-

"Oh Notch!" Lukas gasped, realization striking like a lightning bolt.

Onscreen, Jesse's eyes widened as well.

Real-Aiden's hands clenched even more tightly. It was a wonder his hands weren't covered in blood by now, to be honest.

Onscreen, the brown-haired boy let out a scream as he fell- he grabbed for the ledge- his hand slipped- Aiden squeezed his eyes shut instinctively as he reached out desperately for help that was never going to come-

Someone in the audience gasped.

A white, slightly red-tinted string lashed around his wrist.

His eyes flew open again, and he looked up, squinting his eyes against the rain, to see Jesse leaning over the edge herself, one arm that the string was connected to flung out, panting heavily. The hand just so happened to be the one Jesse had cut earlier.

Real-Aiden's eyes widened, and he looked over at Jesse. The black-haired girl's eyes were slightly wide, but there was a soft sort of smile on her lips at the same time.

The spider hybrid's breathing slowly steadied, and she eased her weight backwards, her other sets of arms carefully propelling herself backwards. After a few seconds, Aiden was back on the ledge, Jesse gently wrapping the remainder of the blood-soaked web around her bloody hand and bandaging it, still breathing quite heavily and staring blankly at her hand.

A moment later, she looked up, blinking, as if she was just remembering something. This turned out to be a fact as one of her upper arms came swinging around and slapped Aiden full in the face, making his head snap to the side. "That _was for Lukas,_ " she told him, matter-of-factly, before going back to wrapping her hand.

Half of the audience sniggered slightly at that. Lukas looked rather pleased.

The brown-haired boy was staring at Jesse, his brow furrowing in confusion as she finished wrapping her hand and let it drop to her side. "... _why._ "

She raised her eyebrow at the single word.

The audience was relieved to see that the mad glint in Aiden's eye was gone, and in its place was a whole bunch of confusion. " _Why would you help me...? I destroyed a city. I hurt Lukas. I tried to hurt you-_ hell, _I tried to_ kill _you!_ " Aiden's voice was starting to get loud and hysterical. " _I tried to kill you, and Lukas, and the Founder. I tried to_ murder _you!_ "

Cassie winced at that for some reason.

Aiden continued, counting off things he was. " _I'm an attempted murderer. A- a coward, a thief, a power-hungry maniac, completely schizophrenic-_ "

Jesse cut him off, raising one finger. " _An_ idiot _."_

Half of the audience may or may not have snorted at that comment.

Aiden paused, staring Jesse full in the eyes, before giving a slow nod. " _That... too. So... knowing that I'm all those things..._ " he slowly shook his head. " _Why would you try to save me?_ "

Several audience members glanced at Jesse.

They were wondering the same thing themselves.

" _Don't you know I'm too far gone...?_ " Aiden's boastful, cruel manner had gone, to the relief of everyone in the room. He was starting to curl up on himself, hugging his knees and starting to rock in place, back and forth. " _I can't be saved at this point._ " A weak, insane laugh rumbled through his throat. This insanity was perhaps scarier than the furious, screaming insanity that Aiden had formerly been possessed by- it was a quieter, weaker, softer sort of insanity. The laugh of someone who was insane, knew he was insane, and had simply given up on fixing it.

A quiet pause, the only sound in the whole room the sound of rain pouring down from the heavens.

" _You don't mind if I try to anyway?_ " Jesse asked, quietly.

Aiden let out a weak, sarcastic laugh, running a hand through his hair, and it was hard to tell whether the water running down his face was from the rain or from tears. " _Oh_ Notch _, are you serious-?_ " he cut himself off with another weak laugh.

He let out a long, slightly annoyed sigh a moment later, letting his hand drop over his eyes. " _... do you really care about people that much?_ " he finally muttered.

The spider hybrid finally let a tiny smile, and raised her shoulders in the tiniest shrug possible. " _Yeeeeaaaaahhhh..._ " The pitch of her voice rose a little bit at the end of the single word, trailing off into nothingness a moment later.

" _You did it..._ "

Both of them looked over to see Reginald gaping at her, holding the Eversource in his arms. Benedict clucked away happily, oblivious to the way Reginald seemed to be gingerly holding himself.

Reginald shook himself out of it and said, quickly, " _Jesse, we need to get out of here._ "

As if to confirm his words, the whole island suddenly shook with the rumble of an explosion.

Isa's lips thinned a bit.

She'd almost forgotten.

Reginald sent a glare in Aiden's direction. " _What do you want to do with him?_ " he asked, voice growing considerably colder.

Aiden shivered, hands curling into fists. Jesse looked at him for a moment, raising one hand to her mouth and thumbing the corner of it thoughtfully, as if deliberating what she was going to do.

The brown-haired boy began to talk, quietly, but it was so soft that it was almost inaudible over the rain. " _Just... leave me here. After all..._ " another one of those weak, insane chuckles. " _After everything I've done, I deserve to die, don't I?_ " His voice was almost saturated with self-loathing, and the last syllable that he spoke cracked.

Lukas uncomfortably glanced at Aiden.

After seeing Aiden betray him, attempt to kill him and the girl he lo- _liked_ , not that _other_ word, haha, no way- _liked_ , destroy a city, steal, and watching _this_ Aiden slowly change into a much crueler person, he should've disliked him.

No, that wasn't quite accurate.

He should've _hated_ him.

Maybe he _did_ hate him, just a little bit.

But right now he just felt sorry for him.

" _I'm..._ " Aiden let out another, soft, insane chuckle. " _I'm sorry._ "

Onscreen-Jesse regarded Aiden for a little longer, before letting out a sigh and shaking her head. " _Aiden, if I threw a plate on the floor and broke it, and said 'sorry' to the plate, it doesn't return it to the way it was before._ "

Both Aidens flinched at that, but Jesse wasn't finished.

" _But,_ " and Aiden looked up to see Jesse smiling slightly, extending her hand to him. " _If you work to fix it, and do your hardest to fix it, people remember that. Sometimes you fix it. Sometimes you can't. It might never be as good as it was before, but... if you try to fix it, people_ will _remember that._ " She reached up and crossed her heart before covering her eye, a sincere look in her red-and-green eyes. " _I promise._ "

Real-Aiden glanced at his friends.

He'd have to keep that in mind.

Jace sniffled a little, making everyone look at him. He had tears beading in his eyes. "Th... that was... that was beautiful, Jesse."

Real-Jesse let out a little laugh, shaking her head and swiping a hand across her own eyes. "It was also probably made up on the spot."

This brought on a few chuckles, lightening the considerably solemn mood the room had fallen into.

Onscreen-Aiden stared up at Jesse for a moment, completely blankly... before a tiny smile made its way over his face. He stood up slowly, a tired, sad, but somehow happy smile on his face. " _Then I guess I should get started on fixing things, huh?_ "

Jesse smiled and nodded a bit. " _I'm glad I finally got through to you._ " She turned to Reginald, face growing slightly more serious. " _Let's get going, then._ "

Reginald 'humphed' slightly. " _More than you deserve, frankly,_ " he muttered, but he also followed Jesse as she began leading her way out of the room, Reginald stopping and waiting for Aiden to pass him before following Jesse back out of the throne room.

* * *

 **A/N: Wow, this is long xD Like, I'm serious, this might be one of the longest chapters so far.**

 **So, yeah... LOTS of changes. I like this new version, though, so, no harm done x3**

 **Wow, Phantasmagoria is going way quicker than I thought it would. I might end up working on it alongside this story, rather than next year like I thought xD**

 **RQTC: What website is the best for a blog?**

 **Like, which website is the best for making blogs and that sort of thing? (I'm considering using Wix, any other ideas?)**

 **Oh yeah... hints! Almost forgot.**

 **Hint 1: FNaF hallucination.**

 **Hint 2: Reverse.**

 **Hint 3 (dead giveaway for the name if you figure out the code): ZYHQZ**

 **Hint for the code: Gregor the Overlander and the Code of Claw.**

 **Response to reviews!**

 **Kaos Ruin: Nope.**

 **LunarStarsMoons: (laughs) Ahh, sorry. / Yep, we're friends now x3**

 **RWBYSTRQ: What do you think? (grins)**

 **the indecisive bird: xD / Yep :3**

 **Emily The Avenger: Bnqqebr. (Same code as Hint 3)**

 **BeliTheGhoti0304: I'm not nearly as horny as the narrator, so not exactly. You're on the right track, though, I'll give you that.**

 **RapidSammi: (laughs) Ooh, speaking of Phantasmagoria, I have a rough draft of Waverly. Do you want me to run it by you and see what you think of it?**

 **Rabbits rule: Yes, of course it could, but glomp is more fun to say. x3 / (blinks) (actually reads what I copy-and-pasted) Oh. I just made that needlessly awkward, didn't I xD / Thanks! / Lol, I agree with Kylik.**

 **CrystalTearsofFaith: What I'm so jealous I have to wait until June 23 to get out of school. / I'm going to the RISD Pre-College Program! / (laughs)**

 **A-Problematic-Writer: Yes, you were quite right on that count.**

 **homeworkoverload: We're dismantled, we're mishandled, but we won't be skipped and swayed! / (laughs)**

 **RavenBlaze4850: (points out the part where it says that Jesse would never be able to replicate the move again) xD / (nods) Very true. xD / (coughs) Watch me (points at my DA account)**

 **Milo: Nope, not even close xD**

 **Jack638: :3**

 **S4SH4L4SH4theGaMer101: I've literally memorized it xD / Not quite, but you're on the right track :3 / (laughs)**

 **AquaK13: Yeah, yeah he is xD / Heehee :3 / Yes, I've heard of it. Haven't watched it, though. / (laughs)**

 **RebekahTPE: Nope, though you're not the only person to guess that xD / Yeah, I still don't know how that happened. xD / Pringles, I guess. I don't eat chips very often xD**

 **LegoGirl794: Fairly close on the first guess (you're on the right track), not so much on the second one.**

 **Baiiii!**

 **x.X. A.L. X.x**


	106. This Chapter is PUN-Tastic

The screen faded back in to show that a good portion of the city had been destroyed, except for several canals of water, which seemed to be flowing into a big hole and off the island, into seeming emptiness. Ghasts were still soaring around like nobody's business.

Isa muttered something under her breath that nobody caught.

The spider hybrid silently stared at everything, faintly open-mouthed, when she heard a call. " _Jesse!_ "

Jesse turned to her left to see Ivor and Gill herding some people near a small group forming near the big hole, which was pretty much just a lake at this point, Maya shooting arrows as best as she could at the remaining monsters. Petra was holding her sword out defensively, beckoning frantically at a small group of the Sky Citizens as a fireball went soaring over their heads, the ghast who'd spit it closing in-

A flash of gold and black leaped across the screen, sweeping her sword in a wide arc as she spun in place, knocking the ghast to the ground and making it explode into a huge cloud of smoke and dust, before landing running and racing towards the group. " _You retrieved the Eversource!_ " she exclaimed to Reginald, as if nobody could see this.

Reginald nodded and held out the small white chicken, who was cheerfully clucking without a care in the world. " _Yes, ma'am._ "

" _Everyone!_ " Jesse turned again to see Milo leading a large portion of people holding swords and makeshift weapons towards the other citizens. Most of whom were trembling like leaves in the spot where they were standing.

Hadrian snorted. "Cowards."

"I'm sorry, would you not be a bit panicked in this situation?" Isa snapped, head snapping around so that she was glaring right at Hadrian.

The Ancient Architect snorted derisively. "Of course not."

Lukas coughed into his elbow, the cough sounding suspiciously like " _Arrogant._ "

Real-Jesse developed a small fit of the giggles.

" _Jesse, there you are!_ " the blonde innkeeper shouted to Jesse, having noticed she was standing there.

The Founder blurted out a long paragraph, very nearly cutting Milo's comment off. " _Jesse, this situation is getting out of hand. We simply can't stop all the monsters_ and _protect my people._ "

As if there was someone controlling the scene they were watching, a fireball came soaring at the group of the citizens behind Petra. Petra lifted her hand and fired a huge, blazing fireball at the one approaching, blasting it into harmlessly glowing bits of rock before it could get too close to the group behind her.

" _The longer we stay here, the more danger my people will be in!_ "

Jesse frowned thoughtfully, looking around at the ghasts surrounding them... then at the lake of water at her feet.

"Yes... you could ride the waterfalls to safety!" Harper exclaimed, a big, pleased smile spreading over her face.

" _Well... the waterfalls can take us to safety..._ " Jesse said, slowly, eyes narrowing at the rushing water inches from her feet.

" _Are you crazy?!_ " one citizen in the crowd exclaimed, making Jesse look at her, " _the waterfalls will just take us to the Void!_ "

Jesse's gaze changed to stare at the lake of water at her feet, eyes narrowing as her eyes shifted thoughtfully. She seemed to be unsure as to how to convince them. " _No, there's- there's land..._ " she began, trailing off slowly as if unsure how to phrase it.

Surprisingly (or, well, perhaps not so surprisingly), Milo spoke up. " _Jesse and her friends have done nothing but to help us so far. I will show you all just how much I believe in their word._ " His gaze switched to look at Jesse, his brow furrowing over his eyes.

Isa nodded, reaching one hand up to tap the corner of her lip. " _Yes... I trust Jesse as well,_ " she said quietly, giving the other black-haired woman an encouraging nod.

Real-Jesse threw her hands into the air, nearly hitting Petra and Jace in the face by accident. " _Hallelujah_ , you two are _finally_ agreeing about something!"

Several other audience members voiced agreement upon hearing that statement.

The black-haired spider hybrid took a deep breath, and hopped forward a bit, landing in the water with a small splash.

Isa followed shortly after, sheathing her swords before jumping in. Milo followed moments after, one hand going up to keep his hat in place. Petra shoved Aiden in, making the brown-haired boy flail his arms before toppling in. Maya and Gill jumped in along with Ivor, more and more citizens following them as Ghasts soared around them, until all of the inhabitants of Sky City were in the water with them.

The spider hybrid gulped a bit, turning around so that she was facing the front-

And let out a little yelp as the river she'd been riding abruptly dropped out beneath her into a large waterfall, plummeting through the clouds. Slowly, more and more citizens followed the example.

Maya let out a relieved sigh. "I'm _so_ glad that they trust Milo and Isa enough to follow Jesse off. That might not have turned out well if they didn't."

"Honestly, I don't think most of them would've followed if _only_ Milo or _only_ Isa had agreed with Jesse. I'm sure Milo has his own little faction of 'followers'-" Olivia made air quotes around the word 'followers'.

Milo let out a half-hearted, offended sniff.

"- but there's probably a lot of citizens who also follow Isa. With their combined 'endorsement'-" Lukas snickered at that. "- that was enough to convince all of the other citizens to follow."

Isa and Milo exchanged glances.

Jesse hit the water a few seconds later, resurfacing a good second later and spitting out a large mouthful of water. " _I don't think I have to say this,_ " the spider hybrid muttered, " _but I won't have to go swimming for a long, long,_ long _time after this._ "

Half of the audience stifled loud snorts at that.

Reginald, who was bobbing around in the water, gaped around him with wide eyes. " _You weren't lying!_ " he declared.

"Aww, does it wook wike Jesse could wie?" Axel said in a baby voice, pinching Jesse's cheek.

"Gerroff!" was Jesse's reply to that.

" _There's ground everywhere!_ "

The other citizens seemed pretty amazed by that as well, staring at them as if they were some adventurers who'd found the Holy Grail or something.

Isa looked gravely at Jesse as the spider hybrid climbed out of the lake. " _Jesse, I cannot thank you enough,_ " she said quietly. " _You have saved us all._ "

"I really didn't do that much," Jesse said mildly.

The entire audience gaped at her.

"Jesse," Ivor said very, _very_ slowly, as if he couldn't believe what Jesse was saying, "in _one_ day, you found the Eversource-"

"Discovered _land_ -" Mevia added.

"Got the _entire city_ down there-" Cassie interjected.

"And managed to keep Aiden from going completely cuckoo," Gill added, pointing in Aiden's direction.

"All I really did was talk to Isa and Aiden a bit and dodge around a lot. I really didn't do that much at all," Jesse replied, still sounding incredibly mild as she gave a little shrug.

Lukas put his head in his hands. "I swear to Notch, you're the most oblivious person in the world sometimes," he muttered.

"What was that?" The blonde looked up and over to see a mischievously wicked glint flashing to life in Jesse's green eyes as she slowly turned to face him, a grin that was somehow bigger than the Chesire Cat's fixed upon her face.

"... nothing."

"Thought so." There was a short pause. "Oh yeah-" She gave him finger guns. "I haven't told you that joke about the German sausage yet."

"... what-?"

"It was the _wurst_."

There was a long pause, before Jace abruptly burst out cackling and buried his head in his hands. Lukas had the most pained expression of all time crossing his face as he stared at the petite girl beaming at him with a huge grin. "Jesse-"

"Do you know what the worst thing about having a party in space is?"

"Jesse, _why_ -"

"You have to _planet_."

Now most of the audience was either laughing, fighting grins, or groaning at the tops of their lungs. Some of them were doing the last two bits simultaneously.

"Jesse, please don't-"

"I have a few jokes about unemployed people, but it's not like it really matters- none of them _work_."

"Jesse, _stop-_ "

"I'd tell you a chemistry joke-"

"Jesse, _no_ -"

"Jesse, yes," Petra chimed in, and, oh look, she was grinning as well. Clearly she enjoyed watching Lukas suffer.

"- but I know I wouldn't get a _reaction_."

Ivor was cackling so hard that he'd nearly fallen out of his chair, which in turn was causing more and more members of the audience to have giggling fits, which was causing even _more_ audience members to start laughing- yes, it was a vicious cycle indeed.

"Ooh, ooh, Lukas, guess what?"

Lukas was practically begging Jesse at this point. " _Jesse_ -"

"I'm on a seafood diet. I see food, and I eat it!" Jesse just had the most evil grin of all time fixed on her face.

"Jesse, I'm literally _begging_ you, _please stop-_ "

"Ya know why I'm making all these puns, Lukas?"

" _I'm literally begging-_ "

"Because it's my res _pun_ sibility."

"JESSE!" Lukas almost wailed, flopping forward and landing on top of the coffee table with a defeated sort of thump.

Jesse leaned forward so that her lips were situated next to his ear, her Chesire-Cat grin still on her face. "Are you enjoying your _pun_ ishment, Lukas?"

Lukas let out this incoherent wail. "I'm _sorry_ -"

"Too late for that. I'll back off for now... but be prepared for more _pun_ predictable jokes in the future." Jesse sat back in her chair, looking very pleased with herself.

Isa recovered from her own snickering fit and mock-glared at Lukas. "What evil monster have you released, Lukas," she teased him, voice still heavy with mirth.

"Jesse, I will never insult anyone ever again, I will feed the hungry and clothe the poor, just for the _love_ of Notch, _stop making puns_!" Lukas wailed.

Jesse just continued to grin at him.

" _So..._ " Reginald said slowly onscreen, making everyone look back at the screen just in time to see the 'pause' signal disappearing off the screen. " _What do we do now?_ "

Onscreen, the spider hybrid shrugged with a grin spreading over her face. " _What do you do? Go have some fun! Night won't be here for a while at least. And you were cooped up in there for so long that you should be allowed to do whatever you want!_ " She paused, thoughtfully. " _For a while at least. Then you might wanna worry about making some shelter._ "

Several members of the audience couldn't help but giggle a bit at that along with the spider hybrid.

" _Freeze, criminal!_ " And Jesse looked over to see Aiden's head jerking up nervously to see some guards stalking towards the brown-haired boy, while Maya and Gill watched quietly from the sidelines. They looked torn between helping Aiden and turning away from him. " _You're not going_ anywhere."

The screen switched to show Jesse looking over her shoulder, Petra and Ivor also coming over to Jesse with water pouring off of their clothes (and, in Petra's case, copious amounts of steam). Milo looked over at Jesse as well, his brow furrowing a bit, but before anyone could say anything else Jesse was suddenly tackled by a rather large blonde fluffball. " _I knew you'd do it!_ "

The spider hybrid blinked a bit, winded by the flying tackle, but grinned cheekily at Lukas when she recovered her breath. " _For someone who knew I could do it, you're awfully happy to see me._ "

Hadrian stifled a 'cough' at that.

Lukas grinned back at her, before turning and pouncing on Petra and Ivor as well, accidentally squashing the both of them together. Petra looked a bit pained as she glanced at Ivor, but to everyone's surprise, Ivor was looking faintly amused. " _You're worse than Soren,_ " he joked, " _he used to have the most spontaneous flying tackles of the rest of the Order combined._ "

"Yeah, I remember when he did that one time and nearly made me blow up a block of TNT in his face," Magnus said, giving the ginger a pointed look.

"I _said_ I was _sorry_ -"

Petra tolerated the hug for another few seconds, before gingerly disengaging herself from it and glancing over in Aiden's direction as he walked towards the guards quietly. " _I'm just speculating here,_ " she said, putting her hands on her hips, " _but I'm guessing Aiden's having some regrets._ "

Jesse winced a bit. " _Yeah, I bet he's in some deep trouble. The Sky Citizens are NOT happy with him._ "

" _Yeah,"_ and the screen switched to show Lukas grinning evilly, tail twitching about and ears twisting around in excitement. " _Hopefully they dig a deep hole, bury him in it, surround it with lava and-_ "

He cut himself off, looking a bit startled. The screen switched to show Isa, Reginald, Milo, and Petra gaping at the ocelot hybrid in silent shock. Ivor was grinning evilly at Lukas and nodding slightly, while Jesse was shaking her head with a tiny, amused yet sad smile on her face.

Axel blinked several times. "Uhh... remind me not to piss him off." He glanced at Lukas, who was still recovering from the punfest Jesse had been having with him. "Too much."

Petra snorted at that.

"Uh, wow," Gill put one hand to his temple. "You, uh," he blinked at the screen silently several times, "you can get real vengeful, huh."

Real-Lukas was blinking. "Uhh... apparently."

Onscreen, the ocelot hybrid grinned sheepishly, his ears flattening against his head. " _Uh, sorry. Got a bit carried away there._ "

The guards were marching Aiden across the grass towards them, and Aiden glanced up at Jesse, before back at the ground.

Jesse cleared her throat a bit, her voice taking on this completely blank tone. "Aiden."

The boy was halted in his tracks, and the boy raised his eyes to look at Jesse, though the rest of his head was angled to stare at the ground. " _Oh. Uh, hi, Jesse. I'm, uh..._ " He let out a slow sigh, squeezing his eyes shut, before opening them and lifting his head to stare at Jesse directly. " _I'm sorry to cause all that trouble. I've, er... I've got some regrets, to say the least._ "

" _I'd say you have a lot to think about,_ " Lukas replied, voice sounding colder than a glacier.

The brown-haired boy let out a weak laugh at that, a hint of self-loathing flashing through it. " _Yeah, that's... that's for sure._ "

" _Try to do something good for these guys, okay?_ " Jesse asked him, crossing her arms and raising one eyebrow. " _Maybe once you've... you know, served some time for what you've done, maybe Is- the Founder,_ " she hastily corrected, " _will let you have a new start._ "

Aiden tilted his head to one side, eyes glazing over a bit thoughtfully. " _Yeah... maybe I could become a writer._ "

Everyone blinked a little at that.

"I think it's safe to say that, uh," Stacy cleared her throat. "No one was really expecting that."

Aiden let a half-smile twitch over his face. " _I won't try to compete with you anymore, Jesse._ "

Jesse just gave a noncommittal shrug at that, and Aiden was led away a few steps when he paused. " _Oh, right- Jesse._ "

The spider hybrid blinked a bit in surprise at being addressed for a second time.

" _I'll keep what you told me back up on Sky City in mind._ " With that, the former villain gave a small smile and allowed the guards to lead him away.

Onscreen, the ocelot hybrid blinked, before looking over at Jesse. " _Did I miss something...?_ "

"Ooooh, Lukas, are you _jealous_?" Maya teased from where she was practically perched in Gill's lap.

"Meh."

Jesse looked over at Lukas blankly, before letting out a soft chuckle. " _Eh, tell ya later._ "

" _Hello? Everyone, please,_ " the Founder called, making the ragtag group of citizens crowd around the base of the hill she'd just stepped onto, " _this is your Founder speaking. Now that we're all safe, we need to organize. Start planning our new community._ "

Milo scoffed loudly, making all the citizens look over at Milo as he shoved his way to the raised bit of land himself, stepping up so that he was on the same level as the Founder. " _Are you listening to yourself? That's insane!_ " he snapped.

" _How_ is that insane?!" Isa immediately snapped at Milo, her head snapping around.

Cassie casually- yeah, totally, she totally didn't seize the remote, slap the pause button, and then casually duck down behind her and Aiden's couch- paused the video.

This might take a few minutes.

"Are you joking?! We've been trapped in that place for far too long!" Milo shouted at Isa, voice rising both in pitch and in intensity as he stormed towards her, getting right up in the Founder's face. "You expect us to just go back to our old life? To our old _prison?!_ "

"Well, _maybe_ ," Isa nearly screamed at Milo, unconsciously unsheathing her swords and not noticing how someone from the group of people on the floor was rising to walk over to them, "if you hadn't started an _illegal rebellion,_ you wouldn't be _thinking_ -"

" **HEY FRIENDS** "

Both of them jumped, their heads jerking away from each other's as another head popped up between them, before a set of arms looped around their shoulders and yanked them into an awkward sort of group hug with an almost-maniacally-grinning Jace, his smile huge and forced with his eyes wide with pointed anger as he whirled them around so they were facing away from the screen and dropping his voice to a whisper so that everyone else wouldn't hear them.

"'Cause that's what we are. _Friends_. Friends who won't waste everyone's time with petty lover's spats."

The two of them started spluttering in protest, but Jace wasn't _nearly_ done.

"Friends who won't scare the _crap_ out of Jesse-"

He jerked his head to indicate Jesse, who looked like she might have another one of her panic attacks any second and was being comforted by Lukas.

"-by stabbing each other and _**are we fucking clear.**_ " On the last four words, Jace's forced cheery voice dropped into the scariest, most gravelly, almost _demonic_ voice that the two Sky Citizens had ever heard.

" _Yes sir,_ " they squeaked back.

"Fantastic!" And in the blink of an eye, Jace was back to his usual cheery self, bouncing back to his seat.

Isa and Milo proceeded to have a silent mental agreement between each other.

 _Remind me to never,_ ever _get on his bad side, and I will not murder you until we get back to Sky City._

Seeing that the crisis had been averted, Cassie resumed the video.

Milo resumed speaking onscreen. " _We were prisoners long enough on that island in the sky! It's time for us to run free! Build whatever we please!_ " he declared, several members of the crowd cheering a bit at that.

The Blaze hybrid's lips twisted. " _Oh, those two just_ cannot _get along._ "

Jesse gave a helpless shrug at that. " _Well, they_ are _talking about two completely different... well,_ philosophies _, almost,_ " she whispered back.

The Founder glared at Jesse, who happened to have a front-row seat for this whole scene. Lovely. " _Jesse, I_ cannot _allow my people to be influenced by this... naive idealist!_ " she replied, sharply.

" _Bah_!" Milo growled back. " _I'm sure I DO look like a naive idealist- through the eyes of an_ oppressive dictator _!_ "

" _O_ -kay, that was going a little too far," Stampy winced.

Isa was seriously considering going back on that mental agreement she'd just made.

The spider hybrid scowled, putting her lower arms on her hips and crossing the middle and upper sets. " _Both of you, quit it! Fighting isn't going to solve anything!_ " she reprimanded them both.

Milo scoffed. " _It will if I win!_ "

Real-Jesse facepalmed at that. "Notchdarnit," she muttered.

" _Oh, of_ course _you'd think that way!_ " Isa shot back, scoffing derisively and turning back to the people. " _You don't understand, it will be night soon, and that is when the monsters come out! If we don't prepare, we'll be in danger!_ "

Several gasps erupted from the waiting Sky Citizens, whispering breaking out among them.

" _You're just making excuses to control our behavior like before!_ " Milo rebuked her over the gasps of the crowd, " _we must trust in ourselves! Be able to learn from our mistakes!_ "

"I'm not saying we shouldn't do _that_ ," Isa groaned. "All I'm saying is, that point won't exactly matter if we're all _dead_ -"

" _Well of course the people can_ build, _"_ Onscreen-Isa protested, interrupting her real self, " _but we need a system! Some rules! Rules aren't bad!_ "

The spider hybrid interrupted the heated discussion, making both of them look at her. " _You're both right._ "

She stiffened a bit when she realized the rest of the crowd was staring at her, before turning around to face them. " _You don't just want to run around with no plan like a headless chicken or something, but you can't schedule and organize everything, either. People do need to be free to try new things, but you gotta be safe about it._ "

"Ahh, that's our Jesse. A natural diplomat," Ivor said, giving Jesse a grin.

"Did you just say ' _our_ ' Jesse?" Gabriel jumped on the opportunity a bit too eagerly.

Ivor's cheeks pinked, and he rapidly turned back to the screen. "What? No. Shut up."

Harper grinned in amusement, being careful to hide it behind her hand.

The rest of the crowd began cheering at that, and Milo tilted his head thoughtfully. " _I suppose I still have much to learn..._ " he said, a bit grudgingly, " _thank you, Jesse._ "

Real-Jesse put her hands up in the air. "I have _no idea_ what he's thanking me for."

Onscreen, Isa's brow furrowed a bit, thoughtfully. " _I don't understand yet..._ " she spoke slowly, " _but... I trust you._ " She looked around at the ground around them, before giving a nonchalant sort of shrug. " _I suppose the era of Sky City is over._ "

Milo nodded, hopping down from his block of land, with Isa following. " _We may disagree on how to run this place,_ " he agreed, " _but I thank you for everything you have done._ "

The Founder smiled wryly. " _I guarantee that we'll be telling stories about your visit for many, many years to come._ "

"Indeed," Reginald murmured, still looking fascinated by the prospect of land.

The spider hybrid set her lower arms on her hips, eyeing Isa with a small smile. " _Try and play nice with Milo, okay? I know he's a bit crazy-_ "

Reginald and Isa were barely able to stifle loud snorts at that. Milo huffed, fighting back the smile forming over his own face.

Onscreen, the blonde innkeeper grinned sheepishly at Isa.

" _\- and you're not always going to get along, but he really_ does _care about the people. Don't waste this chance,_ " Jesse added, a slightly warning tone creeping into her voice.

Isa regarded Milo for a moment, eyes narrowing a bit, before a smile formed on her face, and she let out a surprisingly warm chuckle. " _Yes, I am... starting to see that. And I will do my best._ " And with that, the two of them walked off to go discuss something.

Lukas watched the Founder leave for a minute, before letting out a little laugh and shaking his head. His tail flipped around cheerfully. " _You know something? She was kinda scary at first. But... she's alright._ "

Isa smiled at that, looking pleased at the compliment.

Petra nodded, staring after the two with a small smile. " _Yeah, I'm gonna miss that crazy guy._ " She cocked her head to the side thoughtfully. " _Y'know, I guess we should prepare for nightfall, too. Without another portal, we're stuck here._ "

"Yeeeaaaah, about that," Sparklez began, half-jokingly, and making Petra grin at him.

Onscreen, the spider hybrid's eyes widened, and she let out a nervous laugh. " _Oh... whoops. I guess with all the fighting and monsters and stuff I kinda forgot to mention.. when we were on the ground with the Founder earlier, we totally found the portal!"_

* * *

 **A/N: (laughs) If you wanna see why I didn't update yesterday (like I was planning to), go read Furry Purrdicaments by RapidSammi, and some of the comments. (grins wickedly)**

 **Ah, because the name has been guessed... ... I'm still not revealing who Azira is until people correctly figure out what I meant by the hints. x3**

 **RQTC: Have you checked out some of the character reveals for Phantasmagoria on DeviantArt yet? I've posted two x3 and I'm plannin' on posting more.**

 **Also, one more hint for deciphering the code. 'JESSE'**

 **LunarStarsMoons: (smiles) / Nope. Not quite. Keep trying x3**

 **Kaos Ruin: Yep, that was the aim x3**

 **the indecisive bird: Thanks! / Correct! / Heehee x3 / I don't know how to use HTML very well, so yah xD / Yep. And aww, really? That sucks.**

 **Darkbeast Dend: ... I see... / Ah. / ... I don't really have one.**

 **BeliTheGhoti0304: Correct x3 / Heehee x3 / Ah, same here. x3**

 **Seastorm25: Hmm... I think I've seen the username before. Anyway, nice to meetcha (again xD) / Oh, wow! That's cool :3 / (laughs) It's fine, I don't mind. / Yes, true xD / (grins) / Ahhh, I see.**

 **RapidSammi: Alright, gimme a while to work that out x3 / (laughs) / Also, thank Crisper for the late update. xD**

 **RavenBlaze4850: Thanks! It was a bastard to write, though. / Heehee x3 / Yes, I noticed :3 Thank you for watching me!**

 **AquaK13: Teehee x3 / Ah, I see. / (grins) / Do you not have dA? You could totally comment and guess some of the letters yourself... / (laughs) No can do, I ain't done yet xD / Bai!**

 **Rabbits rule: (laughs) Sorry. / (giggles a bit)**

 **Emily The Avenger: Sort of. Did you use the hint for the code properly? I added another hint for the code up above. x3**

 **Insane Acrobat: No, it's fine; I've been at a wedding xD so no worries. / It took so long to write x3 / (laughs)**

 **CrystalTearsofFaith: Darn (frowns) / (giggles)**

 **Jack638: (grins) / Oh, there's no 'might' when we're referring to Episode 6. I'm goin' the full shebang on this thing.**

 **homeworkoverload: The ink decays, the walls at bay, but the reckoning has come today! / Okay x3 / (laughs) We'll see.**

 **J.M.M: You better believe it buddy xD**

 **S4SH4L4SH4theGaMeR101: Yee! x3 / Aww, that sucks :/**

 **And that's all for this chappie, folks! See y'all next time!**

 **x.X. A.L. X.x**


	107. Portals and the Next Episode

Ivor's eyes widened in shock. " _And you didn't_ say _anything?!_ " he exclaimed, throwing his arms into the air.

"When would Jesse have even had time to tell you? She was fighting off a bunch of monsters with you guys in Sky City, and then she had to go off and kick Aiden's butt," Cassie pointed out.

She paused a second later. "Well, not that she actually _did_ kick his butt, but you get what I mean."

"Yes, Cassie," Sparklez said, sounding a little too amused. "We do get what you mean."

She stuck her tongue out at him.

The Blaze hybrid arched her eyebrows. " _Yeah, I'm actually going to have to_ agree _with_ Ivor _on this one!_ " she responded, crossing her arms and glaring playfully at Jesse.

Lukas frowned. His tail twitched. " _Did... I not mention it either? 'Caaaaauuuuuse I could've sworn I said something._ "

"No, Lukas. You didn't mention it."

Real-Lukas took a leaf out of Cassie's book and stuck his tongue out at Maya. She grinned at him.

" _And we were trying not to die via Ghast and creeper and who knows what else was up there back on Sky City, so when would I have had any time to say anything about finding the portal?"_ Jesse pointed out.

"She does have a point there," Otto muttered.

She grinned and started jogging in the direction of the portal, increasing her speed gradually. " _C'mon!_ "

The other three dashed after her, and Jesse suddenly threw out all six of her arms in a slight flailing motion as she put on the brakes, the Eversource squawking as it flew in front of her before tripping and landing flat on its face.

Real-Isa patted Benedict on the head.

Lukas threw himself forward, his claws unsheathing and digging into the dirt at his feet, keeping him from plowing straight into Jesse. Ivor barely managed to skid to a halt just in time. Petra didn't and collided full force with Ivor, making him trip into Lukas, and making the whole group crash to the ground with a series of yelps.

"Huh. You can be clumsy. Who knew?" Jace told Petra.

She put him in a headlock and gave him a noogie.

The spider hybrid gave a sheepish smile when she saw her friends had all sprawled into a huge pile. She turned back to the front at the sound of a cluck to see that Benedict had gotten back up from her fall. " _Oh! Hello,_ " she said to the chicken cheerfully.

" _Ah!_ " And Jesse looked up and over to see Isa coming over, eyes softening. " _There you are!_ " She looked up and gave Jesse a slightly sheepish smile. " _So sorry about her,_ " she apologized.

Jesse waved it off. " _That's okay, looks like she's having fun running around,_ " she said, looking down at Benedict, who was indeed running around in little circles and fluttering her wings with a cheerful series of clucks.

Isa smiled down at Benedict as well. " _Yes, I think she took it pretty well when I told her she didn't have to be the Eversource anymore._ "

Everyone looked at Real-Ivor, expecting him to look pretty irritated about that. They were surprised to see that while there was a faint scowl over his face, he still looked generally pretty neutral.

"You're taking this surprisingly well," Soren murmured, surprised.

Ivor gave a noncommittal shrug. "I mean, after seeing how much _trouble_ this thing can cause..." He shook his head at the thought of that, shuddering slightly. "No thank you."

"... actually, I see his point..." Gabriel mumbled under his breath.

Isa put her hands on her knees and gave the Eversource a bright smile. The screen suddenly glitched to show a younger Jesse giving Reuben the same smile, before back to Isa.

Jace's fists had tightened, and Real-Jesse was now leaning into Lukas's shoulder with her hands trembling in her lap. However, neither of them actually said anything.

Onscreen-Jesse's eyes had widened in shock. The screen switched back to show Isa with that bright smile, cooing to the chicken happily. " _What are we gonna do with you now, huh?_ " she cooed. " _What are you gonna do now? Besides continue to be_ adorable _of course... but that was a given._ "

Everyone in the audience blinked.

"Uhh..." Milo blinked again, scratching his head a little bit. "Well, I honestly can say that I didn't think you had it in you to do that."

Isa chucked a pillow at him.

" _Yeah, what_ are _you gonna do now?_ " Lukas asked, having gotten back to his feet and frantically fluffing at his hair to get dirt out of it.

The Founder hesitated, looking down at Benedict with that smile on her face. " _After so long being 'the Founder' and 'the Eversource', now we can just be Isa and her best friend..._ " Isa bent down and took off the tiny crown, the chicken clucking away cheerfully. " _Benedict._ "

Ivor scoffed. " _That's a boy's name!_ "

Real-Jesse giggled a bit. "Magnus said that the first time he met Benedict, too."

"Always have to ruin the moment, Ivor," Harper joked.

Ivor muttered a bit, his cheeks turning a bit pink in embarrassment. The rest of the Order glanced at her in surprise. They'd half-expected him to snap at her.

Onscreen, Jesse chuckled a bit. " _Ah. I... actually called her 'Evie'. 'Cause. You know. Eversource..._ " she trailed off, a bit weakly.

Isa tilted her head thoughtfully, diplomatically avoiding Ivor's comment about Benedict's name and holding the crown in one hand thoughtfully. " _Hm... Evie. Not bad._ " She looked at the crown in her hand a moment later, as if remembering it was there, and extending it out to Jesse. " _Jesse? I would be honored if you would take this. As a small token of our gratitude._ " And she set the small ring of gold down in Jesse's palm.

The spider hybrid nodded and smiled, putting the crown carefully into her pocket. " _Thank you,_ " she said gratefully. The Founder nodded, and scooped the chicken up into her arms.

" _Come on, Benedict; we've got a lot of life still left ahead of us,_ " and she walked back off in the direction she and Milo had gone earlier. Jesse watched her pass, and her eyes dropped onto a bunch of little pink pigs walking around in the dirt.

Her jaw tightened, and her eyes misted over with tears that she refused to let out.

Real-Lukas wordlessly pulled Jesse into a hug. After a few seconds, she twisted around and buried her head into his shoulder, one hand inadvertently keeping her squashed between Lukas and her in the impromptu hug. He tolerated it for a few seconds, before letting out a little oink to remind her that she was there. She quickly pulled away, shifting around so that her back was resting against Lukas's chest, the little pink pig snuffling cheerfully away in her lap again.

Jace quickly dashed a hand across his eyes before anyone could see the tears forming in his eyes, before glancing over and looking at Jesse. She returned his gaze a few seconds later.

They were going to save him.

Onscreen, Jesse suddenly started as a hand came to rest on her shoulder. " _Jesse? You okay?_ " Lukas asked, looking a little concerned.

Jesse nodded a bit, still staring blankly at the pigs snuffling around in the dirt. " _Yeah- I-I just saw those pigs, and... y-y'know._ "

" _Oh... yes,_ " Ivor said, his voice going awkwardly quiet at the end of the statement as he watched the girl just stare blankly at the little pink pigs snuffling around in the dirt.

Petra reached out and squeezed Jesse's other shoulder. " _He would be_ really _happy to know you're still having adventures like this,_ " she told her, comfortingly.

The spider hybrid's shoulders sagged a bit as she sighed, before she made a soft "mm" sound in surprise a moment later and looked up.

Maya and Gill were tentatively approaching the group.

Lukas scowled when he saw them, ears rotating so they were flat against his head. " _What do you want?_ " he asked, sharply.

Gill and Maya exchanged worried looks, before Maya stepped forward a bit. " _Lukas, we are..._ " she paused, biting her lip, before plowing forward, " _we are_ so _sorry about what happened with you and Aiden. We should've stepped in or tried to help, but..._ "

Gill picked up. " _We were idiots._ "

Maya sent him a deadpan look.

" _We were!_ " he exclaimed at her, shrugging and splaying his hands out a bit. " _There's no way we can avoid it. We just kinda... stood by and watched. We didn't try to help you out,_ " he directed this back at Lukas, _"or to stand up for you, or to try to calm Aiden down, or even try to stop him. We were in the middle of the whole thing, but it was like we were just... bystanders, I guess._ "

Maya sighed a bit and turned back to Lukas. " _Yeah. We were just hoping things would get better without trying to fix it, and... we're sorry. It was wrong._ " She paused for a second. " _We have no excuse._ "

Lukas stared blankly at them for a minute or two, and the two of them just cleared their throat awkwardly and looked away, twisting their hands together, completely unsure of what to say.

Real-Maya and Real-Gill shared discomfited looks. It looks like Lukas was taking this _really_ hard if he just didn't want to accept the apology. Or even gloat. Well, then again, Lukas wasn't really a gloating person...

Finally, Maya stepped back a little bit, making as if to leave. " _Well, um, t-take care of yours-_ "

Lukas suddenly darted forward and threw his arms around both of them, making the two of them stagger back in shock before catching themselves, the flying tackle he'd just delivered nearly being enough to knock the three of them to the ground.

Jesse smiled a bit in relief.

A moment of shock passed, before the two Ocelots reached up and hugged Lukas back, the ocelot hybrid's tail curling in on itself, before he released them both. His eyes looked a little watery when he smiled at them weakly, and he took the tip of his tail and dabbed them at his eyes a second later. " _You guys... you guys take care of yourselves, okay?_ "

Maya nodded, tears in her own eyes. " _You too._ "

There was a slightly awkward silence between the three of them, before the two Ocelots raised their hand in a slightly awkward wave at their old teammate, and walked off as well.

Real-Maya had tears in her eyes, and she glanced back at Gill to see him surreptitiously wipe a few tears away. "You old sap," she whispered to him.

"I could say the same to you," he whispered back, and she had to concede the point.

Onscreen, Lukas let out a little huff, his shoulders dropping. " _I'm not sure I_ entirely _forgive them yet._ " He looked back at Jesse, and a slow grin spread across his face. " _I will not lie, though, that made me feel a lot better._ "

Jesse smiled a bit and clapped him on the shoulder, before the group continued until they reached the edge of the hole that led to the portal, and she extended her hand to point at it. " _See? Just like I told you. One portal back home._ "

And the whole group carefully descended into the hole, Jesse carefully extracting the flint and steel from her pocket. " _Okay, gang... let's go home,_ " she said, sounding very satisfied, before kneeling down next to the portal opening, and clicking the flint and steel together.

A shockwave of white-blue energy spread out from the hot spark the flint and steel spit out, the portal flaring to life with glowing blue swirls. She stood up and turned around to see the rest of them grinning at the portal in relief, before turning back around and walking into it, starting to speak as she did so. " _Wait 'til Axel and Olivia hear where we've been, they'll never believe-_ "

Her feet landed in a dark area, and her voice suddenly cut off. The screen panned up to show Jesse standing there, wide-eyed, staring at something.

"Wait- what's going on?" Dan asked, frowning. "Shouldn't they just be home by now?"

Hadrian, Otto, and Mevia glanced at each other significantly.

Here we go.

Lukas fell through a second later, opening his eyes and looking up. His eyes also widened, as Ivor and Petra followed the two of them through the portal, their eyes widening in shock as well.

Jesse finally spoke again, slowly. " _That's... not... what I was expecting,_ " she said at last.

Slowly, the screen zoomed out, showing a pair of portal doors. Then another set. And then more, and more, zooming out faster and faster, until their figures were mere pinpricks at the end of the hallway they were in, a hallway that seemed to be a _mile_ long stretching out.

And the walls were lined with portals.

The screen abruptly blacked out.

The title screen slowly reappeared onscreen.

"I... guess that's the end of that episode?" Slab said at last, when it seemed clear that no one was going to say anything.

"I guess so-" Cassie was interrupted by a "First it was you a few months ago, now it's Gom. What's happening around here?"

Two blue figures literally materialized in front of the screen. Another memory or something had decided to pop up.

Jesse recognized the two figures; Ariza and Red. Tentatively, she made to get up from the floor- and then found that she couldn't. She could feel something slightly cool and wet almost _wrapping_ around her wrists.

She glanced down to see what was keeping her from moving- and stifled a scream when she saw a strange tentacle of black ink ensnaring her wrists and her ankles, keeping her trapped against Lukas and the ground.

A moment later, _words_ formed on the ground next to them.

 _Don't worry. Just keeping you here so you don't dissolve._

Before Jesse could wonder what that meant, she heard Ariza talking, and forced herself to look up to see Ariza thumbing the corner of her lip. "I don't know, Red... I really don't know. Let's see, we're just walking aimlessly here- where would she go unleash some-"

She suddenly stopped talking, head jerking up a bit, before snapping around to meet Red's widening red eyes. "The training room!" they chorused, and Red turned to leave- just in time to run into the third blue figure, who'd just stormed into the room angrily. Jesse recognized her, too- it was Gommie.

"Ow, what the hell, Red?" Gommie grunted, rubbing her head a bit from where she'd just knocked her skull against it.

"Ooh, I'm sorry, I didn't mean to run into you like that!" Red apologized hastily. "We were looking for you and-"

Ariza proceeded to interrupt him, putting her hands on her hips in a very feminine way.

"Where have you been?" she asked, and oh- now Jesse could see why she and Toni had joked around a while back about her 'momming' people.

"Training in the training room," Gommie replied simply.

Red frowned. "We know when you're lying, Gom. What were you really doing down there?"

Gommie sighed. "Fine, fine... I may have accidentally destroyed all of the dummies and I'm about to head out for wood to replace them."

"Gom. You never 'accidentally' destroy _all_ of the dummies. What's really happening here?" Ariza asked, voice softening a little bit.

Gommie's teeth gritted for a moment, and her dark eyes flared angrily. "There's this _b*tch_ on my dueling team who thinks she's Queen of the World and hasn't been nice since she moved here from Texania. I don't know what the _f*ck_ I did to make her practically hate me so much, but last night's dueling match- that was the biggest blow of all," she nearly _snarled_.

Red glanced at Ariza, raising an eyebrow. Ariza just shrugged a bit, before returning their attention to the now-ranting Gommie.

" _-_ she was the one who brought hoagies on board to serve as dinner since the walk was so long, and she doesn't give me one. There were _extras_ in her _bag_ , and she doesn't give me one. I skipped breakfast to go on a quick wood run, only ate half my lunch because I had to help the coach get the equipment, which I have to do _every single goddamn time_ , and she leaves me to starve. Some of my teammates _ask_ if I got a hoagie. I say 'no, I never got one.' She doesn't get the hell up off her lazy ass to grab me one. She was literally _right_ there when I said I didn't get a hoagie. Like half a foot away."

Gommie flopped down onto the nearest couch (which happened to be Aiden and Cassie's), the occupants hastily scooting out of the way as if she was actually real. "I always feel like I'm forgotten. The last one standing to be picked for a quick match, even. But it seems like- some of the teammates, _my_ teammates, people I've been dueling with forever- it seems like they prefer the new girl over me, and they don't do _anything_ about it. They don't speak up about it. They don't ask her to lay off. They just don't _do_ anything about it. And you know what my social life is like; I don't really have many friends and I can't even stand up for myself because Queen Asshole over here-"

Red's lips inadvertently twitched at the name.

"- is probably gonna be even more of a b*tch to me afterwards. I'm only lucky at least _one_ of the coaches noticed so far. Last night, though, it was the worst because I felt like a ghost."

The audience all exchanged glances at that.

"An actual ghost. Like I died somehow during the match, and everyone still pretended I was there, except I know they wouldn't care if I died during the match." Gommie finished her rant and let out a long sigh, burying her head in her hands.

There was a long silence, before a loud _pop_ sound seemed to go off outside, and Ariza let out an irritated grunt. "Okay, what the hell is going on outside? This group outside has been setting off fireworks for the longest-" She stopped, her face going blank as she looked out the window. "... never mind."

"What _is_ going on outside?" Gommie wondered, getting back up off the couch and walking towards the window.

Ariza sucked in a deep breath, green eyes widening slightly. "Er, Gom, maybe you shouldn't-" And too late, Gommie was already peering out the window.

Her face suddenly went perfectly blank, freezing a little bit.

Red frowned and looked out the window himself, their reactions not having gone unnoticed. "Hey, isn't that your dueling team-?"

"On the victory parade without me," Gommie sighed, shaking her head a bit. "She was in charge of sending the message out to everyone... she must not have sent it to me 'on accident'." The burlier girl stared glumly out the window.

Aiden, who was also closer to the window they were standing near, stood up and peered through them to see a crowd of ghostly blue figures dancing by, although right now they were still pretty close to the building.

Ariza looked at Gommie, then out the window, and then turned on her heel. Red noticed her go. "Hey, Ariza, where are you going?" he asked as the girl walked right towards the door.

"Nothing you guys have to worry about. I'm just feeling up for some dueling."

Another group of people had been walking into the room, and they all blinked and looked at Ariza mid-conversation when they heard that. Jesse recognized most of them from the party she'd inadvertently taken part in earlier today. "Dueling...?" Toni asked tentatively, the boy's eyes narrowing.

"Yeah... I thought you don't like violence," Sammi added, shaking her head a bit. "Actually, I thought you rather hated dueling."

Ariza gave a light shrug. "Well now I'm in the mood for it. Be right back." And she nipped out the door.

A few hesitant minutes passed, Gommie still staring listlessly out the window with Red having moved away to explain to the others what was going on. Aiden had tentatively moved into place where Ariza and Red had been earlier, watching the 'parade' dance by as well, when suddenly he saw a figure storming right out of the mansion.

"Ariza...?" he wondered aloud.

Gommie had noticed this too. "Hey, isn't that-" she never finished her sentence; her phone suddenly went off.

She flicked it out of her pocket and pressed the 'receive' button with a sigh, nothing even bothering to check the caller ID first. "Who is this?" she sighed into the phone.

Not even half a second when she flinched back with a curse, drawing the rest of the group's attention and dropping her phone. The phone hit the speaker button, and the voice speaking over the phone suddenly became much louder and much more familiar to every occupant of the room.

" _Alright, who exactly was the person who brought the hoagies the other night?_ "

There was dead silence on both ends of the phone. Jesse was pretty sure everyone on their end had stopped _breathing_ , it was so perfectly silent.

Finally, a voice spoke. " _Did you need someth-_ "

They never finished the question as a loud explosion of noise came over the speakerphone, making everyone jump.

 _Something must've blown up or something-_ Jesse thought at first, wildly- and then realized with a start that the explosion of noise was enraged shouting, and the person doing the shouting was the usually calm, collected Ariza. After a few seconds, her voice became much more coherent.

" _\- DID YOU SERIOUSLY NOT GIVE GOMMIE A F*CKING HOAGIE AND COOKIE WHEN YOU EXPLICITLY BOUGHT THEM FOR THE REST OF THE TEAM!? I'm sorry, I don't even_ know _you, but what the f*ck is that?! It's one thing to do it because she did something rude to you, but if you're just being a b*tch about it for no good f*cking reason, then that's just being a rat's bastard."_

" _Who are you to-_ "

" ** _SHUT UP_**!" Ariza's commanding voice blasted through the speaker, effectively shutting up the girl who'd started speaking. " _Just_ shut _up! If you say_ one _word before I've finished, I will literally summon a demon and get it to drag your f*cking ass to hell. Do we have an understanding? Wait, you know what, DON'T SPEAK. I'm sick of your voice already._ "

Gommie stared at the rest of the group in silent shock. Ariza usually was much more polite than this.

" _Gommie is one of the nicest people I know. She's one of the people who I can always count on to cheer me up or make me feel better. She's one of the people I can actually be_ myself _around, and only Notch knows exactly how precious few people who I can do that with. She tries to be nice to EVERYONE, even if they're not nice to her, which is apparently what you've been doing. You can insult me. Mess with me all you'd like. I don't care. That's completely fine by me. But mess with one of my friends, and you've apparently just decided to summon Satan to come kick your ass to hell and back."_

 _"I don't care if you're the freaking Queen of the World; you do_ not _hurt one of my friends, because then I get mad. And I'm not saying like right now. This... ha. This is nothing. Consider this a thunderstorm. Keep this up, and you're going to be thrown headfirst into the middle of a hurricane. Let me give you a little advice- if you don't want to be f*cking lectured, don't be a b*tch to people who are much better than you."_

Ariza scoffed a moment later. " _And the rest of you... I don't know if she's blackmailing you, or bullying you, or whatever it is that she's doing. But this... this has_ got _to stop. You've known Gom longer than I have, but I already know that I would_ never _just pretend this isn't happening. Because Gom's like family to me. And I would_ _never let my family feel this way. If you lot don't fix this soon, **I will.**_ " A short pause.

" _... I butt-dialed you, didn't I, Gom?_ "

"... yes. Yes you did," Gommie replied, unable to hide the huge grin spreading over her face.

" _And you heard every word of that, didn't you?_ "

"Yes. Yes I did."

Ariza's voice sounded much more playful when she spoke again. "... _don't get a swelled head like Red._ "

"Hey!" Red joked, and the room's occupants laughed at the tease.

" _I'll be right back in. I feel up for some soup to drink after all that yelling,_ " and Ariza laughed a bit, voice sounding a bit scratchy now.

"Heh, yeah. And- Ariza?"

" _Hmm?_ "

"... thanks."

" _No prob, Bob. Be right back._ " And the phone clicked as she hung up, a wind coming in and gently dispersing the figures a moment later.

Jesse felt the inky substance ooze off her hand, and she looked down just in time to see a message disappearing into the wood floor.

 _WATCH THE NEXT EPISODE AT NIGHT._

* * *

 **A/N: Before you ask, yes, I am planning on including the fillers between the episodes as well; I'm just incorporating this one- the one between Episode 5 and Episode 6- into the next episode. The one between Episode 6 and 7... well we'll get there when we get there.**

 **Oooh, what's this black substance coming from? Or, more accurately, who's it coming from?**

 **(groans) Have NONE of you read Gregor the Overlander before, by the way? That bothers me. If you really want to figure out the code, just look up Gregor the Overlander and the Code of Claw and then look up the Code of Claw from there.**

 **Ooh, but I _will_ be revealing Azira sometime soon. :3**

 **RQTC: If I were to make a blog, would you follow it to follow the development of Phantasmagoria or not?**

 **LunarStarsMoons: (nods) / Yeah, that's why xD / Yes, that's my favorite part as well xD**

 **pensuka: You're right about that xD It won't help that this episode will be a night episode, either.**

 **sailor . mikuchan: (dumps a chapter) I'll work on the next time asap xD**

 **RapidSammi: (laughs) Okay, I think you've punished Crispy enough. Now I think it might be time to PUNish him xD**

 **J.M.M.: (laughs) I don't know if that was good or bad. / (nods)**

 **the indecisive bird: Oh, the earlier hints weren't hints to the code. Just the one that was explicitly a hint to the code and the JESSE hint. / (laughs) I'm sorry. / Yep!**

 **RavenBlaze4850: Yeah I was dying of laughter when I read this chapter as well xD / Yes, both of them are not to be messed with. / (finger guns) I have punnitis too.. xD**

 **CrystalTearsofFaith: (laughs) Nice!**

 **AquaK13: No, come to the dark side, Aqua. We have the best cookies. / Yes, get a Jace and scare the crap out of the arguing people xD / I'm not sayin' nothing x3 / Baaaaiii! / OMG lol xD**

 **BeliTheGhoti0304: Thank you, thank you (bows playfully)**

 **S4SH4L4SH4theGaMeR101: Well, it was his fault for 'insulting' her in the first place xD**

 **RWBYSTRQ: I loved writing them lol xD**

 **LegoGirl794: All will be revealed in good time.**

 **Seastorm25: Heeheeheehee (giggles) / That's still a bit off in the future; we'll worry about that when it comes to it. / No, I'm not the narrator, I thought I said that already. / (laughs) I'm worried that no one else can get the code, to be honest.**

 **Rabbits rule: (laughs) Thank you.**

 **Emily The Avenger: You're right lol xD**

 **Kaos Ruin: Expect more in the future xD**

 **homeworkoverload: We've been tortured, but we move forward, this disorder kills our day! / That's wonderful! I'm glad to hear that! / (bursts out laughing) Nice.**

 **DarkPrincess2001: Yep x3**

 **InsaneAcrobat: (cracks up) They really aren't; I really wanted to make them seem less just outright _bad_ and more... I dunno. Normal, I guess :3 / (grins) Well, it won't hurt that they're watching this next episode at night.**

 **Baiii!**

 **x.X. A.L. X.x**


	108. Rules, Flashlights, and Someone Else

"So the writing appeared on the _floor_... and said to watch the sixth episode at night?" Aiden asked, looking a little bewildered at the strange 'request'. At first, the rest of the group had been a bit dubious about Jesse's experience with the weird ink tentacles (or, well, whatever they were), until they'd seen the literal black rings of ink around Jesse's wrists from where the ink tentacles had seized ahold of her to keep her down.

They were no longer dubious about that.

"Yeah. I don't really know why, though," Jesse said, absentmindedly rubbing at her arm using Lukas's sleeve. (He really didn't seem to mind.) Reuben was attempting to lick the ink off Jesse's arm as well.

Neither attempts were working.

"That's weird..." Maya trailed off thoughtfully, biting her knuckle thoughtfully. Hadrian picked up a second later, the slightest note of concern entering his voice. (This made Otto and Harper exchange confused looks.)

"But the ink tentacles weren't trying to hurt you? They were just trying to keep you from... dissolving, did you say?"

Jesse nodded slowly, flexing her hands absentmindedly and accidentally bumping Reuben's nose and disturbing him from his task of trying to get the ink off of Jesse's arm. The pig was flexible though, and started nuzzling her hand, expecting her to fondle his ears. He was not disappointed. "Yeah... I don't really get why, though. I mean, I did _start_ dissolving last time... but it never finished or anything."

"Well, we still don't know what was up with that," Harper pointed out, lips twisting together slightly. "It could've just been an extenuating circumstance that kept from Jesse dissolving last time."

There was a long pause as everyone absorbed that, before Dan asked, to try distracting everyone from the grim mood falling over the whole room, "Jesse, didn't they give you a bunch of 'warnings' last time?"

"Yeah, uhh..." Jesse racked her brain, trying to recall the warnings they'd given her. "Watch out for murderers, don't underestimate... uhh..." There was a name lurking in the back of her mind, but she couldn't quite remember it. "... something... and to put the books in Becky's library, whoever's that is, back where we found 'em... oh!" She snapped her fingers as she finally remembered one of the warnings.

Actually, now that she thought about it, it was the first warning they'd given.

She didn't have the best memory, alright?

"They said to watch out," she said slowly, trying to remember the exact wording of the statement, "because I might not be as lucky the next time we had an incident like that."

"So... maybe, this time if you'd touched the memory, you would've totally dissolved into it or something," Jace reasoned, eyes widening as he realized what that meant a moment later. "That... _oh_. It's a good thing those ink tentacles kept you down, then."

Lukas's arm tightened around Jesse protectively.

"Yeah, no kidding," Gill murmured, his own eyes widening.

"So... I guess we're watching this at night?" Milo asked, trailing off tentatively when he felt the Founder's eyes land on him. He wasn't sure how to react to her, anymore. She... bothered him a little bit.

There was a short silence as everyone thought about it, before Reginald raised his shoulders and then let them drop again in a little shrug. "I... guess so."

Aiden glanced out the window, where he'd still been standing the whole time as they discussed this weird new 'situation'.

His eyes widened a bit as he actually got a good look, without any ghosts- or memories- or _whatever_ they were- to interrupt him at the landscape outside. "Uhh... guys?" he asked, voice dropping to a lower, slightly more nervous volume.

Cassie got up off the couch and got a good look herself, taking a deep breath as she saw what he was looking at. The sky was only just darkening, but it was already heavily overcast, the clouds rolling above them looking nearly black. The wind had also picked up, blowing around some of the trees and some loose leaves. "Oh. Well... that's not too great."

The low rumble of thunder punctuated the conversation.

* * *

"Off to find some more pillows~" Jesse hummed, skipping along the hallways of the huge house. It had only been about ten minutes since they'd heard the first signs of the approaching thunderstorm, but it was already pouring rain.

How weather works in this word, Jesse will never know.

The group had split up into groups to try grabbing some things for their nighttime watching of the episode. Jesse and the rest of the 'Hybrid' order had gone off to go find pillows and blankets, Ellegaard and Magnus deciding to tag along with some of them along with Em, Ivor was making some potions to make sure they could stay up all night and for other purposes, Hadrian, Mevia, Otto and Harper had apparently decided they were going to go attempt to cook some food, Cassie and Aiden had gone with Isa and the other two Sky Citizens to both help them find some extra blankets, and to keep the three of them from killing each other.

The gladiators had gone off with Nell to see if there was anything to do in any other location, and the YouTubers were just chatting, since everyone else told them they had everything else covered. Lizzie had offered to help out, but Jesse told her "nah" cheerfully and gestured for them to just sit in the dining room and chat or something. (She totally didn't request for them to keep an eye on the Old- the Ancient Architects to make sure they didn't blow up the kitchen or anything like that.) Gabriel and Soren were going around to see if anyone especially needed help, but with everyone already busy, there wasn't much they really needed to do.

Jesse popped her head into the Phantasmagoria-star room from earlier to see if there were any pillows. There really weren't, but she poked around the room a bit more to see if there was anything she'd overlooked.

That's when she spotted a few sheets of paper resting on the desk. When she leaned forward, she noticed that both of them were the same, with the words " _Rules of the Phantasmagoria Hotel_ " emblazoned across the top in fancy cursive.

"... huh." Jesse picked up the sheet, taking a good look at the gold embellishments decorating the high-quality paper. "I've never heard of the 'Phantasmagoria Hotel' before..." She reevaluated the paper. "Well, if the paper is this fancy, the hotel's gotta be really nice... now, let's see, what are some of these rules?"

 _ **1\. Please keep the noise level down.** _

"Well, this one makes sense..." she mumbled.

 _The hotel has only been minimally renovated since its initial construction in 1798. The walls are thin and you may disturb other guests while they are trying to rest._

 _ **2\. If you see a famous guest, please do not bother them unless they are clearly ready for it.**_

"Oh, I guess a lot of famous people come to this hotel."

 _They do not appreciate being bothered when they are obviously at the hotel for work or to relax._

 _ **3\. If the furniture appears to have moved since you've last spotted it, please call a hotel staff member for assistance in moving it back.** The furniture can be a bit heavy to move by oneself. Ignore if the staff member puts a piece of paper on it- they may be marking it for the cleaners to explicitly clean._

"But why would the furniture move at all in the first place?" the black-haired girl asked aloud.

She received no answer, of course. She would've been alarmed if someone _had_ answered her, actually.

 _ **4\. Do not go into the library without permission.** The library has no exits or secret passageways leading out of it except for the main doors, so if you are locked in, you will be locked in until the door is unlocked from the outside._

"Well that's... worrisome. And does this say secret passageways...?" Jesse reread that to confirm that, yes, the pamphlet or sheet or whatever it was said 'secret passageways' on it.

 _ **5\. If you can hear singing when you're using the shower, call the front desk.** The pipes are rather old and are rarely fixed, so there may be faulty problems with the pipes and the way sound travels through them._

"Uh, I'm not a plumber or anything, but I'm pretty sure that's not how pipes work..."

 _ **6\. Press the '1' button in the elevator to go to the lobby.** There is a sign on the elevator button, but to be clear, our first floor is the lobby. _ "Oh, well, that's helpful to know," she mumbled to herself. She would've talked to Reuben if he were there, but he wasn't. Alas.

 _ **7\. If you hear someone talking to you on the elevator, do not respond unless there is someone else with you in the elevator.** This rule is fairly self-explanatory._

"... why this is a rule for the hotel is slightly worrying."

 _ **8\. Please keep your clothes on when not in your own room.** Public nudity is considered indecent._

Jesse decided to just not even comment on that rule.

 _ **9\. Do not use the stairs unless in an emergency.** The staircases are being cleaned and checked for safety for the next few months. A few guests have injured themselves on a 'trick step', and a few others have claimed that the portraits on the staircase have been staring at them._

"Why does the hotel have a _trick step_."

 _ **10\. If you or another guest feel as if you're feeling a bit not like yourself, call the front desk immediately.** There is a small chance the mentioned party may be possessed._

"... this hotel is starting to worry me a bit."

 _ **11\. If you hear voices under the bed, do not feed them.** _

" _What?!_ "

 _They will not harm you if you do not bother them, but if you try to feed them they will soon begin expecting regular deposits of food and it will take an irritatingly long time to rectify the situation._

"An 'irritatingly long time to rectify the sit'- is THAT all they have to say about it?!"

 _ **12\. Please do not touch the historical artifacts.** They are protected by glass and 'guarded' by signs that read 'Do Not Touch' for a reason. We are not responsible for if a guest becomes possessed._

"No, no, this hotel- this hotel is _seriously_ starting to worry me!"

 _ **13\. Do not use Ouija boards in the hotel.** We are not responsible for any damage that may or may not be caused by the Ouija board exploding from an overload of spirits._

" _What?!_ " Jesse repeated, voice rising a little higher in surprise.

 _ **14\. If you see an instrument playing on its own, shut the door immediately.** The player of the instrument may or may not be shy and there is a chance they will not react kindly towards the spectator._

"I'd be more concerned that the _instrument is playing on its own_ -!"

 _ **15\. If you ever see a statue on any floor above the 4th floor, call the front desk and keep your eyes on it.** Every statue that we have is on display in the 'museum areas' on the first four floors._

Jesse was starting to get more than a _little_ worried about this hotel. How was it still in _business?!_

 _ **16\. If upon entering the elevator, you see a button for the 27th floor, do not press it.** The Phantasmagoria Hotel is only 26 floors tall including the lobby. We don't have a 27th floor._

"Wait, what?!" Jesse's hands were trembling a little bit right now.

 _ **17. DO NOT EVER GO UP TO THE ATTIC.**_

The emblazoned words across the paper were in all caps, making it evident that this was one of the most important- if not _the_ most important- rules of the hotel.

 _The Phantasmagoria Hotel thanks you for your cooperation. Enjoy your stay!_

"Probably won't, but thanks..." Jesse stared at the paper, a majorly disturbed look on her face. "Is this a prank? Why would the hotel staff even print these sorts of rules...?"

Now that she thought about it, this _had_ to be a prank. No hotel would _actually_ have some of these things as rules. Yeah... probably one of the hotel staff members was a huge prankster. The owner of the room had probably gotten a huge kick out of the sheets and brought them home. Yeah, that made sense.

A sudden skip of doubt in Jesse's mind.

... right?

Her introspective thoughts were disrupted by a much louder rumble of thunder. Jesse looked up, thinking for a moment as she glanced absentmindedly at the rain now lashing the windows relentlessly, before slipping the sheet of paper into her pocket and leaving the room, quickly shutting the door behind her.

She could see if any of her friends knew what this 'Phantasmagoria' hotel place was. Probably not, but it never hurts to check.

What she didn't spot was the figure that literally materialized in the room a moment later, crossing their arms and tilting their head at the shutting door and the missing sheet on the desk.

"Hmm."

* * *

Jace dropped the huge comforter he'd discovered in one of the spare rooms on the bed. "Whoof! I didn't expect something made of feathers and cloth could be so _heavy_."

"I know, right?" Lukas chuckled, rubbing his back absentmindedly as he set down his stack of pillows.

"You boys are wimps," Petra told them with a laugh, chucking a pillow in their direction from where she was situated near a couch. Lukas turned to deny this fact, but managed to get a pillow to the face.

It was an incredibly well-aimed pillow.

"Now, now, children, behave," Ellegaard told them teasingly, adding a comforter to the Order's couch before moving to add one of the extras to Ivor's. "I'm sure he's gotten sidetracked making potions in the basement... he probably won't min-"

Right as she put the comforter onto the chair, one of the blue figures literally popped into existence, the comforter dropping into place on top of her as if she was actually taking up space.

Ariza was slumped in the armchair, a book resting on the arm of the chair with one hand keeping it trapped in place as she snoozed. Her chest rose and fell with each deep breath, steadily and slowly.

Ellegaard glanced at Lukas, Petra, and Jace with wide eyes, as if confirming that she wasn't hallucinating Ariza just literally _appearing_ on the chair. Magnus had been in the middle of throwing some more pillows onto the couch, but he stopped, as if Ariza was _actually_ able to sense their presence in the room and he didn't want to wake her up. Em paused in her own task, a huge pile of blankets and pillows piled up in her arms, poised to dump the contents on the floor and waiting to see if Ariza was going to wake up or something.

Suddenly, Ariza's hand twitched.

"Mmm..." Her brow furrowed. "I- no..." She shifted a bit, shoulders trembling. "I don't want..."

Silence for a moment as her teeth gritted, her entire body starting to go tense in her sleep. "I'm sorry..." she murmured in her sleep, rolling over slightly. "I tried, I-" her breath caught. "No. No. No, of course I didn't want you to- Em, I didn't-"

Em's head snapped around to glance at Ariza a little more urgently.

"I tried, I really _did_ , of course I would never-" Ariza's breathing was becoming more heavy. "- Em, of course I would never want you to _die_!"

Shoulders tensed throughout the room.

"I thought I was fixing things. I tried to fix things!" Ariza gasped in her sleep, her entire body tensing even more than it already had. "I didn't think it was going to happen, you told me to fix things, and I-I t-t-tr _ied_ \- you told me- Em, _no_ , don't go _in_ there! _Don't get in that thing_ , Em-!"

Suddenly, a blast of thunder thundered throughout the room, and Ariza shot upright simultaneously, making Ellegaard leap away as if she was some sort of dangerous flame or something. " _NO!_ " she screamed, eyes flying open to reveal, that for a second, her irises were glowing slightly, a flood of tears spilling over out of her eyes down her cheeks.

Her breath caught as Ariza's eyes darted around the room, noticing none of the real figures standing there staring at her as she tried to regain her bearings.

"No. No. No, no, no, no, no," she whispered, over and over in a bizarre, frantic mantra, putting her hands to her head as she tried to steady her breathing. "No. Em's- Em's gonna be fine. Emily will be great, she will be fine. I can still fix this. I can still fix it. I can still-" Ariza's voice broke, and her eyes seemed to flicker red slightly. Something on her shoulder twitched.

When she looked up again, her eyes were wide, and with that desperate expression on her face combined with her wide eyes, Ariza looked nearly insane. "I _have_ to fix it."

And with that, she disappeared from sight.

There was an extremely long, extremely uncomfortable silence in the room as they stared at the spot Ariza had been occupying.

This... vision. Or memory. Or whatever it was supposed to be.

It had never been this sinister before.

Before anyone could say anything else, Ivor came back in, setting an armful of potions on one of the couches to avoid dropping them all. "Hullo, made some potions, what did I miss?" he asked in a single breath as he tried to keep the potions from all toppling over and smashing.

Ellegaard opened her mouth to tell him, and then shut it, unsure how to phrase it. She began again a few seconds later, but then shut her mouth again, unsurely.

And then suddenly, the lights flickered, and then shut off with a loud, mechanical groaning. The screen seemed to be on, but it was still just a black screen. The only reason they could tell it was even on was that it was emitting the slightest glow. Even so, it was so very pitch black in the room that you could've flailed a hand half an inch from their nose and they wouldn't have been able to see it.

"Whoa!" Em exclaimed, blinking rapidly to try to adjust her eyes to the darkness. "What the heck just happened?"

"The thunderstorm must've knocked out the power a little bit," Ellegaard said shakily. "Uh, does anyone have a flashlight, potions of Night Vision, anything?"

"I, er, I might, but, ah..." Ivor shifted a bit. Was that the sound of soft footsteps, or just rain drumming on the roof? "I can't see where the potions are, let alone what type they are. I usually have to rely on smell, but if I can't even tell where the potions are, I might just end up smashing them all."

Jace suddenly yelped. "Petra, don't brush me like that!"

"What are you talking about? I'm over here," Petra called from where she'd been standing before the lights had all blown out.

"Lukas, is that you, then?"

"No, I'm about ten feet from you-" Lukas got cut off by Jace letting out another high-pitched yelp.

"Something brushed against the bottom of my arm this time! And it's way colder than just now!"

Footsteps seemed to sound near Em, and the burly girl whirled around, eyes narrowing a bit. "Hey... is someone there?" she called into the darkness, but got no answer.

"Did you hear something, Em?" Lukas called from where he was sitting on the floor- he'd been knocked down earlier by Petra's pillow.

A beam of light suddenly flickered to life on the floor, illuminating Jace's legs, Reuben nudging it with a snuffle. Jace picked up the flashlight and shone it around the room, looking around uncertainly. "I... didn't bring a flashlight earlier. Did you, Lukas?" Jace shone it around experimentally, making Lukas wince as Jace inadvertently shone it right into his eyes.

"Uh, no, I didn't."

"Then..." Jace stared uncertainly at the flashlight, before there was another flicker, a loud hum, and the lights came back on, illuminating the troubled expressions of everyone in the room.

Was someone else in there with them?

* * *

 **A/N: A lot shorter than the previous chapter, but this was just a bit of a introduction to the Episode 6 arc.**

 **Get ready to see more than enough suspense, mystery, and maybe a touch of horror than this story really needs. x3**

 **Oh, since I've finally done it...**

 **Time for y'all to meet Azira. Warning; Azira is me... but she curses a _lot_. And flirts a lot. And is really horny. And doesn't wear a jacket. And has a tattoo. And only comes out when I'm really mad.**

 **...**

 **Basically the opposite of me xD**

 **So, uh... yeah, this is Azira. :3**

 **Azira: 'Sup f*ckers.**

 **Be polite.**

 **Azira: That is being polite.**

 **No, that's- well, actually, now that I think about it...**

 **Azira: See? Told you, b-**

 **Haha, okay, shut up and go away. Or do you want me to take away your job as the narrator?**

 **Azira: You wouldn't.**

 **I would.**

 **Azira: ...**

 **Azira: F*ck I can't tell when you're bluffing. Fine. See all you b*tches later.**

 **AZIR- ah forget it... Anyway, if you wanna see Azira's profile pic, check out my DeviantArt, I posted it yesterday x3**

 **Oh.** **If anyone can correctly guess where the inky stuff came from, well, kudos to them.**

 **RQTC: GUYS GUYS GUYS MCSM SEASON 2 IS CONFIRMED I THINK AND I'M GETTING WAY TOO EXCITED SQUEEEEEE**

 **the indecisive bird: Yee :3 / Actually, there is a reason besides creeping them all out so much xD / ...? I'm confused too... xD / x3**

 **LunarStarsMoons: (laughs) Sleep can be irritating. / Heehee x3 / No violence involved. Just me screaming like a banshee xD / (nods) / I KNOW RIGHT**

 **homeworkoverload: You're the creator, you traitor, hey! / I think so x3 / I think TellTale only makes games on certain platforms, but I'm not sure which ones...**

 **Emily The Avenger: (laughs) I have destroyed her.**

 **sailor . mikuchan: Oh, you'll see~**

 **LittleAngelbun: (laughs) Congratulations, dear. :3 / (laughs) / Not a tumblr... like a Wordpress or a Blogspot or something. Oh xD / Yes indeedy x3**

 **CrystalTearsofFaith: I laughed when I made that name up lol / Yeah, but I got pissed too. / Yep!**

 **RapidSammi: xD I did too**

 **BeliTheGhoti0304: Finally xD / Nahh it's fine you'll never piss me off. / Not _actual_ murderers... (thinks) ... well, actually...**

 **InsaneAcrobat: Since I only know about 7 and just repeat them, definitely the portals. There ARE a lot of cushions, but there are definitely more portals. / x3 / Cool :3 / Bai!**

 **LegoGirl794: You are right, especially since I don't have any siblings xD / (laughs) Yes, that was a fun chapter to write. / (laughs) He already had one when he said 'don't noogie the blonde'.**

 **Rabbits rule: Same here. / ... / It's fine. Thank you.**

 **SofiaTheWriter88: (smiles cheerfully) / Nah, it's fine. I don't mind!**

 **RavenBlaze4850: Thanks! / (grins) / No. If anyone can correctly guess where it came from, well, kudos to them. (cough) It's really obvious if you take a look at Azira's profile pic... / Yay! / Er, nope. Are they good?**

 **AquaK13: (blinks) ... what? / Yes, it is a person. :3 / I know, right? I did the same. It was so fun~ / (grins) / Bai!**

 **x.X. A.L. X.x**


	109. Twin Moons World

Jesse had come back into the room and showed the 'rules' around to everyone else as they trickled in. Try as they might, though, none of them could remember hearing anything about this 'Phantasmagoria' hotel before. Eventually, Jesse just stuck it back in her pocket, and they decided to come back to it later, after finishing the episode.

Another thing they decided to come back to when it was at a more godly hour in the day was when Petra tugged Gabriel and Isa aside and whispered something to them, before they nodded and she approached Jesse and told her that they needed to meet sometime tomorrow. Jesse had no idea what they were getting at, but you know.

As everyone trickled back into the room, they all shared what had been going on earlier. The Ancient Architects hadn't noticed anything out of the ordinary, although Otto did recall that one of the portraits seemed to be staring at them while they prepared some food. Gabriel and Soren returned last, sounding a little out of breath and explaining that they'd heard something whispering in one of the hallways, therefore having gotten a bit freaked out and sprinted pell-mell to get back to the living room.

Right now, though, she was a bit preoccupied with being half wrapped in a blanket like a cinnamon roll, with the other half tented over Lukas's head and wrapped around the two of them.

They both chucked a pillow at Gill when he told them to 'get a room'.

Jace had a head resting on Petra's shoulder, the blankets wrapped around them both so tightly they looked like they were wrapped in some sort of cocoon, although there was a little hole for Reuben to stick his head out of to watch the episode. The other occupants of the room were curled up in their own blankets, having changed into some pajamas.

Jesse had joined up with Petra, Olivia and Maya while they changed into some pajamas themselves, all of them politely averting their gaze from her back when Jesse pulled on her own set.

When they were all ready, Isa, who'd somehow gotten ahold of the remote in between the previous episode and the start of this one, picked it up and pressed the play button.

The screen loaded for a bit, before fading in to show a small stack of Blaze Rods on the ground. " _Okay... okay, that should be good,_ " Petra said slowly, twitching one into place, before sitting back on her heels and snapping her fingers.

The Blaze Rods all erupted into a little makeshift campfire, crackling cheerfully as if it had been going for hours. Petra made a pleased grin and sat back down, shifting her weight so that she was sitting on the ground and not her heels.

"Okay," Gabriel shook his head with a little smile, " _now_ I'm a little impressed."

Jesse was watching the fire absentmindedly, stroking Lukas. The ocelot hybrid was curled up like a huge cat against Jesse's leg as he snoozed, tail and ears twitching happily. He also appeared to be asleep, and was purring like a carburetor at the same time.

Ivor glanced up from where he was poking through his bag next to her, trying to make some new potions without the brewing stand and having limited success, before smirking and shaking his head a bit. " _Honestly, he never fell asleep when anyone else was petting him. What makes you so different?_ " he joked, before muttering a soft swear as his hand slipped and the empty potion bottle he'd been holding dropped.

Jesse's middle arm slipped out and caught it easily before it could shatter on the floor as she stuck her tongue out at Ivor playfully. " _What? Ya jealous?_ " she teased, before passing it back and going back to petting Lukas.

There was a soft crunch, and Jesse looked up. The screen switched to show the Blaze hybrid biting into a black thing that the audience soon realized was a piece of toast that had been burned to a crisp.

" _You really love burned food more than anybody else I know,_ " Jesse said with an amused shake of her head. " _It's a bit odd how you can toast an_ apple _and eat it as happily as if it were something like- I dunno- cake. I really don't understand your eating habits._ "

Petra looked up from where she was eating her 'toast'. She broke it in half, a little rain of black particles dropping into her lap, before holding it out to Jesse. " _Want one?_ "

Jesse looked at the burned bread for a moment, weighing her options, before shrugging and taking it. " _Sure._ "

Next to her, Ivor pulled out a potion of something that looked like an inky, navy blue. Petra arched her eyebrows at him. " _Potion of Night Vision?_ " she asked, nonchalantly.

"Do they really need it though? With the campfire and the portals combined, it looks like the hallway is plenty bright enough," Soren mumbled, softly enough so that only the rest of the Order could hear it. They nodded in agreement.

" _No, energy drink,_ " Ivor replied, before taking a sip and going back to attempting his potion brewing.

Real-Ivor resisted grinning a bit at some of the audience members' bemused faces.

Onscreen, the man glanced up from his potion as he added a slice of glistering melon to the bottle, before corking it and giving it a good shake. " _You know, you liked being petted back then, too,_ " he said. It took the spider hybrid a couple seconds to realize he was looking at her.

" _Oh. Yeah, I mean, I remembered a while back... but, you know, people hardly ever pet me, except for you occasionally back then. And now, now that I think about it,_ " Jesse added, thoughtfully. With that, she took a bite out of her piece of burned 'toast'.

Lukas petted Jesse on the head cheerfully, and she snuggled into his hug even more at that. He looked back up at the screen, hiding a grin that was tugging at his lips insistently.

Onscreen, Petra crunched down on the last of her bread, gold eyes sparkling with excitement. " _Ooh, Jesse likes being petted? Lemme try!_ " and the Blaze hybrid practically vaulted over to where Jesse was sitting.

Both Real-and-Onscreen Ivor smirked in amusement at that.

Jesse also smirked a little, before it faded as Petra plopped down next to her and started patting her back lightly. The amusement turned into a glazed, dreamy sort of look. " _Oh, that... that feels..._ " her lower arms kept stroking Lukas's hair while her back slumped a bit, a dreamy smile coming over her face. " _... that feels nice,_ " she said dreamily.

Petra grinned at Ivor, the latter looking rather surprised. This was probably the first smile she'd sent the potionologist in a long time. " _Heh, you weren't kidding, Ivor._ "

"You look so happy like that," Mevia grinned at Jesse, gesturing at the screen. "Maybe one of us should try petting you."

"Noooo," Jesse jokingly buried herself under her blankets, squirming so that she was practically right up against Lukas's chest. The blonde glanced down at the petite girl who was now pretty much perching on his lap, before jokingly leaning forward and resting his chin on her head.

Jace glanced at Petra before snuggling even closer to her. Petra rolled her eyes and patted him on the back. Her lips totally weren't twitching in the tiniest smile ever. Nope. Not at all. I have no idea what you're talking about.

Now Onscreen-Jesse was actually starting to _purr_ , but her chest vibrated slightly as she did it, humming absentmindedly and making it sound like a strange, vibrating lullaby. It was... surprisingly soothing.

Onscreen-Ivor grinned lopsidedly before going back to his brewing. The screen faded to a little later, where he was still carefully fiddling with his bag, when he heard an odd humming sound and he looked up.

Jesse had managed to slump right over Lukas sleepily, lower arms resting at her sides with her head on his back, upper arms on Lukas's head and still stroking absentmindedly. Petra had fallen asleep leaning on the two, hand resting on Jesse's back as she breathed in and out steadily. The fire had died to embers that glowed and dimmed in sync with Petra's breathing.

The potionologist shook his head slightly with a smile, eyes softening slightly as he watched the cluster of hybrids.

Real-Ivor let a soft smile creep across his own face. Had Real-Jesse seen, she would've innocently pointed it out and then made him scoff and pretend he had no idea what she was talking about. If Lukas had noticed, he'd just have given Ivor a smug sort of grin and then gone back to the screen without making a huge fuss. And if Petra had spotted him, she would've probably cracked some kind of joke, eyes still hard when she regarded him.

Good thing they were fixated on this scene.

Onscreen, Ivor moved more slowly and quietly, making sure not to clink the bottles together as he put them away. His eyes kept flickering up to the hybrids, as if worried that he might wake one up by accident.

When he'd finally finished, he shifted closer, as if on impulse, and brushed a lock of hair out of Jesse's face.

There was a loud squeal in the room, and everyone looked around before noticing Nell, her hands clasped together and stars practically glowing in her eyes. "That is so _cute_!" she squealed.

"Wha- no it's not- it's not _cute_ -" Ivor spluttered, his face going bright pink in embarrassment.

"I dunno, I think it's pretty adorable," Harper grinned, before realizing what she'd just said, and feeling her cheeks go a little red.

She didn't notice the way Otto glanced at her appraisingly, a tiny smile forming on his own face.

That was an idea.

Onscreen, the spider hybrid stirred a bit, a small smile forming on her face. Ivor shook his head, a smile forming on his own face, before leaning against the wall and crossing his arms. A moment later, his shoulders slumped a bit, and his breathing evened out.

The screen blacked out.

"Oh my Notch. That was so cute," Maya was grinning like the Chesire Cat.

"Right?!" Nell agreed instantly.

"Nyeh," Lukas mumbled, although he really didn't seem all that displeased. Nor did Jesse, who was still leaning into his chest and looking very comfortable about this fact.

Petra scowled at the two of them however, feeling a faint pink blush forming on her cheeks. "That was _not_ cute."

"Of course it wasn't," Jace said, looking up at her soothingly. The redhead relaxed, and had just gone back to staring at the screen when he tacked on, "It was absolutely adorable."

Petra turned her scowl onto Jace, who just smiled beatifically back at her. "You know, Jace, you used to be the most agreeable cinnamon roll child ever."

Axel lost it, cackling helplessly at that nickname. Olivia couldn't help but join in, muffling her giggles by biting her knuckles and shaking a bit, shoulders trembling as she tried to repress her laughter.

"What ever happened to you?"

Jace beamed at Petra innocently. "I suppose I've been hanging around you too much," he told her, cheerfully.

She had to admit that that was probably true.

The screen faded back in to show the four of them looking around the hallway. Ivor squinted at one, before glancing over his shoulder. " _What do you all think about this one?_ " he called out, pointing at one of the portals.

Jesse came over to take a look at it. Olive green swirled within a doorway made of two rings of gold. It looked rather nice, actually.

" _Mmm... maybe. Petra?_ " she called, pointing at the portal and arching her eyebrow as if to ask what the redhead thought of it.

Petra came over and took a look, squinting at it for a good three minutes before declaring, " _It seems pretty good. What do you think, Lukas?_ " She directed the last part at Lukas (duh), who'd come over to see what the group was looking at.

Lukas's nose twitched a bit, and then he frowned and crossed his arms, looking slightly disconcerted. " _I dunno. I can't smell anything. Usually if it's a Nether portal, it smells like... burning stuff, and if it's an End portal it smells sickly sweet. But I can't smell much off this one. Just some night air. Maybe some rotten flesh? Nothing really out of the ordinary._ "

Jesse shrugged, a small smile forming over her face. " _Sounds good enough for me._ " And with that, she stepped straight forward, the screen blacking out as she passed through the portal.

The screen faded back in to show a misty forest, the groans of zombies puncturing the night wind and the slightly eerie music. Slowly, the screen panned down to show the arch of a graveyard. It abruptly zoomed in to show a little bat hanging upside down from the arch.

"Awww it's adorable," Jesse cooed a bit.

Reuben snuffled from where he was still sitting in her lap. She looked down at him and amended, "Of course, you're still the cutest Reuben."

Isa cleared her throat. "I actually think _Benedict_ takes that role," she corrected Jesse. In her lap, the little white chicken clucked away.

"Nah, I think Winslow beats both of 'em out. Only by a little margin, of course," Cassie added.

"I vote Reuben," Lukas said, managing to extract his arm from the cocoons of blankets and raising it in sync with Jace and Petra. Axel and Olivia followed suit quickly.

"I vote on the bat," Em replied teasingly.

"Can we have a vote on the cutest pet _after_ the episode?" Hadrian asked, not even bothering to disguise the heavy impatience in his voice. "I'd rather not miss anything here."

"Sorry," the three women chorused, and they all returned to the screen a second later.

The bat fluttered its wings, before taking off and soaring through the sky. It didn't get very far when Jesse suddenly materialized and hit it with her face on the way down with a shriek.

Everyone winced.

Petra, Lukas, and then Ivor also materialized out of thin air and crashed to the ground with yells of their own as well. A moment later, Jesse got back up, batting the bat off of her face gently, the bat flying off with not too much damage done to it.

Well, hopefully.

The spider hybrid looked around, the screen panning around to show mist and fog curling around them and clouding some of their surroundings from sight. Trees with vines draped upon them were pretty evident, though, and they seemed to be standing in the graveyard the audience had spotted earlier.

" _Well, this isn't creepy at all,_ " the narrator's voice spoke up for the first time in a while, sarcasm heavily lacing her- their- whichever- voice.

Jesse glanced up at the sky, before giving their surroundings another quick look-over. " _Um, okay, guys, I'm seeing grass, forests, ground in all directions, all pretty good signs so far..._ "

" _Ahem._ "

Jesse turned to see Ivor, who'd just tapped on her shoulder, his face looking slightly paler than usual, before he pointed. Jesse followed his pointing finger... and let out a long sigh at the sight of two moons hovering in the sky.

"Wait- but that's _our_ world!" Lizzie exclaimed, staring at the screen in astonishment.

"Wait, we're in _your_ world now?" Ivor exclaimed as well, twisting around to get a good look at the pink-haired girl.

Dan nodded frantically. "Yeah, we have two moons."

"I guess we could call it the Twin Moon World...?"

Everyone looked at Soren.

"What? It's not a bad name!"

"I vote yes on Twin Moon World," Lukas said meekly, raising his hand timidly.

"I vote yes as well," Jesse nodded from where she was still ensnarled in the blankets.

" _A-_ ha," Jesse sighed uncomfortably, putting her lower arms on her hips with a frown on her face.

" _Verdict says?_ " Petra asked as she drew level with Jesse and Ivor, "definitely _not our world._ " And she proceeded to elbow the ocelot hybrid next to her as he came up as well. " _You owe me two iron, Lukas._ "

Lukas rolled his eyes with a good-natured grin and tossed her the two bars of iron, which Petra snatched out of the air flawlessly. " _There ya go, Petra, your two iron._ "

Jesse shook her head at them, smirking slightly. " _You two bet on the outcome?_ " she asked, amused.

" _Yeah. You didn't notice?_ " the narrator asked, sounding way too amused about that.

Jesse ignored them as Lukas shrugged. " _We were bored,_ " he offered by way of explanation.

The spider hybrid raised her own arms in a shrug herself, a playful smile on her face. " _Well- I'm sure you guys can hear it._ "

Petra tilted her head with a confused look, scratching her head slightly with her free hand as she stowed the two iron away with her other hand. " _Uhh... spooky forest?_ "

A good two-thirds of the audience repressed loud snorts at that.

Onscreen, the spider hybrid stifled a laugh at that herself. " _No... well, yes, that too._ "

Several people were now giggling a bit at this.

" _But, no, that's not what I was talking about. It's the sound of a new adventure! I bet this place is going to be_ awesome," Jesse said, gently pumping one of her fists with a grin.

" _I hope you're right..._ " Lukas's smile faded. " _It's just... I'm worried about Axel and Olivia._ "

Mentioned people exchanged a slightly surprised look.

Onscreen, Petra seemed to share their confusion, blinking at Lukas almost owlishly. " _What? Why?_ " she asked, sounding bewildered.

" _Well, if they followed us back to that Old Builder temple-_ "

"Gaaah, there it is again..."

" _-and went through that portal-_ "

" _Oh..._ " Ivor winced a bit as he realized what Lukas was getting at. " _They'd arrive at Sky City... to find it overflowing with monsters._ "

Aiden winced at some of the looks he was now receiving.

" _Well... they_ are _basically half-monsters themselves. And they don't have to worry about all the citizens, like we did, so... I feel like they'd be okay,_ " Jesse said, thoughtfully. " _I'm not sure they'd follow us anyway. They don't know where we went... I mean, I left them a note, but-_ "

" _Your handwriting isn't exactly what one would call beautiful,_ " Petra finished, grinning at Jesse.

Real-Jesse made an indignant huffing sound. It would've been much more impactful if she hadn't been grinning widely the whole time.

Jesse sent Petra a jokingly deadpan look. " _Geeee, thanks,_ " she drawled, making Lukas chuckle a little and Ivor snicker.

When Ivor recovered from his amusement, " _But yes. Besides, I'm sure if they_ do _follow us, they can handle themselves. They'll probably find the next portal, like we did-_ "

" _And hopefully, we'll all be back together again soon,_ " Jesse finished the sentiment, smiling cheerfully at the rest of the group.

"Awww, thanks Jesse," and Axel reached over to ruffle Jesse's hair. The latter retreated into her cocoon of blankets with a little 'meh', to most of the audience's amusement.

" _We can hope,_ " Petra nodded agreeably enough.

Ivor raised his hand like a schoolboy. " _I, for one, vote that we not be so hasty to try and get out of here. Who knows what sorts of treasures this new world could hold?_ " He lowered it a moment later with a sigh, looking around them. " _Besides. Unless the next portal is... disguised as a tombstone, I'm not seeing anything like it anywhere._ "

"Good point," Sparklez mumbled with a frown. "How are they supposed to get back out if there isn't a return portal?"

Jesse tapped her lip. "Well, the return one in Sky City was hidden underground... maybe we need to dig our way out or something...?" she suggested, giving the tiniest shrug.

Stampy shrugged, shifting a bit uncomfortably at the mention of the flint and steel.

Onscreen, Jesse just let out a sigh of agreement, looking around. The screen panned around her surroundings, going over a small white pedestal- before zeroing back in on it. The spider hybrid squinted at it for a few moments, before glancing uncertainly at Petra. " _You guys seeing some... sort of thing over there?_ " she asked, training her eyes back on it tentatively.

Petra squinted at it as well, gold eyes glowing slightly as she attempted to get a better look at it herself. " _Yeah.. what_ is _that?_ " she wondered, at last.

As Petra, Lukas, and Ivor moved closer, Jesse glanced up at the sky. " _So, do you know what it is?_ " she whispered, dropping her voice to a lower volume.

" _Yes._ "

" _Are you gonna tell me what it is?"_

" _No, not really._ "

" _Thought not,_ " Jesse sighed a bit. " _Not surprised, but- you know, never hurts to try._ " She moved along, carefully tiptoeing along until they reached the white pedestal, revealing the object atop it to be a book floating on top of the smooth white block. Actually, it might've been a tombstone... who knows?

The spider hybrid slowly reached out and took the book, gingerly opening it. " _It says... 'invitation',_ " she read off the book.

" _So far so good,_ " the narrator commented. Jesse's eyes scanned down the page a bit more.

" _And then... 'read immediately, your life depends on it!_ '" the spider hybrid exclaimed, looking a bit more startled at the end.

"Oh. Uhh..." Slab scratched his head. "That's not good."

" _Annnd things just took a downward turn,_ " the narrator replied.

Jesse cleared her throat, beginning to read through the next part. " _'Greetings, traveler'-_ " and she was suddenly cut off by a series of loud groans. She looked up, the screen switching to show the hordes of zombies slowly approaching them.

"Annd that's even worse," Stacy said, flatly.

Onscreen-Lukas let out a rather irritated sigh, tail twitching slightly. " _Yep, that- seems about right._ "

Petra whipped out her sword, flicking it right at a zombie and knocking it over. " _Keep reading, Jesse! We've got your back!_ " she shouted, she, Ivor, and Lukas turning around to face the zombies as Jesse looked back at the book, a new sense of urgency entering her eyes. Her arms flicked out her sword and held it at the ready, and she focused her attention almost completely on the book.

" _'I humbly invite you to my mansion for an evening of food and festivity with your fellow adventurers!'_ " Jesse read quickly, hopping back up onto the pedestal as a zombie halfheartedly swiped at her, using her sword to slice off a zombie's head.

Cassie's eyes widened.

Oh yeah.

 _Oh yeah._

" _That's-_ " Lukas grunted as his claws raked through a zombie's guts. " _-odd._ "

" _Yeah, weird, right-?_ Whoa!" Jesse yelped onscreen as she noticed the next zombie approaching, lashing out and smashing right through it.

" _Toss it here!_ " Petra shouted, her area looking- for the moment- clear of zombies.

Jesse shut the book and tossed it in an underhand throw towards Petra, the book sailing in a lazy arc through the air and over the zombies, before landing in Petra's hand. Petra spun around and swiped through another zombie that had been attempting to sneak up on her.

"Cool," Nell grinned.

Ivor leaped up onto another tombstone, flailing his arms in an attempt to not fall off and chucking potions of harm at zombies while trying not to hit the hybrids in the faces with them. One potion barely missed Jesse's face. " _Petra, anytime now! You can read, right?!_ " he barked at her.

Real-Petra scowled at Ivor.

" _Hang on, hang on!_ " Petra snapped in return, eyes scanning the pages so intently that it was a bit of a surprise that the book wasn't in flames by now, jabbing her sword into an approaching zombie, " _need to find Jesse's place- got it!_ "

Another zombie approached. Jesse lunged forward, Petra dropping to her knees suddenly as Jesse stabbed her sword straight into the zombie's face, going right through its eye and making it explode on the spot. " _'Come to my home on the hill, just follow the path. Please look out for zombies-'_ " Petra brought her sword back, Jesse diving to her left as it came thrusting forward and skewered yet another zombie. " _'Sincerely, the Host.'_ "

"Who's this 'Host', do you think?" Gill asked, leaning forward a bit.

"Good question," Jace told him, letting out a long breath. It sounded a bit as if he'd been holding his breath for an extensive period of time.

Petra corrected herself. She, Lukas, Jesse, and Ivor had just been in imminent danger. Of course he would've been holding his breath for a rather long time.

* * *

 **A/N: CRAP CRAP CRAP CRAP NOW I WANNA MAKE A STEVEN UNIVERSE CROSSOVER WITH MCSM GAAAAAAHHHHHH WHY**

 **Welp, anyway, things are going pretty smoothly. Almost done with all the character reveals from Phantasmagoria :3**

 **The real fun for me hasn't started yet x3**

 **RQTC: Has anyone heard anything about Season 2 of MCSM? Besides that the first episode is apparently called 'Hero in Residence'.**

 **RQTC2: Has ANYONE figured the code out yet?!**

 **Also. For the LAST TIME.**

 _ **EVERY STORY THAT IS NOT THIS ONE OR PHANTASMAGORIA IS ON HIATUS UNTIL THIS ONE IS COMPLETED.**_

 **I have already said this multiple times in previous chapters; this is the last time I will be saying it. Please do not ask again. If you do, you will be referred to Chapter 109.**

 **RWBYSTRQ: x3 / Thank you!**

 **LunarStarsMoons: (laughs) Sleep sucks sometimes. / Hehehe xD not really a 'little' reference xD / Right?!**

 **CrystalTearsofFaith: I KNOW RIGHT?! / (laughs) It's a little more intense than you might think.**

 **RapidSammi: Hehehe. x3 / HAHAHAHA OMG / Yes, I'm not joking. Look it up on Google. There are now results. x3 / Ah, cool. :3**

 **InsaneAcrobat: (laughs) I needed a way to get some hype off my chest. / I don't know about Azira. And we're not talking about MCSM Em here. They just happen to have a similar name. / No spoilers :3 / No, they are not sentient beings. / Yes, there is a season 2, but no one's actually said anything yet.**

 **Savannah-the-Caracal: (laughs) It's fine. :3 / Yep, people will be here xD / Oh! I'm glad you like it :3 / Gush all you like xD / Er, sure, if you'd like.**

 **S4SH4L4SH4theGaMeR101: (laughs) It's not too hard; just look it up on Google.**

 **AquaK13: Pillows are nice :3 / (laughs) I didn't actually realize that at first. Good job! / Azira isn't exactly what I would call 'nice'... / (laughs) Yep. / Bai!**

 **Guest: Read the above A/N.**

 **DarkPrincess2001: Hehehe xD**

 **Rabbits rule: Fluffy, no she doesn't. I would like to stay in the hotel too. xD / Yeah I like her.**

 **LittleAngelbun: No, no connection.**

 **the indecisive bird: I wanted to make some hype and introduce the one character that I really really love in it xD Even to those who've already met them in the character reveals. / Xes. (Did you figure out the code yet? If you didn't, here's the translated answer in a different code) Xdr.**

 **J.M.M: ... not correct. At all.**

 **SofiaTheWriter88: Yay! / Hehehe xD / Yes, I probably do xD / x3**

 **Seastorm25: Sort of...? / I'm not spoiling anything, but... Bnqqebr. / Yes. / You're not really supposed to xD**

 **LegoGirl794: Yeah hopefully xD No pressure or anything.**

 **RavenBlaze4850: Sort of xD / It's... more severe than Napstablook. / (grins) / Ooooh~ / (laughs) (fangirls with you) I was in school when I saw it and I was like "fjdk;afjdk;ajd;jfd" for half an hour. I was grinning like an idiot in the middle of Computer Graphics xD / Mmm, I see. There's a couple that match your description though...**

 **Baiii!**

 **x.X. A.L. X.x**


	110. Hype

Lukas rolled his eyes with a sarcastic scoff. " _Good warning._ "

Several members of the audience couldn't help but chuckle at the salty look on Lukas's face.

Jesse threw her arm up and pointed. " _The path's right over there!_ " she shouted, the screen moving to show a gravel path.

She was interrupted by a yelp as Ivor flailed his arms in an attempt to keep himself steady from where he was still standing on the tombstone, before failing altogether and toppling off-

Jesse lunged forward, landing on all eights, as Ivor suddenly slammed onto her back, making the spider hybrid grunt a bit as he moved his legs and then suddenly jerked a bit, looking startled. He looked down at Jesse, who glanced up at him, also looking slightly surprised, before making a grunting sound and bolting for the path, her eight limbs propelling her forward as a supreme speed.

Blaze Rods unfolded from Petra into the air, who hovered up... before blasting out of the area like a rocket, nearly making the already-running Lukas trip right onto a small trail of fire that she was leaving behind as she blasted along.

"That's... wow." Dan sat back a bit, blinking a few times. "That's... pretty darn fast."

Lukas dropped forward so that he was on all fours, sending a bit of gravel flying, before ignoring that and racing down the path after the other three.

" _I must say,_ " Ivor exclaimed, voice rising into a nervous squeak as his hands tightened on Jesse's hair (the spider hybrid winced but said nothing as she kept scuttling along), " _this is the highest concentration of zombies I've ever seen in one place!_ "

" _Well,_ " the narrator said slowly, as the screen switched to show hordes of zombies beginning to surround them, and I mean _hordes_. Easily at least a hundred zombies were walking towards the group from the sides, and there were plenty more in the back. To run away from the gravel path would mean almost-certain death, or at least a crap-ton of fighting. " _He's not wrong._ "

The whole audience gaped at the screen.

"That... uh... that's a lot of zombies," Gill said at last, blinking at the screen several times.

"That's weird, though..." Dan frowned at the screen, his lip poking out a little bit. "There aren't usually _that_ many zombies roaming around the place... it's usually just a normal number."

The other YouTubers nodded in return to that. Cassie just shifted a little bit, shifting her green eyes to keep staring at the screen.

"Wait- there _aren't_ that many zombies?" When they nodded at Axel, the burly boy threw his arms into the air, nearly making Olivia faceplant into him. "Well then where are all of these coming from?!"

"How would we know?" Sparklez mumbled.

" _You think this 'Host' is gonna be legit, Jesse?_ " Lukas puffed to the spider hybrid, sending gravel flying as he drew even with the scuttling spider hybrid. " _I just ask, because this place hasn't exactly been friendly so far._ "

Jesse glanced at him out of the corner of her green eye. " _I'm kinda suspicious too, Lukas,_ " she called back, " _this place kinda has 'trap' written all over it._ "

Cassie arched her eyebrow by the tiniest increment. It was subtle enough that none of the audience members noticed it.

Onscreen, the rest of the group shared rather doubtful looks at Jesse's words.

" _But we don't exactly have another option. It's the only thing we have to go on right now._ " She looked up, blinking in surprise a second later. The screen switched to show a huge mansion looming through the fog, although the one they were currently staying in probably looked just as good... though, now that they were really staring at it, it was probably a bit smaller.

There was a _bit_ of a main problem with getting to this mansion- as the screen panned back down, the path was being blocked by a groaning horde of zombies.

Jesse skidded to a stop, sending a wave of gravel flying everywhere as she kept herself from scuttling straight into the zombies. From upon Jesse's back, Ivor said drily, " _I'm going to go out on a limb, and say- That's the place we're looking for!_ "

"I bet twenty iron pieces that Ivor's right," Axel said, pointing at the screen.

"There is no one who's taking that bet, Axel."

" _Race ya guys there~_ " Petra said to them in a sing-song voice, also slowing to a stop but still hovering as she grinned at Jesse, the spider hybrid turning her head to look at Petra. Lukas skidded to a halt as well just behind the other two girls.

"Really? Is now really the time for a race?" Mevia grunted, sounding a little irritated at Petra's idea.

Petra shrugged, diplomatically ignoring the scowl on Mevia's face. "Hey, if the sea of zombies hadn't already motivated Jesse to start running, this definitely will."

Jace pouted at Petra, Jesse nodding in agreement with what he was saying. "I'm not _that_ competitive, Petra," he whined playfully.

Onscreen, Jesse grinned playfully at Petra, red and green eyes gleaming almost mischievously. " _Hope you're hungry, Petra._ "

" _Why?_ "

" _You're about to eat my dust!_ "

Petra rolled her gold eyes, a smirk spreading over her face. " _I... set myself up for that one, didn't I?_ "

Gabriel rubbed his head, a sheepish grin spreading over his face. "Yes, I'm... actually a little disappointed you did not see that coming."

Real-Petra stuck her tongue out at him, to the amusement of a good portion of the audience.

" _Yes._ " Jesse nodded, looking very pleased with herself. " _Yes, you did._ "

And then they took off.

Jesse watched Petra shoot straight up onto a higher ledge, Lukas following, but she turned her attention back to the path a couple seconds later and kept racing along the path.

" _You're not going to try to get up there?_ " the narrator asked. Jesse glanced up, dropping her voice to a lower volume.

" _I would, but if I tried, Ivor would probably yank my hair out by the roots to keep himself from falling off._ "

Magnus let out a loud snort, subsiding slightly when Ellegaard elbowed him in the ribs, although she was still giggling a bit herself. Gabriel had twisted his face into a slightly amusing expression to keep from laughing, while Soren was biting his knuckles in an attempt to keep himself from laughing.

" _Wait, but I thought once you 'lock on' when you're riding the spider, it'll just sit there?_ " the narrator questioned, over the sound of the Order's giggles and the moans of the zombies.

" _You would be correct about that._ "

" _Oh._ " A thoughtful pause. " _Doesn't Ivor know that?_ "

" _He should, but he'd probably still do it out of panic._ "

" _Wow, what a wuss._ "

The Order's laughter was now much more audible. And slightly hysterical.

They probably deserved the pillow that Ivor chucked in their direction.

" _Be polite,_ " Jesse scolded in a low voice, before returning her attention to the road- and gasping in surprise as a zombie started to approach them. Of course, being the one that Ivor was riding, she could hardly yank out her sword and hit it-

The sound of a sword being drawn hit her ears, and it fell to the side before puffing into smoke. Jesse grinned slightly and kept going. " _Hah- thanks, Ivor!_ "

" _Don't mention_ _it._ " Ivor gave Jesse a lopsided grin, before his eyes flicked up, widening in shock with his smile falling right off of his face. _"Crap. Look ou-_ "

Jesse suddenly dropped forward a bit, a shocked look entering her eyes as her hands apparently met no ground beneath her, before suddenly tumbling head-over-heels and splashing down. The screen zoomed out to show that she'd accidentally scuttled straight into a river. Ivor kicked to stay afloat, his foot slamming into the back of the spider hybrid's head as he accidentally came loose from Jesse's back.

Real-Ivor winced. "Ouch. Sorry, Jesse."

"'S fine," the smaller girl waved it off, not looking all that bothered by it, although she did wince sympathetically and rub the back of her head absentmindedly.

Onscreen, the spider hybrid's eyes glazed over a bit from the impact of the kick, before snapping back into focus. Her head broke the surface of the water, the girl spluttering and coughing to get the water out of her lungs, before she looked frantically around. Zombies were attempting to get ahold of the two, but because they're stupid, they were just walking straight into the river, forcing Jesse to swim out of the way of several.

Olivia was literally bouncing in place, biting her nails anxiously. "Be careful!" she gasped, forgetting- as several of the other audience members had before her- that the onscreen characters couldn't hear her.

A spider stared at Jesse and cocked its head as she floated past it, but otherwise did nothing. Jesse let out a sigh of relief, before her head snapped back up at the sound of gushing water.

Ivor paddled over to Jesse, a worried look coming over his face. " _You hear that, right? It almost sounds like a..._ " His eyes slowly slid sideways, the screen panning along with it to show a huge waterfall, zombies disappearing straight over the edge.

Petra proceeded to disentangle herself from the blankets she was cocooned in and literally flipped the coffee table with a muttered swear.

Axel, Lukas and Jace reached out and put it back upright as the episode kept playing.

" _... waterfall,_ " Jesse finished with a groan, making for the side of the river. However, a zombie managed to float right in front of her, Jesse kicking backwards in an attempt to get away from it- before remembering, _oh yeah_ , she was about to go over a waterfall- and right when she seemed to realize that, she went pitching right over the waterfall.

"Jesse!" Lizzie gasped, twisting her hands in her blanket anxiously.

"Jesse, you have the worst luck... _ever_ ," Olivia gaped at the screen.

Hadrian looked supremely unconcerned about the whole situation. In fact he was watching the episode with a completely blank face.

Mevia frowned at Hadrian's unconcerned expression and leaned in. "You're alright with just watching a kid die without respawn zones?" she asked, in a low enough voice that only Otto and Hadrian could catch it.

Sure, Mevia wasn't a _great_ person or anything... but... well, watching someone die in a situation where they couldn't come back to life... that bothered her. Perhaps more than it should've. For a few seconds, she wondered if she was getting soft.

Hadrian shrugged nonchalantly, not seeming to see an issue. "She's survived a Witherstorm and being thrown off a city in the sky, Mevia. If she can survive that, I don't think a little waterfall should be too much of an issue."

Mevia looked back at the screen, lips twisting uncomfortably as she regarded the screen. "... well, when you put it that way..."

Otto watched Mevia for a few more seconds before silently returning his attention to the scene playing on the screen.

Jesse's arms shot out instinctively, seizing a vine that was hanging on the cliffs next to the waterfall, before her lower arms caught Ivor by the wrist as he came over a few seconds later, the man doing an inadvertent flip as he came to a jerking, dangling halt.

" _Get on my back!_ " Jesse shouted, eyes flicking up- the vine she was clinging to was starting to break, possibly from the combined weight of the two of them.

"Oh Notch, oh Notch, oh Notch, oh Notch," Stacy was chanting, bouncing in place on the couch and inadvertently causing the others to bounce in place as well.

Perhaps Ivor caught the urgency of her tone, or maybe he'd noticed that the vine was breaking as well. Whatever the reason, he didn't question it or snap at her- he just climbed onto Jesse's back, before he yelped as he suddenly seemed to 'click' into place. The moment he did so, Jesse slammed her lower arms into the wall, releasing the vines, and shot up the wall like a bullet. (Ivor yelped and grabbed onto her hair again.) The literal second she reached the edge, her legs tensed, and she leaped straight up before throwing herself forward and landing with a huge _thud_ on solid ground.

And she was off again.

Em let out a relieved sigh, slumping back onto the couch and very nearly squishing Nell. "That was close."

"Way too close," Jace mumbled, absentmindedly extricating his arm from his cocoon of blankets and patting Jesse on the shoulder.

Olivia and Lukas nodded mutely in agreement.

Arrows came soaring at them, and Ivor glanced up before throwing himself forward, squeezing his eyes shut with a sound that sounded suspiciously like a squeak. The arrows went sailing straight over their heads and impaled the zombies in front and behind them, since both of them were staying close to the ground and racing along like a stray bullet. The skeletons on the 'bridge' over their heads began to reload, before a flashing blade smacked one on the edge out of the way. Petra charged onto the bridge, and, dropping into a slide, managed to knock all of the skeletons out of the way.

Nell grinned and pumped her fists."Awesome!"

Unfortunately, Jesse happened to be almost right beneath the bridge as the skeletons and zombies came raining down from the sky, and her head snapped up at the sight of them falling at her. " _Are you_ kidding _me?!_ "

"Not so awesome!"

Jesse narrowed her eyes, eyes shifting slightly as she considered her options, before glancing back at Ivor. " _Ivor!_ " she called, still scuttling forward rapidly.

He looked down at the spider hybrid, who continued, " _Panic!_ "

At that word, Ivor nodded, before shifting his legs...

And then throwing himself backwards.

"Oh my Notch!" Soren gasped, eyes widening. "Ivor! Are you _insane?!_ "

The potionologist did a quick roll, skidding to a halt, before flicking out a bottle and downing the contents. A second later, he began to run forward, bouncing higher and higher with each step, the spider hybrid's head snapping back forward before she tensed her limbs and leaped up and forward. The screen slowed down as Jesse unfolded from her scuttling position into a more loose-limbed one.

Her sword came flashing out, and she slowly drew it back, before the screen sped up again, the sword darting up, down, and left.

Five zombies poofed into smoke in midair, the spider hybrid suddenly going back into slow motion as she did a slow, lazy sort of flip in the air, Jesse flicking the sword back into place on her back, still going in slow motion as she made a lazy arc towards the ground. Behind her, Ivor tensed his knees and jumped.

The screen sped back up, and Jesse slammed back into the ground, landing in a running... well, scuttling position. Half a second later, Ivor landed back on top of Jesse, legs snapping into a 'locked' position.

"THAT WAS AWESOME!" Nell nearly screamed, blue eyes gleaming with excitement as she leaped out of her seat and hopped up and down several times.

"Oh my Notch, I _know_ , right?!" Stampy squealed, clapping his hands together and bouncing up and down in a hot buzz of excitement.

Dan smothered a grin. Looks like Stampy was fangirling a little bit.

Onscreen, the spider hybrid grinned up at Ivor before shooting at full speed at an approaching wall. " _Don't yank my hair, D-_ " Her cheeks suddenly flushed pink, the girl blinking once or twice as if she'd startled herself. " _\- Ivor._ "

Lukas's eyes narrowed a bit, unnoticed by the rest of the audience. There was that slip again...

"What were you about to call him?" Soren wondered.

Real-Jesse simply shrugged, leaning forward so that the rest of the audience wouldn't notice the blush forming on her cheeks.

With that, the spider hybrid nearly went at a ninety-degree angle to the ground and then slammed her palms onto the wall, quickly moving so that she was climbing right up the wall with little- or no- trouble at all. She leaped over the edge of the cliff, skidded to a halt- just as Petra glided to a landing a few seconds late, Lukas skidding to a stop as well and sending a wave of gravel skittering everywhere.

Jesse grinned as Ivor unlocked his legs and climbed back off. " _Nailed it!_ " she cheered victoriously.

Jace and Jesse both grinned. " _Yes!_ " Reaching out without even looking at each other, they gave each other a high-five.

" _Okay, okay,_ " and Petra gave her eyes a slight roll, a smirk on her face. " _You won that one, Jesse._ " Upon spotting the smug smirk on Jesse's face, she pointed at the spider hybrid, a more warning look coming over her face. " _THAT one._ "

Jesse just gave Petra a grin before turning back around and tiptoing forward, leading them towards the huge mansion.

The screen blacked out.

* * *

 **A/N:** **OH MY GOD OH MY GOD OH MY GOD OH MY GOD**

 **IF YOU LOOK ON INSTAGRAM**

 **APPARENTLY SEASON 2 IS CONFIRMED**

 **TELLTALE POSTED PICTURES ON THEIR INSTAGRAM**

 **AND IT'S COMING OUT JULY 11!**

 **AAAAAAAAAAAAAAAAAAHHHHHHHHHHHHHHHHHHHHHHHHHHHHHHHHHHHHHHHHHHHHHHHHHHHH**

 ***ArizaLuca is currently out of order due to excessive fangirling. Please stand by.***

 **But... this completely changes a LOT of things related to Hybrid. I may have to end up getting rid of Recode Reality and then working on it as Season 2 comes out...**

 **WHO CARES THOUGH SEASON 2**

 **IS**

 **CONFIRMED**

 **AND COMING OUT SOON**

 **AND HERE'S A SYNOPSIS 'CAUSE WHY THE FRICK NOT**

 **Jesse's tale didn't end with merely becoming the world's greatest living hero - if anything, life just got more complicated. There are responsibilities! Emerging rivalries! Unmeetable expectations of friends new and old!** **As a simple treasure hunt goes wrong, trapping Jesse's hand in a cursed prismarine gauntlet, we discover that maybe there are other downsides to fame, too - like having a dark and ancient power know your name.** **A new adventure beckons, sending Jesse on a quest to the darkest depths of the world - and beyond! Joined by a motley band of familiar faces, fortune hunters, sometime enemies and one deeply disobedient llama, there will be tough choices, peril aplenty and no shortage of People Who Will Remember That.**

 **That's the synopsis on minecraft . net, anyways.**

 **Oh, by the way...**

 **arizalucaphantasmagoria . wordpress . com**

 **Eliminate the spaces... and you have my new website! :3**

 **A bit (lot) shorter than usual, perhaps, but it's still a chapter x3 I didn't really have much I wanted to say in this chapter. The fun still hasn't started, after all~**

 **RQTC: Will you follow my blog? :3**

 **Responses to reviews!**

 **pensuka: (shrugs) Ehhh**

 **the indecisive bird: Write me a short message so I can see if you got it. / THE SEASON 2 THING IS CONFIRMED AND I'M HYPED / Maybe. :3 / xD I know how ya feel, fam.**

 **BeliTheGhoti0304: Ah, is that so? / x3 They really will. / (laughs) I'm glad you liked it.**

 **LunarStarsMoons: (laughs) Ah, did you really? / NOW WE DO xD / Write me a short message if you think you got it. Using the code. / (shrugs) I... assume so?**

 **RapidSammi: Eeeeee :3 / THERE'S A THING NOW. Actually, there's a lot of things now xD**

 **AquaK13: Awww xD / Not even late summer xD mid-summer. A Mid-Summer's Night Dream! xD / SO EXCITED! / Haha, won't hurt you :3 / I KNOW RIGHT**

 **DarkPrincess2001: Lolol very true**

 **Cassie: Lol cool :3 / Well, THERE'S STUFF ABOUT IT ALL OVER INTERNET NOW AAAAAHHHHH / Lol thanks**

 **CrystalTearsofFaith: Lol xD / Oh my god. YES.**

 **NoItsBecky: Yeep :3 / It's just a plot bunny at this point.**

 **J.M.M.: I KNOW! xD**

 **Jack638: STUFF IS NOW KNOWN! / Actually, yeah, probably, all of their voice actors are returning.**

 **RavenBlaze4850: (laughs) Very true. / You're right about that. / It's fine~ / Maybe? / Alright... I'll see.**

 **LegoGirl794: x3**

 **Savannah-the-Caracal: NOW THERE'S STUFF ABOUT IT ALL OVER THE PLACE AND I'M GIDDY**

 **Guest: The person's just really sweet and innocent :3 / Yes, of course I know. I'm Undertale trash. xD Although, first and foremost, I'm MCSM trash.**

 **InsaneAcrobat: Ah. / Yes, that's true. :3 / I will not tell anything x3 / Season 2. Uhh... (points up)** **That's the synopsis on minecraft . net, anyways. There's more on Telltale but this response is already super long xD / ... ah. / ? Uhh... maybe?**

 **Emily The Avenger: Well, of course you're loved! / Well, it seems super likely, now that I read the synopsis...**

 **Wow, this A/N got really long. Sowwy! x3**

 **x.X. A.L. X.x**


	111. Shattered Glass and Sparkly Dogs

**Hi guys! Did you know...**

 **THAT WE JUST RECEIVED 1700 REVIEWS ON THIS STORY OMG**

 **So, because of that, before we jump into the actual story, Imma waste some space and time with speculation and theories about Season 2 xD Sorry! HCM will be put on delay for, like, a few minutes.**

 **Some things that we know for sure are:**

 **\- Jesse gets their hand stuck inside a gauntlet because of a 'simple treasure hunt' going wrong.  
\- StacyPlays and StampyCat make a cameo reappearance!  
\- Petra and Lukas DO return, but Lukas's level of involvement is still a bit murky.  
\- There is a 'dark and ancient' power in this. (If they say it's Herobrine, I will die laughing hysterically.)  
\- There are going to be some Guardians.  
\- At least part of the episode takes place underwater.  
\- There is a llama.**

 **And it seems to be a misbehaved llama, too xD**

 **Things that we can probably assume are:**

 **\- Jesse, Axel, Olivia, and the gang are no longer as close. (It says so in the TellTale synopsis.)  
\- The episodes take place later on in the future. (Like, several years or something.) It may be a possible 'utopia' situation.  
\- The llama is someone's pet?  
\- The villager and the guy on the teaser image are really important somehow.**

 **What we don't know as of yet:**

 **\- How involved Lukas is in this season.  
\- If Olivia and Axel will be showing up.  
\- If any of the Order members will be showing up.  
\- What the 'dark and ancient' power is.  
\- If any characters from Season 1 are making a reappearance.  
\- Where the llama came from.**

 **Lol the llama shows up in every single list xD**

 **Well, what do you guys think?**

* * *

The group crept over to a large stack of blocks, ducking underneath it and sticking their heads over the edge hesitantly. The screen switched to show dozens of zombies milling around outside the front entrance.

" _Yeah, that front door is a no-go,_ " Petra said, flatly.

There was a sudden groan, and all of the zombies suddenly... well, 'suddenly'. More like 'rapidly lurched'- and turned around to see the three hybrids and Ivor crouching behind the stack of blocks.

" _Are you kidding me?!_ " Lukas hissed, his hair rising a bit. It looked as if someone had rubbed a balloon on his head or something.

Soren put his head in his hands. "At this point, I'm thinking you lot should just start bringing a lucky rabbits' foot with you or something."

"I don't think you're alone in that, Soren."

" _Well, blonde dude, besides the fact that Jesse and- uhh,_ " the narrator spoke up, making Jesse's eyes flicker up to gaze in the general direction of the narrator, " _well, actually, maybe Ivor, are the only two members of the group who have outfits that are even_ remotely _designed for stealth... yeah, no wonder you guys got spotted._ "

"Can Lukas even _hear_ the narrator?" Harper wondered.

Otto frowned at the screen a bit thoughtfully. "No, I don't think so..."

" _Yeah, uh,_ " Jesse nearly cut the narrator off in a drawl, turning to look at her friends, " _I don't think you really need me to say this, but, um,_ run."

"No, ya think?!" Cassie exclaimed, throwing her arms into the air.

The group all tore off again, Jesse tossing Ivor back onto her back as she dropped to all eights and scampered off, Lukas dropping to all fours and following after her with his ears flattened against his head and his tail flapping in the wind. Petra regarded the zombies for a second, before hovering into the air as well and then shooting after the rest of the group, leaving a small trail of flames in her wake.

Jesse was racing along at full tilt, practically flying over the dirt, before something flashed in the corner of her vision and she craned her head back, momentarily distracted from the problem at hand.

A silhouette was staring at them, yellow eyes narrowing at her from behind the eyeholes of a white pumpkin head, before they turned and walked out of sight, the windowsill hiding them from view.

"Wait- what the heck?! What was that?!" Magnus exclaimed, looking slightly spooked.

"Was that person wearing a _pumpkin_ head?" Soren mused, eyes narrowing at the screen. "Are there going to be some Endermen in here or something?"

A chorus of groans rose from the audience. "Please, no," Gabriel groaned aloud.

" _The-?!_ " Jesse blurted onscreen, eyes widening slightly in surprise.

" _What? What did you see?_ " Petra called out from where she was _literally_ flying over the dirt, flying around so that she was hovering along at a rapid clip in front of Jesse, looking a little curious at Jesse's sudden comment.

The spider hybrid's brow crinkled in confusion as she kept rushing along. " _Dunno. Some... creepy person... in the window._ " She glanced back at the window, which they'd already passed, before adding, a bit more thoughtfully, " _they had a white pumpkin for a head._ "

"Do white pumpkins even _exist?_ " Real-Petra wondered to nobody in particular, leaning forward to get a better look at the thing.

"Yes," Hadrian, Mevia, Otto and Harper chorused.

" _White pumpkin?_ " Ivor asked, looking down at Jesse with a curious expression. " _There's no such thing._ "

"They're not a popular plant, so people don't plant them that often," Otto offered as an explanation. "People think they lack nutrients because of the lack of orange pigment." He paused, perhaps for dramatic effect. "But yes, they do exist."

" _Let's save the agricultural discussions for inside, huh?_ " Lukas asked, raising his eyebrows.

The spider hybrid nearly tripped and landed flat on her face at that.

Real-Lukas huffed a bit, his cheeks going slightly pink as several members of the audience chuckled at that statement. Real-Jesse tilted her head back before reaching up and absentmindedly patting his cheeks.

The giggles intensified.

The hybrids soon drew level with a large series of huge glass windows that were nearly level with the treetops. " _Guys, get to one of the windows!_ " Jesse shouted, skidding to a stop rapidly.

" _Easy for you to say,_ " the narrator drawled, making her glare up at the sky.

Jesse glanced back at Ivor. " _Ivor, get ready to-_ " she began to instruct him, but the potionologist was already starting to unlock his legs from the sitting position on her back.

" _Yes, yes, I got it!_ " he shouted back.

" _Just so long as you do._ " With that, Jesse suddenly shot back into a standing position, Ivor quickly doing a half flip and throwing his arms around Jesse's neck tightly as the spider hybrid shot a huge strand of string at the nearest window. A neat flick of the wrist, and the two of them were jerked off of their feet onto the windowsill, where Petra was already waiting. She caught ahold of Jesse and set the spider hybrid down neatly as Ivor let go, before all three of them turned and looked towards Lukas.

The ocelot hybrid muttered something under his breath that the audience couldn't _quite_ catch- something along the lines of "wish I could fly"- before bolting up a nearby tree. Several leaves and branches quaked and bent, tracking his progress through it, before he popped back out at the top of the tree, stray leaves stuck in his fluffy blonde hair and his tail twitching around rather irritably.

Petra patted a playfully pouting Lukas on the back.

Onscreen, Jesse shot another strand of string at the tree branch nearest to Lukas. The ocelot hybrid quickly ripped the string free and wrapped it around his wrist, before nodding and waving at Jesse.

Jesse forcibly jerked her entire arm back, the sticky strand jerking Lukas out of the tree and straight at Jesse, snapping several branches along the way as he went flying through the air. The ocelot hybrid whirled around so that his back was facing Jesse, squeezing his eyes shut, while Jesse threw her arms up defensively in an ill-fated attempt to catch him.

He collided straight into Jesse, making them both slam forcibly into the glass, which in turn caused the glass to shatter from the impact and let the both of them topple through rather loudly, landing with an earth-shaking thud.

Most of the audience members winced in perfect sync with Onscreen-Petra and Ivor.

" _Ow,_ " Jesse said flatly, from where she was lying on her back amidst several pieces of sharp glass.

"Is _that_ all you have to say about that?!" Em exclaimed.

"Considering we've survived Boom Town, gone through Wool World when it was infested with Endermen, fought the Witherstorm, and survived getting thrown off of Sky City," Jesse replied somewhat blankly, "yeah, pretty much."

Lukas was lying on top of her, rolling over so that he was looking at Jesse, his face centimeters from hers. " _Urgh... sorry, Jesse."_

The narrator was chanting something very quietly. Something along the lines of " _kiss, kiss, kiss_."

"Yeah, I- I don't think we realized that was going to happen," Real-Lukas nodded in agreement, wincing at the painful position the two of them were in. Annnnd diplomatically ignoring the narrator's chanting with the slightest blush on his face. He totally didn't look like a tomato. Nope. No idea what anybody was talking about.

Jesse waved it off, leaning into Lukas with an absentminded "meh", her own cheeks a rather rosy shade of pink.

Lukas grimaced as he straightened up, dusting stray leaves out of his hair so that they ghosted down to land amidst the shattered glass pieces that were reflecting some warm light.

" _I'm just glad I'm more durable than an actual spider,_ " the spider hybrid replied, waving it off and letting Lukas crawl off of her before standing up herself, wincing as she stretched and cracked her neck before dusting a coating of powdered glass off of her. " ** _Ouch._** "

"More durable than the average human, as well- I think a fall like that would normally have broken a couple bones," Ivor murmured, eyes narrowing thoughtfully as he gazed at the screen. "I wonder if being a hybrid boosts the durability of the hybrid as well...?"

"Hmm, do you think?"

" _You guys okay?_ " Petra asked, hovering down quickly while Ivor climbed down using a series of chests and furnaces, being careful not to stand on any one of them for too long.

Jesse winced a bit and rubbed her back using her middle set of arms. " _Well, I think my back's going to be one massive bruise come tomorrow, but sure, I'm fine._ " That out of the way, she looked around at their surroundings. The four of them were standing in a warmly lit room, a creeper wearing a kitchen apron in the corner with lots of furnaces and several food storage units. " _Hm. Looks like this is some sort of... kitchen,_ " she hummed thoughtfully.

Aiden nodded, drawing several people's attention to him. "Looks like." When he noticed everyone's eyes on him, he shrank back a little bit.

Muffled voices came through the door, making them all turn to the door as Jesse continued dusting herself off. The door opened a second later, and CAPTAINSPARKLEZ stepped through, along with some guy they hadn't met before. He wore a teal tank top and leather pants, as well as a pair of sunglasses with rims that matched his messy, brown hair and beard.

"Oh, hey, that's me, and-" Sparklez blinked, looking a little startled at the person next to him onscreen. "TorqueDawg?"

" _I think we could avoid a lot of unpleasantness if- AUGH!_ " Onscreen-Sparklez yelped loudly and jumped back as he caught sight of the four of them in the kitchen, stumbling back into TORQUEDAWG, who also looked rather startled.

" _What the-?!_ "

The four hybrids stood there in silence for a moment, staring at the two newcomers with an expression something akin to a deer in headlights. Jesse's red eye was gleaming in the firelight, her four extra arms still working on dusting the broken glass off before slowly coming to an awkward stop at her sides. Lukas's ears twitched anxiously, cyan eyes turning a more golden color in the light and his tail curling in on itself. Petra still had Blaze Rods hovering around her, her gold eyes glowing faintly, and Ivor was just in a more defensive position.

Slowly, Jesse let a sheepish smile sneak over her face, and she lifted one of her lower arms and waved a bit. " _Um... hi._ "

Sparklez flinched back a little more at that, looking rather frightened. " _Uh... h-hi? You're... y-you're monsters...?_ " he trailed off, nervously.

"I guess I can see why he'd be so nervous about this," Jesse mused. "I mean, after all, we just suddenly appeared in this mansion, and we're pretty obviously not... fully human."

"Yeah. Honestly, I'm surprised that people _haven't_ been all that surprised before this point," Lukas grunted.

Isa shrugged a bit. "The Sky Citizens are a bit sheltered... so they wouldn't know that you're dangerous. Reginald would, because he sometimes helps me with getting resources-"

Reginald waved a bit, grinning lopsidedly.

"But they wouldn't have known that Jesse was all that dangerous."

Milo hummed. "Well, they would've thought she looked _weird_ ," he amended. "But yes, I don't think they wouldn't thought that she was really all that dangerous. Or dangerous at all. We don't deal with mobs often," he added, slightly defensively, when everyone turned to look at him.

"Besides," Lukas said, patting Jesse gently, "she really doesn't look harmful in the least."

Everyone looked at the petite girl, who almost owlishly blinked at them twice. They really had to admit- she looked a bit like a cute doll, or maybe a stuffed animal. Not harmful at all.

Lukas crossed his arms playfully. " _Hey, I'm half ocelot, not half monster. Get it right,_ " he teased, although his playful smile faded a second later in slight concern. " _Uh, you okay?_ "

TorqueDawg scowled a bit, although he looked very hesitant to say anything.

"Thank Notch, for once TorqueDawg is speechless," Stacy said, putting her hands in the air.

"Oh, you know him?" Olivia asked the YouTubers, who were all agreeing with Stacy.

"Yeah, he's-" Stampy paused, sharing a look with Dan, the nearest person to him. Dan raised his shoulders in a tiny, helpless shrug at the odd look Stampy was sending him. "... well, we know him," the cat-hoodie-wearing-boy finished.

Jesse's green eyes narrowed a bit at their reactions, thoughtfully.

" _Um, okay, maybe... maybe we should introduce ourselves?_ " Sparklez asked, nervously. " _I'm, uh... I'm CaptainSparklez._ "

Jesse waved a little bit, giving him a friendly smile. The smile seemed to reassure Sparklez a bit, because he smiled back weakly before gesturing at TorqueDawg. " _That's... uh... that's TorqueDawg._ "

The spider hybrid gave a nod, lower arms absentmindedly reaching up to rub her back again. " _Nice to meet you guys,_ " she said cheerfully.

Sparklez's weak smile faltered, before it fell off altogether. " _Uh, are you... are you going to hurt us?_ "

Jesse threw her arms up rapidly, making Sparklez flinch back as she put her hands up in a hasty surrender, a startled look coming over her face. " _Um, haha-_ no. _We're not here to hurt anyone or anything like that._ " One of her lower arms tugged out the book-invitation from the Host. " _We, um, got invited here by someone called the Host, and, er, not sure if you've noticed,_ " Jesse jerked her head at the window they'd come through, " _but there are a crap-ton of zombies hanging around out there._ "

Sparklez blinked. " _But... you're... half... monster,_ " he said tentatively (Onscreen-Lukas jokingly huffed in an offended way). " _Wouldn't it...?_ "

" _Just confuse the monsters, because we're HALF. Zombies don't seem to care very much either way; they sense that we have brains, and they want it. Spiders, Blazes, and creepers- they're a little more willing to listen to us and... well, nine times out of ten they won't attack right away. But every other mob can pretty much have at us,_ " Jesse responded promptly.

" _Ah._ " Sparklez rubbed his head awkwardly, frowning. " _Darn._ "

He winced a second later. " _Uh, sorry for the language._ "

" _Ivor uses much worse, don't worry._ "

Half of the audience repressed loud snorts at that. Real-Ivor scowled a bit, although his lips were definitely twitching and he was fighting a small smile.

Ivor halfheartedly swatted at Lukas, scowling a bit. Sparklez grinned weakly at the childish behavior, before rubbing the back of his head awkwardly. " _Uh, that wasn't about you getting an invitation... just that I was hoping that you could explain things._ "

Jesse gave Sparklez a friendly smile. " _Hey, no problem. Ummm..."_ she tilted her head, a sheepish smile coming over her face. " _This might be a bit late, but, I'm Jesse. The ocelot hybrid here is Lukas, the Blaze hybrid is Petra, and he-_ " she pointed at Ivor. " _-is Ivor._ "

" _'Jesse'?_ " TorqueDawg scoffed. " _That's a boy's name._ "

Lizzie put her head in her hands. "... yeah, he's... he's always like that. Please just ignore him."

"Noted."

Onscreen-Jesse's eyebrow went up as she stared at TorqueDawg for a few seconds. " _Well... I mean, it's a unisex name and could go either way, so... I can't really deny that..._ " she trailed off, a bit sheepishly.

TorqueDawg squinted at her, before gruffly continuing, " _What are you guys supposed to be, anyway? Some sort of Loser Patrol?_ "

"Hey!" Petra straightened up indignantly. "I think we're _quite_ good, thank you very much."

"And very good-looking," Jace mumbled automatically, quite quietly.

Jesse heard, though, and shot Jace a huge grin.

Onscreen, Petra crossed her arms. " _Can I set this guy on fire, Jesse?_ " she asked casually, the flames from the furnaces growing a little brighter.

"I, uh..." Dan rubbed his head awkwardly. "I think she's joking?"

He was quiet for a moment, before tacking on: "I hope."

Onscreen-Jesse quickly waved her hands a bit, a sheepish look coming over her face. " _Uhh, m-maybe we shouldn't do that?_ " she asked, a questioning tone coming into her voice, before she turned back to TorqueDawg, sheepish smile still fixed on her face. " _Er, no, we're- we're really not. Since we're hybrids._ "

She cocked her head to one side a second later, thoughtfully. " _And I'm actually fairly certain that all four of us can do some rather lethal things, from what I remember._ " There was a short pause. "... _hm._ "

Stampy winced. "Er, perhaps you shouldn't have made that comment."

"Yeah, it- did not seem like the most diplomatic move ever," Jesse agreed, wincing a little bit herself.

There was a rather long, rather awkward silence at that, before Sparklez cleared his throat nervously, giving Jesse a weak grin. " _Haha, yes, well, that sea of zombies has all of us trapped here, so maybe you could hold off on trying out your 'lethal things' on anything until later?"_

Jesse quickly put her hands up in surrender, a sheepish smile coming over her face. " _Oh- yeah, no, sorry. I didn't mean it like that. Of course._ " A moment later, she registered something and blinked. " _Wait- 'all of us'...? How many more people are in this place?_ "

* * *

 **A/N: Once again, shorter than normal. There really isn't that much to talk about in the earlier chapters... things don't really get fun until next chapter, now that I think about it.**

 **RQTC: Do you think Season 2 will be available for pre-order on all other devices excluding PC?**

 **I mean, I hope... because otherwise I'll have to download it in August?**

 **I would literally pay 50 dollars for Season 2 though; for both preorder and anything else. I mean holy Notch.**

 **LunarStarsMoons: I'm glad you're stalkin' the blog xD / Yeeee :3 / Well other people might not xD**

 **the indecisive bird: Er, no, not quite... I got what you're trying to tell me, but one of the letters is wrong. / YEE! / (blinks) No, not quite. Next chapter.**

 **Dr. MKNoble: PFFFFF HAHAHAHA (laughing hysterically) OMG, that was perfect. Thanks so much for that xD / Thank you!**

 **sailor . mikuchan: No prob :3 / Ahh, is fine.**

 **NoItsBecky: (laughs) Yee :3 / (blinks) Errrrr**

 **BeliTheGhoti0304: (Some people do xD) / I know, right! / Lolol**

 **RWBYSTRQ: x3 / My expectations are quite high. I expect the llama to be in there. xD / Not immediately, but I will be doing a sequel to Hybrid. That does make me have to wonder what'll happen to Recode Reality, though.**

 **Cassie: xD / I KNOW RIGHT / Hehe xD**

 **J.M.M.: xD**

 **Jack638: I'm the one driving it rn like holy gosh / It's a Prismarine gauntlet, I think.**

 **CrystalTearsofFaith: x3 / I not talkin' about anything rn~ xD / It was more theoretical, but it's fine xD**

 **RapidSammi: (squeals with you)**

 **RavenBlaze4850: Lolol know how ya feel fam / Dude, I was hugging random strangers out of the blue. I probably scared like, fifty people at school yesterday xD / (grins) / Yay!**

 **Rabbits rule: (laughs)**

 **Emily The Avenger: I KNOW RIGHT?!**

 **AquaK13: It's Stacy's wolf. / Is the LLAMA supposed to replace Reuben, or...? xD / I KNOW RIGHT!**

 **InsaneAcrobat: Mm, I see. / Thank you! I'm glad to see you like it :3**

 **TheRealRedGaming: Oh hi Red. Caught up with the story I see.**

 **x.X. A.L. X.x**


	112. What the Heck Just Happened!

Sparklez frowned as he did a couple mental calculations. " _Uh, counting the two of us... seven?_ " he estimated, after a few seconds of thought.

" _Mmhm. Most of them useless,_ " TorqueDawg grunted.

Stacy scowled at the screen, crossing her arms. Lizzie's brow darkened as well, the pink-haired girl leaning back with a scowl fixed upon her face. Dan frowned, his red hair (had it changed again? Jesse could've _sworn_ it had been white earlier) accentuating the thunderous look on his face. Stampy winced a bit at the rude comment but said nothing.

"Well that was... rude," Lukas said, after a few seconds of awkward silence.

"Yeah. Like we said," Sparklez said, adjusting his sunglasses slightly, "he's like that all the time."

" _I tell you what, the minute all them weird zombies are gone, TorqueDawg is outta here!_ " and he rudely shouldered Jesse aside as he strolled off, making the spider hybrid stagger a bit before she caught herself.

Jace frowned.

Steadying herself, Jesse arched her eyebrow as she turned around to gaze in his direction, but she didn't comment on the rudeness or anything. (Though she honestly should've.) " _Uh... okay. So the sea of zombies_ isn't _normal. That's nice to hear._ "

Petra raised a finger, brow furrowing a bit. " _Two moons..._ is _normal though, right?_ " she questioned.

Sparklez blinked at Petra, looking as if she'd just asked if the sky was up. " _The... moons? Yeah._ "

" _Why don't you know this stuff?_ " TorqueDawg sneered. " _You from, like, out of town or something?_ "

Before anything else could be said, a sudden clap of thunder on the audience's end made Jesse squeak, Stampy spaz out and land on the floor, and Benedict to squawk and send a flurry of feathers into the air, several more members of the audience letting out a loud yell in shock, and with a loud groan everything went black. Even the screen.

"What the _f*ck_ ," Cassie demanded, sounding a bit shaky, "just happened?"

Ellegaard grunted. "The thunderstorm must be screwing with the power... Harper, can you come with me and help me see if there's anything we can do to fix it? You're the only one with a flashlight."

A beam of light flickered on, Harper shining the flashlight at the floor to avoid hitting someone right in the eyes. "Y-yeah. Sure thing," she said, sounding a bit shaky herself.

"Ow! Ellie, that's my-" Magnus let out a breathless squeak suddenly. " _Ribs!_ "

"Sorry-"

Gabriel grunted. "Ellegaard, I think you just stepped on my foot."

"Terribly sorry!"

Harper shone the flashlight in the Order's direction, making them all yelp and flinch a bit as she accidentally shone the flashlight right in their eyes. She hastily raised it a bit more. "Sorry," she added, wincing a bit sympathetically.

Finally, Ellegaard managed to disentangle herself from the rest of the group, and Harper traversed her way over the floor, before the two of them disappeared from the room- the flashlight beam vanished from sight as the door groaned.

There was a few moments of silence, before Aiden shifted and cleared his throat. "Uh, Cassie?"

"Yeah?"

"Can you tell Winslow to get off my lap? He crawled on a couple minutes ago and he's not getting off."

There was a few seconds of dead silence. Aiden winced and was about to apologize about that when-

"Aiden..."

"Yes?"

Cassie's voice sounded very odd when she spoke again. "Winslow's sitting under my hat. He's terrified of thunderstorms. He's been sitting there for the past twenty minutes now."

Aiden felt his shoulders tense, and his throat suddenly went perfectly dry. "Uhh..." he slowly looked down at his lap- not that he could actually see anything; it was so freaking _dark_ in here right now.

"Then what the _hell_ is sitting on my lap right now?"

"Well, it's not Reuben, he's still in my lap," Jesse spoke up, patting the little pig in her lap. He let out a cheerful snort.

"And it's not Benedict, she's right here," Isa called from her seat, wrapping her arms a little more tightly around the tiny chicken.

Aiden was about to say something in return when they all heard a familiar voice, their heads swiveling to look.

Ariza was perched on the coffee table, glowing papers surrounding her as she absentmindedly flicked through her papers. (Lukas tightened his hold on Jesse protectively.) For some reason, the glow didn't seem to be providing any actual illumination for the room. "Phantasmagoria... Phantasmagoria... oh, there it is. Okay." She wrenched out one of the papers and glanced over it. "Okay... wow. The exterior of this building is quite nice, actually. I actually expected it to be in worse shape, since it's been a thing since the late 1700s." She set the paper down and went back to rustling through the others.

Despite himself, Lukas leaned forward along with Jesse to get a nice look at it. Ariza wasn't kidding; it was an at-least 20-floor tall brownstone building with a green-tiled roof, a tiny gold fleur-de-lis (well, tiny on the diagram) on the very top of the building.

"Oh- when you showed us the rules, I thought _this_ was the hotel," Petra spoke up, sounding a little wondering.

"Well, I did at first too, but then I realized that this mansion doesn't have anywhere _near_ 26 floors," Jesse replied, grinning sheepishly.

"Oh yeah. Good point."

"Hm." Ariza took off the set of reading glasses she was wearing, staring down at the paper thoughtfully. "The fabled '27th' floor. Supposedly above the attic, which I guess is the 26th..." There was a long, thoughtful silence.

"Perhaps I ought to look into that."

Suddenly, with a loud beeping sound, the screen came back on, Ariza disappearing in the same moment. Aiden looked down at his lap just in time to see a black shadow dart off, before back up at the screen, which had a strange, glitchy sort of 'PLEASE STAND BY' screen on it.

"Oh, I guess the TV's back on." Mevia paused, before glancing up at the ceiling. "I wonder why the lights aren't on tho-" She cut herself off, blinking, before cocking her head slightly. "Are Harper and Ellegaard coming back?"

"I shouldn't think so... the power room is kinda far from here. Why?" Olivia wondered, turning to look at Mevia.

"Well, it's just- I thought I heard voices-?"

"WHAT THE F*CKING F*CK?!"

Everyone jumped and turned to see Isa literally throw the remote onto the floor with a shriek, scrambling away from it and seizing ahold of the nearest person (who happened to be Milo).

Milo looked both slightly amused at the fact that Isa had just cursed, and a bit shocked from the sudden shriek. "Er- what seems to be the-"

Isa didn't even let him finish his question. "THE REMOTE JUST BUZZED IN MY HAND!"

Hadrian snorted derisively at that. "Is that i-"

"NO THAT IS NOT IT, LOOK AT THE SCREEN!"

Everyone's head turned to look at the screen- just in time to catch the sight of what looked like a _bloody severed head_ onscreen flash off, the screen flickering right back off a second later.

"F*ck that!" Cassie yelled, grabbing onto Aiden and holding on tightly. A few moments passed, before she shrieked (making Aiden wince, seeing as she'd basically just screamed in his ear), " _WHAT WAS THAT?!_ "

"What was what?"

Several yells and a collective jump as everyone whirled around to see Ellegaard back in the doorway. Ellegaard looked a bit bemused by the collective, frightened reaction. "Uh, well, Harper's getting the power back on right now? We just found a stock of flashlights, so... I thought I'd bring some back? What's wrong?"

"So- the power for the screen is still not on?" Stampy asked, voice a little muffled from where he had half of his face hidden behind Dan's shoulder.

Ellegaard shook her head as she passed around the flashlights. "Nope; we're still trying to figure out the generator. We're pretty sure that as of right now, it's nearly out of juice, so it's only going to be able to power the screen and maybe some heating in the place."

"But the power for the screen- it's not on?" Maya asked, shakily.

"No..."

Everyone shared worried looks. "Then...?" Aiden trailed off. Gill picked up, frowning and crossing his arms.

"How did the screen turn on just now...?"

There was a sudden _zzhhhwip!_ sound, and a loud thud rang out.

Everyone looked around frantically, before noticing that despite the screen still being black, there were now several eyes darting around in a panic. Petra was glowing slightly as well, and I'm not saying that her skin looked healthy- we're talking _actual glowing_ here.

"Oh." Ellegaard blinked a bit, disorientedly. "I guess the power's back on? At least for the screen?"

The thudding of footsteps, and then the door banged open and slammed shut again.

Isa scooped the remote back up hastily and paused the episode as Jesse grabbed the flashlight Ellegaard had just set on the coffee table (ignoring the way a chill was in the air from Ariza's momentary appearance) and shone it in Harper's direction, the white-haired woman looking shell-shocked with her flashlight forgotten in her hand.

"Oh, hey, you're back-"

"I AM NOT GOING BACK TO THE POWER ROOM BY MYSELF FOR THE REST OF THE NIGHT." She shook her head frantically before rapidly walking over to her seat and flopping down, wrapping her blanket around her tightly and scooting over so that she could cling to Ivor's arm (the potionologist blinked at her several times in surprise). "I REFUSE."

"Why n-?"

Harper cut Em off, still looking- and sounding- freaked out, although her voice had dropped from that loud volume to a more normal volume. Now that it was at a normal volume, though, her voice was trembling a bit. "Because when I was in the power room, when the power for the screen came back on, I realized I could hear footsteps and breathing."

"You sure it wasn't- like, footsteps from upstairs or something?" Dan suggested, tentatively.

Olivia, Ellegaard, and Harper shared a look.

"... what? Did I miss something?" Dan asked, brow furrowing in confusion. He wasn't the only one to look a bit puzzled by this.

"... the power room is on the floor above this one. Don't ask why; it's not great design. But besides that, everyone currently in this house is in _this_ room. Besides, the upper floors are more sound-insulated than the lower ones." Harper shook her head. "Unless there was someone in that room with me, I shouldn't have been able to hear footsteps."

There was a very long, very silent pause at this, before Isa picked up the remote. "Perhaps... er... perhaps we should investigate after the episode?" she asked, meekly.

"Let's have a look around the place in the morning. Maybe..." Gabriel trailed off, unsure what to say. 'Maybe' what? It was some sort of prank? It was just their imaginations?

Maybe the place was haunted or something?

When nobody objected, Isa pressed the play button.

Onscreen, several people yelped in shock from the darkness.

" _What now?!_ " Lukas yelped, shocked.

The sound of something disengaging sounded.

" _Did you hear th-_?"

The sound of something _firing_ sounded, and TorqueDawg let out a loud yell that made an already-antsy Real-Jesse yelp. " _Oof! Ow!_ OW!"

"TorqueDawg?!" Stampy exclaimed, eyes widening in shock.

Jesse's onscreen eyes darted back in forth, looking around in a bit of panic.

" _What was that?!_ " Petra shouted, sounding a bit frightened.

Ivor yelped. " _Something touched my foot! Who touched my foot?!_ "

Jesse shifted a bit, moving around, eyes roaming back and forth as the owners presumably moved around, although Petra was just looking about frantically.

" _What's going on with the lights?!"_ Lukas called out, his cyan eyes darting everywhere worriedly.

"The lights blew out there, too..." Sparklez frowned. "But, there isn't a thunderstorm going on outside on their end...?"

" _What in the name of Notch is going on?!_ " Jesse shouted over all the yelling. " _TorqueDawg? TORQUEDAWG?!"_

With another sudden thud, all the lights suddenly switched back on, making Jesse, Petra, and Lukas- the three currently onscreen- flinch as their eyes adjusted back to the light.

The screen switched to show wisps of green smoke curling into the air, someone lying on the floor with arrows embedded in them.

Olivia's eyes widened as she realized something, and she gagged a bit. "Oh Notch no."

As Jesse opened her eyes again, they widened, her mouth falling open as she gasped. The others gasped as well, a few of them starting back.

The screen switched again to show TorqueDawg lying on the ground, several arrows embedded in his chest, arms, and legs. One had hit him right in the throat, as well, presumably having killed the man almost instantly.

Maya let out a terrified shriek and toppled off the couch, Real-Jesse yelped in fright, and Jace gagged.

"Sh*t, things just got real!" Gill exclaimed, eyes wide.

Before anyone could say anything, TorqueDawg exploded into a puff of smoke, leaving the arrows and other various items lying on the floor as he disappeared from sight. Sparklez gasped. " _TorqueDawg...?_ " he whispered, before nearly shrieking, " _TorqueDawg?!_ " in panic.

The spider hybrid took in a deep breath, hands trembling slightly as she exhaled again. " _Okay-_ what _the heck just happened._ "

Sparklez was flailing his arms in a huge panic. " _All those arrows! His inventory! Everywhere!_ " he was babbling almost incoherently. " _How did that- who- what-?! One minute he's alive, the next-?!_ " and he flung his hands over his face.

"I can... kinda relate with why he's panicking," Stampy mumbled, scratching his cheek and speaking barely loud enough for Dan to hear. The green-haired boy (his hair _was_ changing!) nodded.

Jesse looked around at her friends. " _Alright, I know that was a bit fast- but I mean what the_ hell _just happened? Did anyone see?_ " she asked, voice rising a bit anxiously.

Petra shook her head, frowning. " _I mean, now that I'm a Blaze, I have fairly decent night vision, but..._ "

" _Yeah- you couldn't see anything, either?_ " Jesse finished for the redhead, who nodded back. " _What about you, Lukas?_ "

The blonde shivered a bit, shaking his head. " _Same as you guys. It's... it's the first time I've been a bit nervous about the dark since- since we..._ " his ears quivered a bit as he trailed off.

Jesse crossed her arms and tilted her head back thoughtfully with a sigh- and then her breath caught in her throat as she started. " _Oh..._ " The screen slowly travelled from her eyes and revolved to show...

A dispenser embedded in the ceiling.

"Wait- that was a _trap_?!" Gill exclaimed, eyes widening.

"Did someone set a _trap_ for that brah?!" Nell wondered, her own blue eyes widening almost owlishly.

" _Hello, little dispenser. I think we know what you dispense now._ "

Lukas blinked at Jesse, before following her gaze. His eyes widened, tail suddenly bushing out so much that it looked like a cactus as he scrambled back a step. " _Oh my god._ "

Jesse crouched, frowning at the inventory on the floor, her hands trembling as she looked over the stuff on the floor, obviously trying to get a grip on herself. " _Let's- let's see if we can figure anything out here._ " She stared intently at the inventory, her lips twisting together a bit. " _Um, gunpowder, redstone dust, leather... pants... er, looks pretty much like one would expect, I guess._ "

"Hasn't he been bragging about some 'incredible treasure', though?" Stacy wondered, crossing her arms curiously.

"Has he really?" Jesse asked, looking over at Stacy with a surprised look.

Just as Jesse finished her sentence onscreen, there was a sudden, loud mechanical _thump_ ing sound, and the spider hybrid quickly stepped back in time as a section of floor holding the contents of the inventory sank into the ground... before dropping entirely, leaving an empty, gaping hole in the floor.

Jesse blinked at the hole, before carefully shifting forward and staring down into the hole. Seeing nothing of interest, she craned her head back to stare at the dispenser. " _Hmm, looks like it's a matching set with that dispenser up there..._ " she mumbled, eyes narrowing.

Petra frowned, looking a bit puzzled by that. " _But... you saw his stuff. He didn't really have anything worth stealing..._ "

Jesse glanced from Petra to the floor, before prying one of the arrows out of the ground and staring at it intently. " _Something's... off about this arrow._ " And indeed, as she tilted it slightly, the tip of it flashed a sickly green.

"Oh yeah. Good eye, Jesse," and Lukas patted her on the head.

She beamed.

Jesse stood up, still peering at the arrow, before looking at Ivor. " _Ivor, you know potions and enchantments better than the rest of us combined._ "

Real-Ivor looked very pleased with the compliment.

" _What do you make of it?_ "

Onscreen-Ivor reached out and took the arrow from her hand, examining it carefully. His eyes narrowed, before he held the arrow tip close to his nose and gave an experimental sniff. After a few seconds, he extended his tongue and touched the very tip of the arrow to his tongue.

Immediately he turned his head to the side and spit it out, rapidly. " _Ah. Smell and taste is almost synonymous with Potion of Poison, although it's nowhere as near as strong as the ones I can make with your venom,_ " he added, glancing up at Jesse as he recovered from it, grimacing a bit.

"Why the heck would you try _tasting_ it?!" Ellegaard exclaimed, looking 'round at Ivor with an incredulous look on her face. "Wouldn't just smelling it give you a good enough idea?"

Ivor shook his head and shrugged a bit. "It's... ah... some potions, since they're usually made with a base of 'Awkward' Potions, tend to smell rather similar, although the tastes are _definitely_ different."

"Almost synonymous... why only 'almost'?" Em wondered.

Real-Ivor shrugged. "It was probably slightly off. Maybe the maker of the arrow had to mix something extra with the potion to get it to stick to the arrow tip?"

"Yeah, you usually need to add a bit of extra Nether wart to it to get it to stay on for a long time," Lizzie nodded to the question.

"Oh, you pipsqueaks know what this is?" Slab asked, blinking a bit at the YouTuber's couch.

" _Oh._ "

Everyone looked back at the screen to see Sparklez nervously approaching the two of them, eyes flicking from the hybrids to the arrow with the green tip, " _I-is that a tipped arrow? I've heard of those. They're still... they're still pretty new._ "

Jesse blinked. " _Wait wait wait. Back up._ What _did you say this is?_ " she asked, quirking one eyebrow in confusion.

"Tipped arrows... potions mixed with arrows," Real-Ivor muttered, leaning his chin on his hand. "The possibilities are... _fascinating_." His eyes narrowed thoughtfully.

" _Tipped arrows?_ " Sparklez repeated. " _Sure. Could've sworn I saw someone doing a tutorial on how to make those not too long ago..._ "

Ivor handed the arrow back to Jesse with a slight shrug, before Sparklez huffed. " _But my nerves are way too shot to remember who right now!_ "

" _Hello?_ " The door pushed open, and LIZZIE walked into the room. " _Everything okay in- whoa!_ _What's with the- the- the..._ " her eyes widened a bit, and she took a step backwards nervously, her sentence trailing off.

There was a long silence, where the hybrids were all staring at Lizzie and Lizzie was staring back. Sparklez was glancing from the people already there to Lizzie, back to the hybrids, then back to Lizzie again. Petra finally lifted her hand a bit and gave a tiny, rather sheepish wave. " _Erm... hi._ "

Lizzie's eyes flickered to Sparklez immediately, a slightly anxious look on her face. " _Sparklez, what's going on?_ " she asked immediately.

Sparklez reached up and rubbed his head slowly and awkwardly. " _I, uh... was just about to get everyone together to tell them all at once._ " With that, he walked past her, Lizzie shifting aside to let him pass and presumably get everyone else together.

Lizzie blinked, watching him leave. " _Uh... o-okay...?_ " She turned back to keep looking at the hybrids, brow furrowing as she watched them for a moment- before her eyes widened. " _Hang on a minute... it's_ you! _I- recognize you!_ " she exclaimed.

Every single member of the audience slowly blinked at that.

"Huh?" Petra finally asked.

" _That's... not possible?_ " Lukas said, although the way he stated it sounded more like a question.

" _Uh... yes. What?_ " Ivor asked flatly, putting his hands on his hips.

Jesse blinked at Lizzie a bit, looking down at her extra arms. Then at her friends, Petra still having Blaze Rods hovering around her, and Lukas's ocelot ears and tail in plain sight. Before turning back to Lizzie with a slightly-raised eyebrow. " _'Recognize us'? Um... how?_ " she asked, slowly.

Lizzie waved a bit towards herself. " _I'll, um, I'll show you,_ " she said, sounding slightly nervous. " _Follow me._ " And with that she turned around and began walking out of the kitchen.

The four of them all exchanged silent looks, before Petra said, " _Um... okay._ " And the four of them began trotting after Lizzie.

"How would you _recognize_ us? I... don't think you recognized us here?" Jesse asked, twisting around to get a good look at Lizzie.

Lizzie frowned. "No, definitely not... before we got teleported here, I had no idea who you guys were."

"Then..." Jesse frowned. "That's not possible, is it?"

Axel shrugged, looking a little bewildered. "I... guess you guys will find out?" He leaned on his elbow with a slight frown, before it turned into a slight smirk. "Hey, Jesse?"

The black-haired girl blinked her green eyes in his direction. "Yeah?"

"I'm holding this against you for saying that nothing that interesting was going to happen while you guys were gone."

Jesse blinked at Axel a few times- before her eyes widened.

A few seconds later, she turned around and gently banged her head against the coffee table as Jace started giggling. "Oh yeah... she did say that, didn't she?"

"I think it's clear that Jesse does NOT have prophetic powers," Petra joked, grinning at Jesse.

Lukas grinned a bit. "Haha, guess not."

Jesse kept her head on the coffee table for a few more seconds. "... y'know, I heard a joke about amnesia, but I forgot how it goes."

Lukas paled, his grin falling off his face. "Oh no."

"Lukas, if I had a dollar for every time I thought of you, I'd only have a dollar. Y'know why?"

"Jesse-"

"Because you're always on my mind."

Lukas's next protest caught in his throat as Jesse slowly turned around to face him, with a purely deadpan look on his face. He could feel a hot red blush forming on his face. "J-J-J-?"

"Lukas, if you were a pirate, would you rather have a parrot or a monkey?"

Lukas blinked at the sudden subject change. "Uh- I dunno, a parrot?"

"Okay. Would it-" Jesse shrugged off the blanket for now, twisting around and placing her hand on his right shoulder with her left hand. "- be on this shoulder?" She then let her arm snake over his back so that it was resting around him. "Or this one?"

If Lukas had been red before, he was now positively maroon in the face. "J-J-?"

"Y'know, I thought happiness started with an 'h', so I'm a little confused as to why mine starts with 'u'."

He was now a fire-engine.

"When Notch made you, he was just showing off."

Lukas was now so red that he was practically giving off steam.

"If nothing lasts forever, will you be my nothing?"

"J-J-J- _Jesse_ -"

"Ya know, we never stop tasting our own tongues. Wanna taste mine for a change?"

"Y-y-yo-"

"Do you wanna know how to install an attractive face? Too bad; you can't install software already on the device."

Lukas was a hot, stuttering red mess at this point.

"Y'know, I would take you to an art museum and kiss you, but they said not to touch the masterpieces."

Lukas stuttered for a few more seconds, before falling over backwards with a soft thump.

Jace leaned back to get a good look at his face, before looking at Jesse with a slightly accusing look on his face. "You broke him."

"You lot were embarrassing me. The one I know the most is Lukas." Jesse gently patted Lukas on the stomach, which was the only place she could currently reach. "Therefore, the only one I could truly embarrass back was Lukas."

Petra gave Jesse an appraising smile, eyebrow going up a bit. "... you are evil."

"Thank you, thank you."

* * *

 **A/N: Never mess with Jesse.**

 **She will either weave the most elaborate pun-web you've ever seen, or flirt with you until you break.**

 **Huh, I guess that's what she meant when she said 'Mess with my friends and I will break you.' xD She'll literally pun/flirt with you until you break. xD xD xD**

 **Huh. Never knew Jesse knew so many pick-up lines. xD**

 **So there WAS some horror in this chapter...**

 **But then we got this. xD**

 **Maybe there'll be more later on. Who knows?**

 **RQTC: So right now I have two plans for how Hybrid could go. I could just make Hybrid longer to include Season 2, or I could make a separate sequel that would also mix with Recode Reality. I'm honestly leaning towards the first option, but what would you guys prefer?**

 **Also.**

 **PLEASE DON'T JUST ANSWER THE RQTC AND TELL ME IF YOU LIKED THE CHAPTER AS WELL xD**

 **LunarStarsMoons: Yep xD / Same here :3 / Do you like all the pick-up lines in this?**

 **RapidSammi: (laughing) I believe the original term used was a 'recalcitrant' llama. 'Recalcitrant' basically means very badly behaved. xD / Hehehe xD**

 **pensuka: I not tellin' x3**

 **AquaK13: I know, right? / Yeah, kinda sad :/ / Hehehehe xD / (laughs) / (hums~) / Hahahahaha xD / She is, though. xD / x3 Nah, long reviews are lit. / Yeah, I need to make fanart soon xD**

 **sailor . mikuchan: ? Uh, what are we talkin' about rn? / New is pretty awesome x3**

 **LegoGirl794: OMG. That would be awesome.**

 **homeworkoverload: For now you must build up our machine you die tonight! / Lol yep. / 1. Nahhhh is cool. / 2. It's not. / 3. Cool! / 4. Ah, I see. / 5. Pffft lol xD / 6. Hehe xD / 7. (laughs) / 9. Yes, I noticed.**

 **Rabbits rule: I'm not taking that bet. xD**

 **the indecisive bird: Sure; what do ya need me to do? / (laughs) It's fine. / I hope it will x3**

 **TheRealRedGaming: (coughs) If I decide to write Hybrid the way I might be changing it, it actually might happen...**

 **Emily The Avenger: Lol I was shocked too**

 **BeliTheGhoti0304: Lol / I refuse to spoil myself before I can play it. NO. / (laughs) It's all here.**

 **J.M.M.: No, I haven't.**

 **Jack638: Yeah, THAT'S how precious I find this game. / Ooh that'd be cool.**

 **S4SH4L4SH4theGaMeR101: Lol what did you think about all this then? xD**

 **Kaos Ruin: We'll see.**

 **InsaneAcrobat: Lol xD / Maybe :3 / I have relatively high expectations for this season. / x3**

 **RWBYSTRQ: Hahaha omg I'm laughing hysterically over here**

 **That's all for this chappie! Bai!**

 **x.X. A.L. X.x**


	113. GOOGLIES!

The group was following Lizzie through the hallways, Lizzie chancing glances back at the group over her shoulder as she led them along the beautiful- if not slightly shadowy- hallways.

Jesse let a faint smile twitch over her lips as she spotted Lizzie peeking over her shoulder at her once again. " _You do know we don't bite, right?_ " she asked the pink-haired girl teasingly.

Lizzie's head snapped back around to the front, her cheeks flushing pink- probably from embarrassment.

Jesse's smile faded a bit when she spotted the reaction, and she reached up and rubbed the back of her head awkwardly, although Lizzie couldn't see the movement. " _Ah... I'm sorry. Bad joke._ " There was a long pause, before the grin returned, a bit more teasing than before. " _Hey, y'know what we call an undercover spider?_ "

Lizzie glanced back over her shoulder at the spider hybrid, a question dancing in her clear blue eyes.

Olivia's eyes widened as she realized what was about to happen. "Jesse-"

" _A spy-der._ " And the spider hybrid gave Lizzie finger guns, an amused grin spreading over her face.

There was a long pause onscreen and in real life as everyone just kinda processed the pun she'd just made, before Onscreen-Lizzie's lips twitched.

A moment later, she snorted a little, and then burst out laughing. " _Really? That- wow, that was_ horrible- _hahaha,_ " and she dissolved into a fit of helpless giggles.

Both Real and Onscreen-Jesse looked very pleased that she was laughing at the (awful) joke she'd just made. Lukas was slowly recovering from her intensive flirting attack, slowly propping himself back up and crawling back into a more cozy position, wrapping the blanket back around the two of them. Because, y'know, creepy dark mansions in the middle of a thunderstorm are always better with a blanket.

The rest of the audience was torn between groaning with a repressed grin on their face, shaking their heads, or laughing as well.

" _What does a spider do when it gets mad?_ "

" _Uhh... I'm not sure. What?_ " Petra asked, because Lizzie was giggling uncontrollably now and didn't look like she'd be stopping anytime soon.

" _It goes up the wall!_ "

More mixed groans and laughs. Onscreen-Lizzie was laughing so hard that it was reaching a hysterical level now.

"Jesse. _Stop_. Please," Ellegaard told Jesse, but the fact that she was laughing hysterically really did quite a lot to make her request rather ineffectual.

Onscreen, Lukas shook his head with an amused smile, before they turned the corner and he suddenly flinched and clapped his hands over his nose. " _GAH!_ " he yelped, squeezing his eyes shut tightly.

All of them whipped around to look at him, the ocelot hybrid's shoulders slightly hunched as he kept clutching his nose. " _What? What? What just happened?_ " Ivor asked, looking slightly disoriented.

"Yeah, why did Lukas just- double over like that?" Petra asked, gesturing at the screen.

" _Are you okay, Lukas?!_ " Jesse asked, turning around with wide eyes.

Lukas nodded and slowly straightened up, coughing a bit as he cautiously removed his hands from his nose. " _Yeah, yeah- give- give me a second-_ who's _wearing perfume?!_ " he hacked out, cyan eyes watering a little bit.

Petra, Jesse, and Ivor blinked slowly in perfect unison, exchanging rather puzzled looks at that. " _Someone's wearing perfume?_ " Petra asked, blankly.

" _Well, it's not me,_ " Lizzie said, putting her hands up in surrender.

"Yeah, you'd imagine that he'd have had the reaction the minute she walked into the room- not about like, three minutes after," Gill reasoned, leaning forward a bit and accidentally leaning on Maya. She jabbed her fingers into his ribs playfully, making Gill recoil with a high-pitched laugh and yelp.

Aiden leaned over to see what had happened, remaining silent for a minute.

"Poke him under the arms, he's really sensitive there."

Maya's eyes lit up with evil excitement.

"Wh- _no-_ " Gill let out a shrill yelp as Maya grinned evilly and started poking him under the arms. "Aiden you _traitor_ how could you do this to your friend?!" Gill nearly wailed between his hysterical giggles.

"I'm attempting to get back in Maya's good books," Aiden joked.

Maya glanced up. Upon spotting the faint smile on Aiden's face, she grinned back. "And that lovely act you just performed has definitely gotten your name written halfway in."

"Oh, sweet."

Half of the audience was now in stitches from this playful byplay.

" _Yeah, quite a bit of it too._ " Lukas sniffled a bit, grabbing the end of his tail and wiping his eyes hastily. " _I'm used to it now. It was just a little too heavy a few seconds ago when I first got a whiff of it._ "

" _Lizzie, hi!_ " Lukas looked back up, slightly distracted, and the screen switched around to show CASSIE ROSE walking over, WINSLOW strolling along next to her. " _Did you see all of these new- oh!_ " Cassie blinked, looking surprised at the sight of all the newcomers. " _You've got them with you._ "

Lukas waved at Winslow a bit, the calico cat tilting his head and purring at the sight of the ocelot hybrid.

Onscreen-Jesse blinked a few times.

" _Now Jesse could smell the perfume, too, but it really wasn't as heavy as Lukas had made it out to be. He must have quite the sensitive nose,_ " the narrator- well- narrated, making Jesse's eyes flick up a bit before back down.

"I think this is the first time the narrator's _actually_ narrated instead of just making sarcastic or, uh, _inappropriate_ comments," Gabriel remarked, leaning his elbow on the couch.

"Well, except for that one time at the very beginning of the last episode," Otto corrected.

"Oh, yes."

Aiden blinked, glancing at Cassie. "Oh. That's why it smells a lot like roses whenever I'm near you."

"You just realized?" Cassie asked, grinning teasingly at him.

Jesse stepped forward slowly, Cassie and Lizzie backing away together to let her past, shooting the hybrids anxious looks. Jesse removed her eyes from them- and then her eyes widened, making her take a sudden step back. The screen slowly zoomed out to show huge portraits on the walls, long ones that showed the full body. The really surprising thing was... there was a portrait of _Jesse_ staring back at her. Extra arms, red eye and all.

"Whoa!" Axel blinked rapidly. "That's _seriously_ weird."

"You're telling me..." Lukas mumbled, leaning forward.

" _Whoa... it's... us,_ " Petra said, slowly, staring at the portraits on the wall. There was a short pause, before Petra tapped the corner of her lip. " _Flattering how well they captured our likenesses...!_ "

"But we _just_ arrived _in_ this world," Real-Petra frowned. "How would the Host have even known what we _looked_ like?"

Real-Jesse was staring at the screen uncomfortably. "I'm... not entirely sure that I want to know the answer, to be honest."

Jace was just silently staring at the screen and wishing he could get Petra's picture.

Of course, this didn't go unnoticed (though it did go unnoticed by Petra). Jesse arched her eyebrows at him teasingly, and the two of them had an inadvertent mental conversation.

Jesse: _You've got it baaaad, don't you?_

Jace: _I have no idea what you're talking about._

Jesse: _Sure ya don't, Jace. Suuuure._

Jace: _Oh yeah? You're the one sitting in Lukas's lap._

Jesse: _I could say much the same for you, but with Petra._

Jace: _... shut up._

Jesse smirked victoriously, argument won, and returned her attention to the situation at hand.

Cassie rubbed her head nervously onscreen, giving the group a weak smile. " _At first... it was just the people that were already here. And then... poof! You guys._ "

" _Well, this is... unexpected,_ " Jesse said at last, sounding rather uneasy as she kept staring at the portraits on the wall.

Petra's lips twisted a bit, her pleased smile falling into a more anxious look as she continued regarding the portraits. " _Yeah, no kidding..._ "

Ivor was staring at his own portrait, one eyebrow raised. " _I mean... it's a very nice portrait... but whoever this 'Host' is somehow seemed to know our likenesses beforehand. That, uh..._ " He frowned at last. " _That's more than a little disconcerting._ "

Onscreen-Lukas frowned at his portrait for a moment longer, before there was a meow and he looked down to see Winslow peering up at him curiously. He let out a slightly amused sigh, crouched, and started playing with the calico cat.

"Aww, he likes you," Cassie said, grinning at Real-Lukas.

Lukas grinned back.

He liked cats, alright?

Onscreen, Jesse finally put her hand on her hip, raising her eyebrow. " _Okay. This is flattering, yet... ridiculously_ creepy." She paused, thinking about it, before tacking on, _"If something can be both at the same time._ "

Cassie adjusted her glasses, nodding rapidly. " _Right? At first I was like, 'Oh cool, fan art! Flattering.' But the more I thought about it... 'creepy' is_ definitely _the right word to use here._ " She shuddered a bit, before going over to where Winslow was, smiling nervously down at Lukas. " _I'm glad to see you like my cat._ "

Lukas stood back up hastily, Winslow having crawled into his arms and now meowing quite a bit. " _He's bored,_ " he reported, before Winslow meowed again and he added, " _and he's hungry. I think. I dunno._ " He batted at his ear a bit with his free arm, making a bit of a face. " _Normal cat talk is a bit different from ocelot talk. It's like... a different dialect or something._ "

Jesse thought about that for a second. " _So, like how some people in like one section of the country have one variation of a language, and then you move over half a mile and it's totally different?_ " she suggested as an example.

" _Yeah, like that, only with... y'know. Cats._ "

Several members of the audience couldn't help but grin at that statement.

Onscreen-Jesse snickered a little bit at that, before she tilted her head back- and then paused, eyes widening a little bit. The screen switched to show TorqueDawg's portrait... with a massive, slightly dripping red X drawn through him.

Sparklez's smile fell. "I still can't believe he's... gone. Just like that!"

"Yeah, we were talking just half a minute before and then... poof!" Jesse splayed her hands out slightly, before letting them drop back into her lap, Reuben letting out a pleased snort as she patted him on the back. "He's just... gone."

"Yeah, I mean... I didn't _like_ him that much, but still," Stacy sighed, leaning forward a bit. "Tipped arrows... that's a nasty way to go. No one should have to die like that..."

Unnoticed by everyone else, Cassie uncomfortably shifted in her seat.

" _That's... not a good sign,_ " Jesse said, slowly. Lukas followed her gaze to the painting, before the sound of Sparklez' voice came back on, and Jesse turned to look, the screen coming to a halt at a set of double doors.

" _C'mon, everyone. Let's huddle up in the dining room._ " And he came through, a small group of people coming up behind him.

Petra frowned a bit, gold eyes narrowing a bit. " _Wonder if he told them yet..._ " she mused, quietly.

" _Can't wait to hear the big news,_ " DANTDM said, the brown-haired boy with his goggles resting on his head twisting around to see STACYPLAYS, the brown-haired girl nodding.

" _I know!_ "

The screen switched to show Jesse watching them curiously, before glancing up. Her eyes widened, and the background seemed to zoom in, while she remained still. (If... that makes any sense whatsoever.)

The screen switched to zoom in on Dan and Stacy's portraits.

"Whoa!" Dan blinked rapidly. "Yeah, that's- that's definitely us."

"I wonder how this 'Host' knew we were coming..." Stacy mused, eyes narrowing. "For that matter, I wonder how _we_ received our invitations."

"Yeah, that's a good question." Jace scratched his cheek a bit. "Like, did they get it off of that huge tombstone, or did they get it in the mail or something?"

" _Oooh, I hope there's cake,_ " STAMPYCAT said cheerfully, his orange cat hoodie resting on his head. The screen panned up rapidly to show his portrait.

The screen switched back to Petra, who scratched her chin with a faintly awkward look on her face. " _Guess not._ "

Suddenly, there was a loud yelp, and the screen spun back around to see Stampy literally leaping into Dan's arms in fright, Dan flinching and somehow managing to catch Stampy bridal-style without dropping the orange-cat-hoodie-wearing boy like a sack of potatoes or getting knocked over. " _GOOGLIES!_ " Stampy squeaked.

Stacy stepped back, a wary look coming over her face. " _Whoa- are you guys- are you guys half monster, or- something?_ " she asked nervously.

"Oh boy. Here come the explanations," Magnus mumbled under his breath.

Jesse put up her hands in surrender, all six of them coming up rapidly and making all of the YouTubers flinch a bit. " _Ah- I am, Petra is-_ " And one of her lower arms pointed in the Blaze hybrid's direction, Petra waving a little bit. " _And Lukas is,_ " another lower arm pointed at Lukas, who was still communing with Winslow.

Lukas looked up, distracted from the conversation. " _No I'm not, I'm half ocelot!_ " he protested.

" _And, uh- Ivor's normal,_ " and Jesse used one of her middle arms to gesture at Ivor. The black-haired man bowed, slightly sarcastically.

" _So- so you're not here to hurt us or anything?_ " Dan asked, sounding a little out of breath as he staggered under Stampy's weight and then fell over altogether, letting out a little squeak as Stampy accidentally landed right on his stomach.

Real-Stampy sent Dan a sheepish, rather apologetic look. Dan grinned back.

The spider hybrid shook her head, letting all of her arms drop back to her sides. " _Um- no, not at all. We, uh-_ " One of her lower arms fished out the invitation. " _We got an invitation from this 'Host' as well, whoever they are. I- I guess we're just here to not die a terrible death by zombie and- maybe to find out what's going on?_ " She trailed off, as if thinking, before giving her head a furious shake. " _B-but, that's not my point- my point is, we're not here to hurt anyone. Cross my heart and hope to die._ " Her upper arms automatically did her signature 'oath' thing, and Petra grinned at the sight of it.

The group still stared at them warily, before Sparklez moved over. " _Guys, they're telling the truth- they showed us the invitation. And if they wanted to hurt us by now, I'm sure they already would've done it._ "

" _Yes, so please stop looking like we declared ourselves to be a murderer, produced an axe, and then went chasing after you all with said axe,_ " Ivor replied to the group, sarcastically.

Soren stifled a laugh. " _Ivor!_ " he exclaimed, a huge grin on his face.

"What? It's a valid request," Ivor replied, with a perfectly straight face.

Harper hid her smile. Despite his rather grumpy behavior, Ivor definitely had a deadpan sense of humor to him. Sometimes not intentional, but he definitely had it.

Jesse stifled a loud snort at that, and Petra very surreptitiously delivered a sneaky punch to the ribs, making Ivor yelp and flinch away a bit. Lukas's lips twitched at that, but he fought to keep a straight face.

" _Hahaha!_ " the narrator laughed, voice suddenly dropping into a more amused feminine voice- the one from before. " _Lovely. I like him!_ "

Jesse raised her eyebrow a bit, but didn't say anything about it at that moment.

" _Erm..._ " Stampy coughed a bit, crawling off of Dan and standing back up, although he was still trembling a bit. " _Well, perhaps we should go to the dining room, like Sparklez said?_ "

Stampy winced a bit. "I don't think we trust you guys that much yet... sorry that we're still scared of you."

"No problem," Jesse replied immediately. "We just met, and we're hybrids. It's totally normal that you'd be a little less trusting of us."

The YouTubers exchanged rather relieved smiles.

It was kind of a good thing that Jesse was such a sweetheart.

Onscreen, Jesse shrugged, all of her arms going up a bit and making her shudder a bit. " _Notch, I'm_ still _not used to that,_ " she muttered, shifting a bit, before lifting her head and giving Stampy a friendly smile. " _Sure, I'm up for that._ "

And with that, all of them started making their way into the dining room, through a different set of double doors. Jesse stepped aside, allowing the others to go past her, before raising her eyes to look at the ceiling and dropping her voice to a lower volume. " _So, you're a girl?_ "

" _I am of the female gender, yes._ "

" _So why did you disguise your voice as a guy, then?_ " Jesse mumbled, continuing forward.

" _Why not?_ "

" _So why switch back to being a girl?_ "

" _Because boys are stupid._ "

Every male in the room straightened up indignantly. "HEY!" they all chorused.

Every girl in the room repressed a grin, snickered a bit, or bit their lips. A few of them developed an extreme interest in something on the ceiling.

" _Oh really? So you don't like_ any _boy?_ "

" _Nope. I just like f*ckin' with 'em._ "

Jesse stopped in her tracks, blinking at that new bit of information. " _Uh... okay._ " With that, she moved through the door to the dining room, the screen blacking out in her wake.

There was a short silence as everyone processed the fact that the narrator was apparently a girl.

Finally, Magnus asked, in a rather wondering voice, "So, when she says she likes f*cking with boys, does that mean she likes to mess with them, or does she _actually_ -"

"Magnus, if you finish that sentence, I will smash my sword into your head."

"Oh, y'know what, I actually forgot what I was about to say there. Haha."

" _Good_ ," the entire audience chorused.

* * *

 **A/N: Fun fact: One of the only things Azira and I have in common is that we're both asexual panromantics. (Meaning we don't want to have sex with anyone, but we fall in love with personalities instead of gender. I say that I'm panromantic because I've developed a crush on a girl or two, and they all had similar personalities.) She's just horny to embarrass people.**

 **So, for Hybrid, my plan at this point is this:**

 **I _will_ be publishing a sequel to Hybrid that corresponds with Season 2, though it will add on another three 'episodes' like the original first season. (Remember the DLC episodes?) Y'know, to flow into Recode Reality. At this point, I don't know how many 'episodes' the final product of Hybrid and the sequel combined will be- but you can expect that the final product will be pretty damn lit. xD **

**The end of Hybrid AND the beginning of the sequel might remain the same, though. Not sure.**

 **Anyway, with HCM though, I changed my mind- I actually WILL be including the sequel in HCM in general. I'm not telling you what's happening with that, because I'm not sure yet, but you can expect that characters from Season 2 will be popping in when they appear.**

 **RQTC: Do you have friends that you would pretty much do anything for?**

 **Yep. GirlOfMyOwnWorld, Toni42, TheRealRedGaming, Emily the Avenger, and LunarStarsMoons (otherwise known as ForeverFairy on DeviantArt).**

 **LunarStarsMoons: Lol, yeah, that'd be unfortunate if you did xD / (grins) / (shrugs) Meh.**

 **sailor . mikuchan: ? Sorry, that was kind of unclear, can you explain that?**

 **S4SH4L4SH4theGaMeR101: (laughs) He's fixed now. / Hahahaha xD / Mm, I see.**

 **AquaK13: (laughs) / (laughs) Yeah, she doesn't seem the type, right? / Hehehe xD / Lolol / Yeah, she's smooth af sometimes. / Hahahaha xD / (shrugs mildly) / Actually, not really... xD I just wanted to make a sequel. I had a _slight_ plan, but not enough of one. / Kewl :3**

 **homework: Build up our machine you die tonight! Tonight... build up our machine you die tonight! ... So you found all the pieces, to initiate the pain. / (Yes, I did that middle bit which is just repetition. xD) / (laughs) I guess not. / What, you mean regarding PAMA? / I've watched both lol xD / Mm. / Yes, I have xD / I see!**

 **TheRealRedGaming: Red, stop spoiling things, and stop giving me ideas like that. I _do_ have a plan for how I want the story to go, and the ideas don't fit in. I can't respond to a good deal of the rest of the review because that would be spoiling things, so PM me on Twitter or here if you want a full response.**

 **the indecisive bird: Kayyy~ / Lol xD / I see.**

 **BeliTheGhoti0304: (laughs) True. / Cassie didn't curse in the last chapter? I think you were talking about Isa. / Hehehe. / ?**

 **LittleAngelbun: Hahaha x3 / Okay. / Cool xD**

 **RapidSammi: (squeals with you)**

 **J.M.M.: Thank you! x3**

 **Kaos Ruin: I see. / (eats the banana.)**

 **Jack638: Ah, I see. / :3**

 **LegoGirl794: I see. / Thank you! / Luckyy, I still have two weeks.**

 **InsaneAcrobat: (cracks up) Usually she only messes with Lukas. / No, the hotel is actually still just teasers. Once I actually _publish_ Phantasmagoria I might consider making a crossover for funsies xD / They kind of have to... / Lol I might just make that a separate extra story for funsies. I'll ask the question next chapter and see what other people think. **

**Rabbits rule: Go ahead and encourage the puns, there'll be plenty more xD**

 **Emily The Avenger: Only the first bit, tbh xD / Mmm.**

 **DarkPrincess2001: Jesse says "Never" xD**

 **RWBYSTRQ: (laughs) I'm glad to see you enjoy it! The narrator wouldn't break, but Lukas definitely would (grins wickedly)**

 **Bai!**

 **x.X. A.L. X.x**

* * *

"Hello."

Lukas blinked. "Hello?"

Jesse raised one of her non-gauntlet-clad hands (the gauntlet was _surprisingly_ heavy for such an efficient-looking design) and waved the small device that Stampy and Stacy had described as a 'phone'. They were apparently new in this world, but the one in her hand looked as if it had been used for at least two years. "No, I opened up the phone and that's what's on it right now- a messaging app."

She glanced down at the phone as it buzzed again. "And whoever's sending these messages is very persistent, if not efficient," she added.

Lukas took a look over Jesse's shoulders. On the phone screen came a single word, the same one, over and over again.

 _Unknown: Hello?_

 _Unknown: Hello?_

 _Unknown: Hello?_

"Have you replied yet?" Lukas asked.

Jesse made a face. "It's not my phone. Should I?"

"Well, it might help you find the owner quicker," Petra suggested, adjusting her half-on armor. She'd adopted this style after she'd realized that moving around without a ton of heavy armor on suddenly became way faster and way more efficient, if not a little less safe.

Jesse accidentally lifted her gauntlet-clad arm and winced a bit as the weight dragged her hand down. "Gosh, this gauntlet is _heavy_."

"Yeah, well, you're the one who decided to _put it on_."

"I didn't think it was just gonna get _stuck_ on my arm!"

"Oh, yeah, and it's _cursed_ too, so smart idea, Jesse."

"Haven't you heard that curiosity killed the cat? I should know," Lukas added, frowning at the black-haired girl.

"Satisfaction brought it back," she was quick to counter.

The phone buzzed, reminding her why this argument had started. "Hang on, I'm going to see if I can contact this person."

It was a bit hard with a giant glove on her hand, but she managed to type out a response.

 _Who is this?_

There was a long pause. Jesse was about to repeat the message when the phone buzzed, and a new message appeared from the (extremely persistent) sender.

 _Unknown: Are you Jesse?_

"They responded," Jesse said, quickly (or, as quickly as she could with this huge glove on her hand) tapping out another bit of the message.

 _Yes... who are you?_

 _Unknown: If you're reading this, you've discovered the phone I left for you. Right now, this is the only way we can communicate. Hopefully I can find a better way to contact you soon... I need your help._

 _I won't help you if I don't even know your_ name. _Who. Are. You?_

A long pause. Jesse stared at the screen intently until a new message popped up.

 _Ariza: You can call me Ariza Luca, I suppose._

 _Call you? Is that your real name?_

 _Ariza: Not by a long shot, but it's what everyone knows me as. But Jesse, that's not my point right now. I need your help._

 _What do you need help with?_

 _Ariza: Jesse, if you're reading these text messages and responding, then that can only mean one thing._

 _What do you mean? What are u talking about?_

 _Ariza: We have a huge problem. One that might be a bit bigger than I had anticipated._

 _If you keep beating around the bush I won't help you. What's the problem?_

There was a pause, before the next message popped up.

 _Ariza: **This conversation isn't supposed to exist, Jesse.**_

 **[HHHHHHHHHHHHH]**

 **Lol you thought the review responses were the end of the chapter, didn't you?**

 **A (maybe) teaser for Hybrid's sequel/Season 2! Guess one letter per chapter to find out what the title is. :3 I'm only using the letter 'H' as a stand-in.**


	114. Bad News Lurking in the Shadows

The screen faded back in to show a long dining room with a high ceiling. There was a fire in the wall with the door that they'd just come through, and the whole room was lit with glowstone lamps. In the center of the room was a _very_ long table, and at the head of the table, behind the chair, was a raised area with a huge picture of a baby zombie riding a chicken. Jesse arched her eyebrow at it, before giving a nonchalant shrug and turning back around as everyone moved to stand in a rough sort of circle.

"Weird taste in pictures," Mevia muttered.

Cassie scowled at her but said nothing.

"I think it's kinda cute," Isa replied mildly.

Everyone looked at her.

"What?" Isa shrugged, looking bewildered at the odd looks. "The chicken looks just like Benedict!"

"That explains it," Milo mumbled, but he couldn't help but smile. Benedict _was_ a pretty cute chicken, to be honest.

" _Here, let me introduce you all properly,_ " Sparklez said, giving Jesse a weak smile. " _You guys already met Cassie Rose and LDShadowLady-_ "

Cassie gave a tiny, though friendly wave and smile when her name was spoken. Lizzie interrupted Sparklez, giving them a quick smile, " _Uh, but my friends call me Lizzie._ "

" _This is StacyPlays_ -" Stacy waved a little bit from where she was standing back a bit with Stampy. " _StampyCat_ -" Stampy waved a little bit, smiling nervously at them. " _and that's Dan 'TheDiamondMinecart.'_ " Dan drew level with them, his previously-brown hair now a brilliant shade of teal blue.

Jesse blinked. "Your hair _definitely_ changed color. It was brown before- right?" she glanced up at Lukas.

Lukas nodded, frowning at the screen. "Yeah- it's a bit of an abrupt change."

Dan blinked at them. "Sorry, but I have _no_ idea what you guys are talking about."

Jesse and Lukas were not the only two people to blink at Dan in confusion at that.

" _Wh-when did your hair change color?_ " Onscreen-Petra asked, looking a bit befuddled about the change herself, confirming that no, Lukas and Jesse were not hallucinating or anything weird like that. " _Wasn't it-_?"

Sparklez interrupted, rubbing his head a bit. " _It's funny... before you guys showed up, we all knew each other. Guys, this is Jesse-_ " Jesse bowed a bit, gesticulating dramatically a bit with her hands. There were a few nervous chuckles at that. " _Petra-_ " Petra nodded with a pleasant smile. " _Lukas-_ " the ocelot hybrid batted at his ears nervously before giving them a slightly anxious smile, tail twitching slightly. " _And Ivor._ " Ivor jerked his head in a nod in their direction.

" _You said there was news?_ " Dan asked, after a moment, walking over to Sparklez. " _Is it good? Good news?_ "

Sparklez winced, and Jesse sucked in her breath slightly with a frown. " _Uh... yeah, it's, um... bad news, I'm afraid,_ " Sparklez said slowly, sobering up a bit. There was a short pause, before he continued, in a slightly shaky voice, " _TorqueDawg... is dead._ "

" _Good heavens!_ " Stampy exclaimed in shock, and Stacy's eyes widened. " _Oh no..._ "

" _Wait- what?_ " Dan frowned a bit in confusion.

" _But TorqueDawg was here just- like- ten minutes ago!_ " Stacy blurted, green eyes wide. " _What the heck happened?!_ "

Jesse reached into her back pocket and gingerly pulled out the green-tipped arrow, holding it at arms' length and being careful to keep it away from anyone's bodies. " _This is what got him._ "

Ivor nodded shortly. " _Potion of Poison. While nowhere near as poisonous as Jesse's, which can cause death instantaneously if ingested and in less than a minute if bitten..._ "

Gabriel slapped his hand to his forehead. A moment later, he dragged his hand down his face. "Did you _really_ have to tell them all that while they're all keyed up like that, Ivor?"

"It calms _me_ down."

"It doesn't make _me_ feel any better," Real-Jesse called out from where she was still cocooned in her blankets with Lukas, and indeed she looked faintly queasy about this whole matter.

Ivor inclined his head at Jesse, looking a bit more sympathetic. "In that case, my apologies," he said, in a bit of a softer voice. (Quite a few people exchanged surprised looks at that- they'd half expected him to make a sardonic remark.)

Onscreen-Jesse looked slightly unsettled by this news herself, and it didn't seem like this declaration really did anything to calm anyone else down, either. " _... combined with the arrows itself, it's still a rather lethal trap._ "

" _Wait- tipped arrows?_ " Lizzie asked, blinking disbelievingly.

" _Wait- trap? Someone set a_ trap _for TorqueDawg?_ " Stacy asked, sounding upset at the sound of that, before crossing her arms across her chest and scowling a bit. " _That's nasty!_ "

Jesse nodded to that a bit absentmindedly, carefully placing the arrow back into her pocket to avoid cutting herself.

Dan let out a sigh as well, easing himself into a chair and looking a wee bit disturbed. " _I can't believe TorqueDawg's gone. Just like that!_ "

"Yeah. I mean, I didn't _like_ him that much... but it's still a nasty way to go," Real-Dan sighed, rubbing his temples a little bit.

"Yeah..." Stampy frowned a bit, crossing his arms.

There was a short silence, before onscreen-Stacy slowly spoke up, making everyone look at her. " _So... what happened to his stuff?_ " she asked, curiously.

" _Stacy!_ " Lizzie exclaimed, a little bit despite herself.

Stacy blushed as she realized every eye in the audience was now trained on her. "What? It's not like most of us here aren't curious, either!"

"That's, uh..." Ivor frowned a bit. "I mean, I had very minimal human interaction over the past... several years," his eyes automatically glanced over at the Order, "but, uh... I know enough to know that that's _not_ classy."

"Yeah, that's... that's a little insensitive, Stace," Dan winced a bit himself.

" _Whoa!_ " Onscreen-Cassie exclaimed, head snapping around to stare wide-eyed at Stacy. " _How can you say that?!_ "

" _What?_ " Stacy asked defensively, looking a bit startled by the almost _angry_ reaction. " _It's a valid question!_ "

" _Come on- come on- everyone, don't get greedy!_ " Stampy said loudly, quickly moving forward to intervene in the glaring contest the two of them were now having.

"But I'm _not_!" Stacy protested. "I'm just curious about what he had is all!"

"Well, it _just_ happened!" Cassie frowned and crossed her arms. "You can't just go asking _right after-_ "

"Look, Cassie, I'm in complete agreement with you," Jesse spoke up hastily, voice sounding oddly serene, "but right now is not the time to argue about this- we don't really wanna miss what's happening onscreen, right?"

Cassie paused, her brow furrowing, before she sighed and flopped back onto the couch, making Winslow wriggle a bit under the beanie. "I _guess,_ " she muttered, a bit reluctantly.

When Jesse gave Cassie a cheerful, rather encouraging smile, she returned it grudgingly.

It was hard to get mad with Jesse in the room.

Mainly because of three reasons:

A) She'd make you feel rather cheerful and/or serene,  
B) She'd make you laugh/groan with a series of (very bad) puns, or  
C) Jace would scare you to hell and back if you scared her.

The last reason might've been the most significant, actually.

Jesse spoke up, frowning and crossing all of her arms. " _His stuff just kinda... disappeared. Went down this weird hole in the floor._ " She gestured with her lower arms to illustrate the point.

Stampy frowned a bit at Jesse. " _Are we supposed to just take your word for that?_ " he asked, suspiciously.

Stampy winced a bit apologetically.

Real-Jesse caught it. "What are you wincing for? We just met. It's natural of you to be suspicious of me. It's totally fine." And she gave a friendly smile to Stampy, who returned it immediately with a relieved expression on his face.

Dan and Lukas both frowned a bit. Petra and Lizzie grinned at that, then grinned at each other when they spotted the grin on the other person's face.

Jace elbowed Lukas in the ribs, catching Lukas's attention, before beckoning him over. Lukas leaned over to hear what Jace was trying to tell him.

What Jace told him, albeit in the lowest voice possible, was, "You've got it baaaaad, don'tcha?"

"Shut up," Lukas muttered back, trying to ignore the way his face was currently turning a lovely shade of cocktail-cherry red.

Jace grinned smugly and sat back, satisfied.

"It's not like you don't have it bad, either..." Lukas dissolved into muttering and mumbling, making Jesse twist around to look at Lukas, then at Reuben (he blinked up at her in confusion), then at Jace.

"Why is Lukas red and muttering right now?"

"I dunno, maybe he's got a fever or something."

" _Guys, I saw it too,_ " Sparklez was hasty to intervene, " _Jesse was poking around in TorqueDawg's stuff right before it got sucked into a hopper._ "

Lukas suddenly spoke up onscreen, making everyone jump a bit- he'd been silent for several minutes now onscreen, so it was highly probable that some of the people there had actually _forgotten_ that he was there altogether. " _So, I'm looking at this situation here, and I'm trying to figure something out- is this just about TorqueDawg, or is there a bigger picture?_ "

" _Yeah- why have OUR portraits?_ " Petra wondered, Jesse putting one hand on her chin, one of the lower arms on her hip, the middle ones crossing across her midriff, the other lower one hanging at her side lazily, and the other upper one crossed across her chest thoughtfully.

" _I dunno, guys,_ " Lizzie spoke up, looking a bit sour about something, " _knowing TorqueDawg, I think this might just be about him._ "

Every single audience member's eyes flicked over to glance at Real-Lizzie. She just shrugged at their responses, ignoring the way she was starting to feel a little flustered.

Petra frowned at Lizzie's irritated expression onscreen. " _Am... I picking up some beef here?_ " she asked, slowly. " _Because none of us really like eating meat._ "

" _I only like fish,_ " Lukas contributed, a bit absentmindedly.

Half of the audience couldn't help it and snorted at that.

Jesse raised her eyebrow at Lizzie, tilting her head slightly. " _There... something you not telling us, Lizzie?"_ she asked, sounding friendly enough about it.

" _Wha-?_ " Lizzie shook her head, frowning. " _No. Tha- that came out wrong. Y'know what, forget I said anything._ "

"Brah, that sounds kinda suspicious there," Nell mumbled, frowning at the screen a little bit.

Everyone exchanged glances, before Jesse shrugged, apparently deciding the comment wasn't really any of her business, and pulled out her invitation, giving it a hard look. " _Well, I dunno- if it was just about TorqueDawg, there really wouldn't be much point in bringing_ us _here._ "

" _That's true... what if the Host brought us here to kill us all? What if we're all in danger?_ " Dan asked, his brow furrowing a little bit in worry.

" _Oh my gosh. Dan's right!_ " Stacy's eyes widened in shock.

Stampy flailed his arms around in a panic. " _Whoever's doing this, they could be hunting us!_ "

Jesse frowned again. " _But... why would they be hunting us?_ "

The only answer to her question was a few, long moments of silence.

Finally, Stacy cleared her throat, attracting everyone's attention. " _Hey, Stampy, can I talk to you about something?_ " She casually reached out and grabbed the orange-cat-hoodie-wearing boy's arm, making him blink blankly at her. " _Maybe just, uh... over here..._ " And she proceeded to almost literally tow him over to a spot near the fireplace.

" _Lizzie!_ " Dan waved at Lizzie from where he was sitting, giving her a wide-eyed glare when she didn't immediately come over. " _Psssst. Lizzie._ "

She came over and moved into the seat next to him, and Jesse turned to look at her friends, Ivor's eyes narrowing as he glanced at the group of YouTubers as Cassie and Sparklez moved away as well, heading towards the seats near the head of the table. " _The more I think about it... the more I think there's something these people really don't want us to know,_ " he said, rather flatly.

Jesse put one of her lower hands on her hip. " _Well, then, we're just going to have figure it out._ "

Lukas let a grin come over his face, blue-green eyes glowing slightly in the dark. " _Let's start figuring it out, then._ "

Another blast of thunder, and everyone jumped as the screen winked out- _again._ Leaving the room in total darkness.

"Are you kidding me?" Cassie groaned. "It was just starting to get good, too."

Olivia stood up (to Axel's disappointment), glancing over at Harper. "Well, I guess we should go fix the generator again... are you coming with?"

"... yes, I suppose..." Harper made to stand up, but stopped when she felt a hand on her arm.

"Ah, wait..."

Distracted, Harper looked down, as the hand turned hers over- presumably belonging to Ivor, since it was his voice that had just spoken- and pressing a cool glass bottle into her hand. "Potion of Night Vision. The only one I immediately have on hand right now, so Olivia will have to make do with the flashlight. I'll prepare two next time," and he directed the comment in Olivia's direction.

Harper gave Ivor a grateful smile, even though he couldn't see it. Perhaps _because_ he couldn't see it. "... thank you, Ivor." She tilted the bottle back and drained the potion, before she blinked, and suddenly- she could see! Not as well as she could perhaps in broad daylight, but enough to see everything- albeit tinted a dark blue. "Wow, this is... actually, this is much better."

"That's good. Now, it only lasts for eight minutes, so you need to hurry and get the generator running, otherwise you'll be left in the dark- a bit literally," and Ivor smiled faintly at his lap.

Harper nodded, and looked in Olivia's direction. "Olivia, c'mon, let's go."

And the two of them quickly speed-walked out of the room.

* * *

"Generator room is upstairs, last door on the left, right?" Olivia asked as they quickly walked along the hallways, almost running- Harper _really_ didn't want to be caught in the dark when the potion wore off.

"Right."

"Right as in, the door is on the left, or right as in the door is on the right?"

"Right as in you're correct."

"Correct in which one?"

"Right as in the door isn't on the right, it's on the left."

"Got it." There was a short pause.

"I think."

Harper stifled a loud snort at that and trotted up the stairs at a rapid clip. "Yeah, that was a bit of a confusing-"

As her head rose over the top of the stairs, she abruptly quit talking, grabbed Olivia, and yanked them both to the side of the wall. She winced a bit as she smacked her back a little too quickly into the wall- she really wasn't a young person anymore.

"Ah-! What's-?!"

"Shh!" Harper quickly put her hand over Olivia's mouth, holding her breath as she cautiously peered over the edge of the stairs, staring intently at the end of the hallway.

There was a gray silhouette standing there.

It wasn't like the visions, glowing a faint blue or talking or doing _anything_ \- it was just a _legitimately_ gray silhouette. No details- just a gray, humanoid silhouette. Harper wouldn't have spotted it if she didn't have the Potion of Night Vision going for her right then. Even then, it was so gray that it nearly blended with the walls.

She didn't realize that she'd been staring at the silhouette for a good minute and a half until Olivia slapped her wrist, making her start back and remove her hand from Olivia's mouth. It was then that she realized that she'd accidentally covered Olivia's nose when covering her mouth and had nearly suffocated the poor girl, as Olivia proceeded to heave a HUGE breath in (loud enough to make the palpitations of Harper's heart go into overtime).

"Harper, what gives?!" Olivia hissed, keeping her voice down. Maybe she'd sensed the urgency in Harper's motions. Maybe she was still a bit too depleted of air to speak at a normal volume. Whatever it was, Harper couldn't say she wasn't glad that Olivia was keeping her voice down.

Harper glanced over the staircase- and felt her blood run cold.

The silhouette was gone.

"What the heck?" she whispered. She moved up a step or two, looking around with narrowed eyes, doing her best to make out her surroundings.

Nothing.

"Harper?" Olivia drew level with Harper, shining the flashlight around the hallway in confusion, confirming that no, the silhouette wasn't still there. It had just simply... disappeared. "Did you see something?"

"... it's nothing." Harper continued up the stairs, ignoring the way chills were shooting up and down her spine, and the way one of the paintings on the wall seemed to be blinking at her. "Let's just get the generator going and get outta here."

She pushed open the door and stepped inside, Olivia following a second later.

* * *

 **A/N: Wow! This was fun to write lol :3 Not much story, still... but expect things to get really exciting as events go on.**

 **Hopefully. xD**

 **[HISHEGEHHHIHH]**

 **Letters have been guessed correctly by LunarStarsMoons, the indecisive bird, LittleAngelbun, and RavenBlaze4850. C'mon guys! We need more guesses if you wanna see the title for Hybrid's Season 2! (The H's are just stand in letters. THERE ARE NO Hs IN THIS TITLE.)**

 **RQTC: Do you want a blooper reel at the end of this story? No reactions; just the bloopers of Hybrid. :3**

 **LunarStarsMoons: Yep! x3 You're almost always there whenever I check the reviews; you're there most of the time, and you're always fairly cheerful :3 / Lolol xD / Correct. / :3**

 **BeliTheGhoti0304: Lol / Awww :3 / Yep! / Incorrect.**

 **the indecisive bird: No. I must. xD / Of course not; I was just asking if you had any lol / x3 Yes, yes I have! / It's fine, I grinned a bit too. / Yep! And correct.**

 **AquaK13: Lolol true / xD He does. / Stampy is an innocent cinnamon roll. He must be protected. xD / Lolol / LOLOLOL / Awww (frowns) I'm sorry to hear that. / Hahaha xD Sorry fam.**

 **Emily The Avenger: x3 / Lolol.**

 **Anne-da-Griffin: (laughs) Very true.**

 **Rabbits rule: (hums) I see. / Thanks!**

 **homeworkoverload: But the ending's always just the same, no gain. Nod your head to the beat of death as you draw your last eternal breath~ / (smiles) Cool! / Ahhh, I see :3**

 **Raven: x3 / Yep, Azira can be quite humorous when she wants to be. / Thank you!**

 **RapidSammi: Cool! / :3 / x3**

 **DarkPrincess2001: No spoilers~**

 **LittleAngelbun: Thanks! x3 / Lol so did I. / Correct.**

 **S4SH4L4SH4theGaMeR101: Ahh, cool :3 / Yes... but the gauntlet is still heavy and irritating. xD**

 **Kaos Ruin: You could always get another banana. xD / Thank you!**

 **J.M.M: :3 / That's weird. Maybe 'cause you use 'em so often?**

 **NinaNaranja: Lol xD / x3 / Awwww :3 / Lol yep xD**

 **RavenBlaze4850: Woah, long review xD / It's fine! I don't mind! / Very true lol / Dun dun DUUUUN xD / Lol that was the intention. / Hahaha xD / (laughs) / Maybe~ / Okay. / I see. / Cool :3 / YAS / Correct :3 / Nope, haven't had the time yet. Sorry.**

 **Savannah-the-Caracal: Cool (nods) / (grins)**

 **sailor . mikuchan: Ah. / Ah, cool :3**

 **SofiaTheWriter88: Lolol xD / Hahahahahaha xD / (laughs) True.**

 **Bai!**

 **x.X. A.L. X.x**

* * *

The minute the door to the generator room swung shut, a tiny ghost floated out from the portrait that had been blinking at Harper. Imagine a bedsheet ghost, but about the size of your head, dot eyes, and a little pink blush on its cheeks, and you've basically got the gist of it.

"You're truly fortuitous that the white-haired one thought you were a hallucination." Had a bystander been standing there, they would've just burst out laughing at the sound of the highest pitched, squeaky voice speaking so formally.

"I suppose I'm lucky that you were there to actually _cause_ a hallucination; otherwise that could've gotten a bit messy." The air shimmered, and the gray silhouette was standing there again, glancing around the now-empty hallway. "Are you sure that we can't fix the generator?"

"Of course not. If we did, we'd-"

"Be breaking the rules," the gray silhouette droned, sounding bored- indeed, as if the ghost had told them this over and over and _over_ again.

"While I do not appreciate the interruption, that is indeed the case. You know the rules- _no direct interference._ "

"I thought there was also a rule about not doing favors for people? In that case, why are we here?"

"You're one to talk. Are you not the one who goes breaking the rules right and left?"

"You've got me there." The gray silhouette glanced around again. "I can't believe _you_ agreed to breaking the rules this time, o Ghostly One."

"Kindly refrain from using that nickname. But of course I would... this time, anyhow. They're an old friend." The ghost paused, before continuing, "and you know full well that you wished to come."

"I never said I didn't."

"I despise you sometimes."

The gray silhouette yawned, not at all put out by this declaration. "Yeah... well, I suppose we're stuck with each other."

"It seems so."


	115. Let's Investigate

The two of them soon returned to the living room, the screen having come back on a few minutes prior, although Harper refused to explain why she was so much more jumpy than before and Olivia just looked confused when the others tried to interrogate her about it. So, they decided to let it go until later.

When the episode resumed, Jesse was walking over in the direction of the head of the table, Lukas tagging along and trailing a bit behind the spider hybrid, coming to a stop next to Sparklez and Cassie, who looked up from their conversation when she came to a stop. " _Hey, Sparklez. And... Cassie Rose, yeah?_ " Jesse checked, pointing a bit at Cassie with a raised eyebrow.

" _Yep!_ " Cassie said, voice a mix of cheery anxiety. " _Hi. That's me._ "

" _Hey there, Jesse,_ " Sparklez said softly, sounding a bit subdued.

Winslow let out a meow, and Cassie patted Winslow with a chuckle. " _Oh- Winslow says hi, too._ " And she smiled fondly at the calico cat.

Lukas squinted at the cat for a few seconds before replying, " _Actually, I'm pretty sure he's saying something about wanting a fish._ "

Half of the audience snorted at that, while the other half couldn't help it and started giggling. (Jesse and Jace were definitely members of the second half.)

Onscreen, Jesse put her hand over her mouth. She could've been concealing a yawn. But when she removed her hand, she was still smiling a bit. " _Ah- well, you guys mind if I ask you some questions?_ " she asked.

" _Nope! What are the questions?_ " Cassie asked, rather cheerfully.

Lukas started 'talking' to Winslow, nodding periodically and meowing back. Jesse regarded the two of them for a moment before turning back to Cassie and Sparklez. " _Well- got any guesses as to why someone would kill TorqueDawg?_ " she questioned, slowly.

Cassie immediately frowned a bit, thoughtfully. " _Oh gosh..._ " She crossed her arms. " _Gosh, um... he was a little... prickly, around the edges, y'know? You'd have to ask someone else about that, I- I didn't really know him._ "

"That's true." Lizzie crossed her arms. "I mean, you'd only met him twice before. And each time he just kinda grabbed some food and then left."

Cassie nodded from where she was sitting next to Aiden. "Yeah, he never really tried to make any conversation with me..."

" _I don't really wanna say anything_ bad _about a guy that's not here to defend himself,_ " Sparklez added, sounding slightly uncomfortable, " _but, well, you met him, right? 'Prickly' is... kind of an understatement._ "

Jesse nodded to that, frowning slightly as she filed that information away. " _Cassie, you seemed pretty upset about people wanting to poke around in TorqueDawg's inventory..._ " Jesse trailed off, looking at the redhead with expectant eyes.

Cassie blinked. " _Oh. Was I?_ "

" _Kinda were,_ " Lukas said, from where he was talking to Winslow. " _And no, Winslow, I do not have a girlfriend._ "

Most of the audience raised their eyebrows, before turning slowly to regard Lukas and Jesse snuggled up in a cocoon of blankets.

Both of them blinked at said audience members. "What?"

Onscreen, Winslow mewed, and Lukas's cheeks slowly flushed pink as he glanced at Jesse awkwardly. " _... no comment._ "

Now most (if not _all_ of the audience) were starting to titter.

" _You just commented,_ " Jesse pointed out, a smile twitching on her cheeks, before she became much more serious and looked back to Cassie. " _But yeah, you kinda were. Why's that?_ "

Cassie frowned, looking down momentarily, before looking back up. " _Well, it was just so- so_ insensitive _, right? It had_ just _happened, and she was all curious about what was in his pockets._ " She sighed a bit. " _Just... made me mad, I guess._ "

Jesse nodded quietly, before mildly beginning, " _There... seemed to be some drama between Lizzie and TorqueDawg, right? Got any insight on that?_ "

Sparklez shook his head immediately. " _Sorry, I'm not getting wrapped up in that. Especially now that TorqueDawg is..._ " he paused, looking down at his lap. " _Well, y'know._ "

"Wrapped up in what?" Em frowned.

All of the YouTubers glanced at each other, before Lizzie awkwardly reached up and scratched her head. "It's... er... kind of complicated."

Cassie shrugged a bit onscreen. " _But it's weird, right? Definitely seems like there's some beef._ " She paused, before hastily adding, " _Not- not that I, um, want to get into rumors or anything like that._ "

Jesse hummed thoughtfully, before politely inclining her head. " _Sparklez. Cassie. Winslow,_ " and she nodded at the calico cat, drawing Lukas's attention, " _thanks for your time._ "

" _No problem,_ " Cassie said casually.

Sparklez nodded, a small smile on his face. " _Yeah, any time._ "

Jesse and Lukas made their way back to Petra and Ivor, who were barely talking to each other. When Petra noticed Jesse's approach, she turned to face the spider hybrid. " _Anything?_ "

" _Found out this group has a whole ton of secrets they're keeping from each other,_ " Jesse responded, glancing at the chatting YouTubers.

Stampy fidgeted a bit upon hearing that, but said nothing.

" _That's definitely something,_ " Petra said encouragingly.

Jesse nodded, before moving away again with Lukas over to where Stampy and Stacy were quietly talking to each other. " _Hey! Uh, Stampy and Stacy, right?_ " she asked, in a friendly way.

Stampy turned around to see Jesse, blinking. " _Oh, um, uh, hello!_ "

" _Hey, Jesse,_ " Stacy said, albeit in a rather tentative way, " _what's up?_ "

Jesse put her lowest set of hands on her hips as Lukas batted at his ears absentmindedly. " _So I know things are a bit nuts right now, but I've got a couple questions for you guys._ "

" _Oh? Really?_ " Stampy asked, blinking. " _What?_ "

When Jesse spoke again, she directed her inquiry at Stacy. " _So, Stacy, you seemed pretty curious about what was in TorqueDawg's inventory. What's up with that?_ " she asked, mildly.

Stacy shrugged- she didn't seem at all bothered by the question. " _Well, TorqueDawg_ was _a pretty notorious thief._ "

"He was?" Maya wondered.

Stacy nodded. "Yeah, he stole a _lot_ of stuff from people. Trophies, treasures, redstone, armor... you name it, he probably stole at least one thing."

Jesse frowned. "Well that's definitely rude."

"Yeah; like we said he's not the nicest guy."

" _I was just curious about what he had. That's it,_ " Stacy finished.

Jesse simply tilted her head back, making a noncommittal 'hm' sound. When it became clear that Stacy wasn't going to elaborate, she continued, " _well, it seems like Lizzie and TorqueDawg_ really _didn't like each other... know anything else about that?_ "

" _Oh, that!_ " Stampy nodded, putting his hands on his hips. " _Real shame, real shame._ "

" _He broke into her house and stole a bunch of stuff from her,_ " Stacy finished, scowling a bit. " _She was super upset about it._ "

"In Lizzie's defense, if someone did that, I'd be pretty ticked off at them too," Aiden spoke up absentmindedly.

"Yeah... same here," Lukas said, albeit a lot more quietly.

Onscreen-Jesse winced. " _You don't say. I know_ I'd _be a bit pissed off if that happened to me._ "

"See?" Lizzie pointed at the screen.

Jesse continued, " _Anyone you can think of that would want something... not-so-nice to happen to TorqueDawg?_ "

Stampy frowned thoughtfully. " _Um... well,_ I _never had that big of a problem with him_ personally..."

"Actually, yeah- Sparklez and Stampy are two of the only people who got along even the _tiniest_ bit with TorqueDawg. Everyone else was kinda... ehhhh," Dan spoke up, tilting his hand from side to side to illustrate his point.

" _But I know other people did?_ " Stampy continued. " _Quite a few, actually. I don't know if you noticed, but... he was a bit of a griefer._ "

"Yes, and not the good kind," Ellegaard sighed. "I got that impression when he was speaking."

"There's a good kind of griefer?" Gabriel asked, innocently.

"Yes, at least Magnus knows when to-" Too late Ellegaard realized what she was saying, and her head snapped up and around to see Gabriel and Soren grinning smugly at her. Turning in the other direction, she could spot the ghost of a smile on Ivor's face as he hastily recomposed his features, and a broad grin on Magnus's.

"... stop grinning at me like that or I'll punch you all in the nose."

" _Yeah... and a thief,_ " Stacy added, crossing her arms and looking over at Stampy as if expecting him to confirm her point.

Real-Stampy's fidgeting got progressively worse.

" _I see... alright, catch ya later,_ " and Jesse waved a little bit as she, once again, trotted back over to her friends, Lukas in tow.

" _No problem!_ " Stampy called after her, flailing his arm in a wave.

" _Did you find anything out from Stacy or... uh... SturdyCat?_ " Petra asked, keeping her voice low.

" _Stampy_ Cat!" Real-Stampy complained.

" _It's StampyCat,_ " Lukas automatically corrected.

Petra waved it off absentmindedly. " _Yeah, him. So... did you find anything out?_ "

Jesse crossed all six of her arms, eyes narrowing thoughtfully. " _Apparently, TorqueDawg was a well-known thief. That might've had something to do with it, don't you think?_ " she asked, in a soft voice.

Ivor nodded. " _Definitely,_ " he replied.

Jesse jerked a thumb over her shoulder. " _I'm gonna keep asking around,_ " she said, still in a low voice.

" _Ask away._ "

Jesse turned around, glancing around the dining room, before carefully walking over towards Dan and Lizzie. " _Um, hi there! Dan, Lizzie,_ " she said, politely.

Dan jumped several inches out of his chair and conked foreheads with Lizzie, yelping a bit as he did so.

Dan grumbled as his face turned as pink as his hair, crossing his arms and ignoring the giggling from the audience. Lizzie blushed a little bit, too.

Stampy pouted a bit.

Rubbing his forehead, onscreen-Dan swiveled to look at Jesse. " _Oh, uh, hello._ "

" _Hey there!_ " Lizzie greeted, giving Jesse and Lukas a cheerful smile.

" _Well, if you don't mind,_ " Jesse said coolly, sliding into the chair nearest to the duo, " _I have some questions about this whole... 'TorqueDawg' situation._ "

Dan and Lizzie shared a look, before Dan shrugged nonchalantly and returned his gaze to Jesse's face. " _Yeah? Go ahead._ "

" _It seems like people were_ really _interested in seeing TorqueDawg's inventory... any idea why?_ " the spider hybrid asked lightly, absentmindedly beginning to weave some string and play Cat's Cradle with it.

Lizzie shrugged. " _An adventurer like him? He could've had all_ kinds _of cool stuff,_ " she replied, mildly.

"Wait- but Stacy just said he was a thief," and Real-Jesse frowned. "Why is he now an 'adventurer'?"

"Yeah... something's not quite lining up there," Olivia mumbled, squinting at the screen herself.

Lizzie and Stacy automatically exchanged a glance.

" _I see-_ " Jesse suddenly cut herself off and looked down to see that Lukas had dropped to a sitting position and was eyeing the string. Rolling her red-and-green eyes a little bit, she reached down and started petting the ocelot hybrid, who started purring like a carburetor as he dreamily batted at the string himself.

Nell let out another squeal, although she kept her voice down this time. Lukas huffed, feeling his cheeks go pink.

Looking back up at the two brightly-colored-haired-people, Jesse gave a sheepish smile and continued, " _TorqueDawg was clearly targeted with this trap... why him?_ "

Dan shrugged a bit. " _Well, he_ was _bragging about having some kind of 'rare item'._ "

"Oh- yeah, I remember that now," Cassie hummed, snapping her fingers a bit, as if just remembering this fact.

"Yeah, you bros mentioned it earlier," Nell said casually.

Onscreen, Lizzie rolled her eyes sarcastically. " _Wouldn't_ show _it to anyone, of course. Typical TorqueDawg._ "

Jesse frowned thoughtfully at the sound of that. " _So... this 'rare item' that TorqueDawg claimed to have..._ " she said, slowly.

Lizzie shook her head and shrugged. " _We don't know exactly._ "

Dan nodded from where he was glancing at Lizzie and turned back to Jesse. " _Yeah. Sorry._ "

Jesse nodded absentmindedly at that, before shifting and directing her next question at Lizzie. " _Lizzie, seems like you're not much of a TorqueDawg fan... what's the deal?_ "

Lizzie looked around, before her expression turned into a bit of a glare- although it seemed to be directed more at TorqueDawg and not Jesse. " _Oh, c'mon- you met him, right?_ Nobody _liked that guy. I'm just the only one who'll actually admit it._ "

"Well, that's true," Stacy mumbled, mostly under her breath, although the other YouTubers heard the comment clearly and nodded.

Dan rubbed his head awkwardly. " _He, um... yeah, he_ definitely _wasn't the nicest person._ "

"That seems to be a bit of an understatement," Soren mumbled to Gabriel, who happened to be the nearest to him. The warrior nodded in response.

Jesse nodded thoughtfully. " _That... lines up with what I've heard of TorqueDawg so far... so, Lizzie. I heard something interesting about you and TorqueDawg,_ " she continued, lightly.

Lizzie didn't look surprised or angry or anything- just kind of resigned. " _Yeah? What'd you hear? I'm sure there's all sorts of rumors going around,_ " she asked, mildly.

Jesse leaned back a bit, crossing her uppermost set of arms. " _I heard he stole from you,_ " she stated, simply but clearly.

Lizzie's eyes widened, and she glared at Jesse a bit. " _Whoa! Would you keep it down?!_ " she hissed, glancing over her shoulder at Stampy and Stacy.

Everyone blinked a bit at the sudden change in demeanor.

"That's... uh..." Em blinked. "That was a bit sudden."

"Understatement of the day," Reginald murmured.

Turning back to Jesse, Lizzie sighed. " _Okay. Yes. He did._ "

Jesse blinked, one eyebrow quirking slightly as Dan shifted his gaze to the table uncomfortably. Lizzie ranted, " _He stole one of my Creeper Head trophies- my very first one! I just didn't mention it before because I didn't want to look guilty._ "

"I would've just mentioned it right off the bat. I feel like people would've just been _more_ suspicious if it seemed like I was hiding something. Get everything off my chest, people might be suspicious but they know that at least I'm not hiding anything," Jesse stated mildly.

There was a pause as everyone absorbed this, before Harper said, quietly, "Well, she's not wrong."

"Yeah, it's a pretty smart idea," and Lukas ruffled Jesse's hair.

Dan blinked suddenly in surprise, looking back up, before over at Lizzie. " _Wait. Creeper head? This isn't about the-_ " he began.

" _Dan!_ " Lizzie hissed, shaking her head and cutting the blue-haired boy off. " _No, not in front of-_ " She glanced at Jesse.

Real-Jesse crossed her arms, eyes narrowing. "And... _now_ I'm suspicious."

Lizzie and Dan winced in sync.

Onscreen, Lizzie glanced back at Dan, frowning. " _And no. I_ told _you- I never had it._ "

"Well that's not suspicious _at all_ ," Em drawled sarcastically.

Jesse looked at Dan this time, and this time her mild, casual demeanor had faded- Jesse's hair had casually slid over her face to hide her green eye, and now with only the red eye showing and no visible smile on her face, the casual voice she was using took on a whole different sort of meaning. " _Dan, you seemed surprised by Lizzie mentioning a stolen Creeper Head... what did you_ think _TorqueDawg had stolen from her?_ "

"Note to self- Jesse can be... _very_ intimidating when she really wishes to be," Hadrian murmured under his breath.

Otto heard that and glared at him. "You _just_ realized this?"

Onscreen Dan shuddered a bit at the sudden change of personality, before he frowned. " _Uhhh, remember that 'rare item' you were asking us about a minute ago? Yeah, it's that. And I'm still not going to talk about it._ " There was a short pause, before he added, a bit more apologetically, " _Sorry._ "

Jesse stared at the two of them a moment- long enough to make them both glance at each other nervously- before she suddenly smiled, mildly. " _Uh huh. Okay. That's it for now. Thanks._ "

And with that, she tapped Lukas on the head, interrupting the petting. Lukas blinked a few times, snapping himself out of it, before looking up at Jesse with a blush as he casually removed his head from her knee. " _So what's up?_ "

Jesse's mild smile turned into a frown as she got up. " _It's all tangled up, but it sounds like TorqueDawg was claiming to have some sort of 'rare item'. People_ thought _it was something he stole from Lizzie, but all he stole from Lizzie was a Creeper Head trophy,_ " she whispered to Lukas, gesticulating a bit with her hands.

"Why would Lizzie have had that 'rare item' though?" Olivia frowned.

Lukas frowned, eyes narrowing. " _I... didn't see anything like that in his inventory, though._ "

" _Yeah... something's not quite adding up,_ " Jesse said softly as they drew level with Petra and Ivor, the two barely-speaking members turning to face the other two, forming a rough circle.

Jesse crossed all of her arms and looked down, thoughtfully. " _So, TorqueDawg was a notorious thief, and he allegedly had this 'rare item'... but there's a piece of this puzzle still missing. No one's telling me what this 'rare item' is,_ " she hummed, after a few seconds.

" _Actually, I think I can shed some light on that situation._ "

Jesse jumped half out of her skin in shock as the screen shifted over to show Sparklez drawing level with the group, adjusting his sunglasses.

"Wait- you're going to tell her about it?" Stacy looked over at Sparklez, looking startled.

Sparklez shrugged at that. "I don't see any point in _hiding_ it from her. Besides, it's not like it's a huge big secret- you guys are just trying to get it for yourselves."

"As I rightly should!" Dan argued back.

"What are you guys talking about? What is everyone trying to get for themselves?" Jesse asked, looking between Sparklez and the rest of the YouTubers innocently.

"Er, well, _I_ never said I wanted it that badly," Stampy protested, weakly.

Onscreen, Petra grinned, gold eyes gleaming. " _Well, now my curiosity is piqued._ "

Jesse slowly let a relieved grin spread over her face, and she turned to face him. " _Well, thank Notch_ someone's _being direct with me,_ " she said, the relief evident in her voice. " _Thanks, Sparklez._ "

Sparklez nodded, a friendly smile on his face, before it grew a bit more sober. " _Well, there's a temple, way out in the middle of nowhere._ "

"Oh- _this_ sounds a bit familiar," Mevia mumbled, loud enough so that only Hadrian and Otto could hear it. They nodded.

" _People have been trying to track down the temple's location for ages, because they want this treasure that's supposedly deep in its basement._ "

"Ah, I see where this is going," Lukas said quietly.

" _Now, it LOOKS just like an ordinary flint and steel-_ " Onscreen-Jesse's eyes widened. "- _but it's actually super rare. It has this enchantment on it and-_ "

" _It opens portals to other worlds,_ " Jesse finished abruptly, rather flatly.

"You are all after the flint and steel?" Milo asked the YouTubers, rather curiously.

"Yeah- it's pretty cool," Stacy replied, shrugging a bit.

Otto blinked a bit, before leaning over so that only Hadrian and Mevia could catch it. "I didn't realize that the flint and steel would become so important to people in the worlds we left them in..."

"Neither did I," Mevia whispered back.

" _Exactly!_ " Sparklez continued, on a roll- then then came to a stop, blinking at Jesse in surprise. " _Wait- what? You know about the enchanted flint and steel?_ "

In response, Jesse reached into her pockets, and held up the glowing cyan flint and steel.

* * *

 **A/N: Still a bit shorter... ah well. It'll get exciting soon enough :3**

 **Two things: one, Phantasmagoria's ANIMATIC trailer is up! :3 it's on my YouTube under the same name. Or you can check out my dA or the website. It's there too :3**

 **Two: I am _so upset_ right now. Just... read the huge rant on DeviantArt that I posted earlier... I'm feeling way better now but still really upset about the whole thing.**

 **Votes on the bloopers so far, btw:**

 **Yes: 9  
No: 1**

 **[hIShEGENAhIhN]**

 **Letters have been correctly guessed by LunarStarsMoons, BeliTheGhoti0304, and the indecisive bird.**

 **Guys... people _other_ than these guys can guess too, y'know. **

**RQTC: Y'all _do_ know that the story's not taking place in the Phantasmagoria Hotel, right? I think I mentioned it last chapter or the chapter before...**

 **S4SH4L4SH4theGaMeR101: I see :3 / Lolol / Lolololol yep**

 **LunarStarsMoons: No problem, fam :3 / Correct. :3 / Thanks! / Cool :3**

 **sailor . mikuchan: (laughs) Ah, gotcha.**

 **Emily The Avenger: (laughs) Glad ya liked it.**

 **Raven: I see~ / Yeah, Jace is great. x3 / Thanks!**

 **AquaK13: Lol yep x3 / Lolol :3 / That's cool :3 / No, not at all~ :3 / (laughs) True. / Gotcha. / :3**

 **RapidSammi: (gets knocked down) Lololol**

 **Kaos Ruin: Then use a cookie. xD**

 **BeliTheGhoti0304: Technically already guessed, but correct :3 / (grins) / Alright :3**

 **the indecisive bird: (laughs) Neither will I, tbh. / Gotcha. Every vote counts! / Correct. / The Stinger? Where'd that come from? xD**

 **Jack638: x3 / Woohoo! / Same here.. :/**

 **RavenBlaze4850: (laughs) / (laughing like a maniac) Wow, that... I did not even see that. / Cool, got it :3 / Incorrect, sorry.**

 **SofiaTheWriter88: (grins) / Okay. :3**

 **LegoGirl794: Okay :3**

 **Bai!**

 **x.X. A.L. X.x**


	116. White Pumpkins (Don't) Exist

" _Whoa whoa whoa don't just_ pull it out!" Sparklez immediately hissed, shoving Jesse's hands back at her and nearly hitting her right in the stomach (which would've been a bit unfortunate), " _it's a really, REALLY sensitive topic here!_ " He was looking about wildly, as if in a massive panic.

Real-Nell frowned a bit at that, blinking at the screen, before leaning over to get a better look at the YouTubers. "Why?"

She didn't have to explain her question.

The five of them exchanged odd looks, before Dan let out a low sigh. "It's, uh... complicated."

"I can see that," Gill muttered under his breath. He subsided when Maya gently elbowed him in the gut.

Onscreen, Jesse quickly put the flint and steel away, blinking rapidly and rather confusedly at him. Sparklez looked around, making sure none of the others had spotted it, before crossing his arms and humming at Jesse thoughtfully. " _You know, I had a theory about why you were here... and I think this just might prove it._ "

"You did? It did?" Real-Jesse asked, turning to look at Sparklez.

Real-Sparklez just looked a bit bewildered, shrugging a bit. "I- I guess? I don't really know what my onscreen-self is talking about?" he trailed off, sounding incredibly confused right about now.

He was not the only one, I can tell you that.

Onscreen, Sparklez walked in the other direction. Jesse and Lukas exchanged a curious look, before Lukas lifted his shoulders in a tiny shrug, and the hybrids (and Ivor) followed Sparklez, who was calling out to the others as they all looked up from where they were discussing things. " _Everyone? Everyone!_ " Sparklez called out, attracting their attention.

Perhaps sensing the sense of purpose in his tone, everyone quickly moved into seats. Dan and Lizzie stayed sitting in their seats at the end of the table while everyone else moved to get one. In the end, Stacy ended up sitting between Lizzie and Stampy, while Cassie stayed sitting at Sparklez' immediate right and Stampy sat next to Cassie. On the other side, Jesse remained standing, while Ivor sat at Sparklez' left side and Lukas sat behind him, followed by Petra.

" _We've all been freaking out,_ " Sparklez said to the gathered group in an almost official way, " _wondering why we were brought here... why TorqueDawg died..._ " His voice caught for a second, " _and Jesse has uncovered an important clue._ "

Real-Jesse blinked at that. "I did?"

Lukas smothered the tiny grin forming on his face.

Onscreen-Stampy blinked, looking rather surprised about that. " _What? Really?_ "

Petra glanced at him, a faintly confused look on her own face, before returning her attention to Sparklez.

Sparklez leaned forward, eyes narrowing with a sort of determined look on his face. " _Whoever killed TorqueDawg... whoever invited us... they're after the enchanted flint and steel-!_ "

He was suddenly catapulted backwards with a yell, everyone letting out yells of shock as his seat back slammed into the floor as he tumbled backwards straight into a large hole that had opened up behind his seat.

" _Sh!t!_ " Real-Dan yelled in his shock.

" _Sparklez!_ " Real-Stampy squeaked in fright.

"What the _f*ck_ just happened?!" Everyone looked 'round to see Hadrian pretty much death-hugging Mevia, the pale-blue haired woman looking a little like she was being strangled. Otto was clutching the arm of the armchair, one hand over his heart in shock.

Sparklez was just staring at the screen, face having gone the shade of tea in fear. Dan and Stampy were on their feet, while Lizzie was scrambling to get back in the couch from where she'd pretty much fallen out, and Stacy was nearly about to topple out of the couch herself. Cassie was pretty much strangling Aiden to death in a death hug, squishing Winslow between her and the dark-brown-haired boy, a look of terror fixed on her face. (Had anyone really looked closely... they might've noticed something a bit... _off_ in her expression.)

The gladiators had pretty much knocked their couch over altogether, while Em and Nell were gaping at the screen in shock. Maya and Gill were looking at the screen, then each other, then at the screen again, over and over, in an almost dizzying pattern. Isa was hugging Milo again (he was the closest to her), while Reginald had actually fallen over the back of the couch and was now trying to keep Benedict from running away in fear.

Harper was, at this point, _hugging_ Ivor, who was pressing his back into his armchair with his face having gone even paler than before (if that was even possible). Ellegaard had automatically grabbed Magnus in a hug, and didn't appear like she was going to be letting go of him anytime soon. Soren was pale with fear, while Gabriel looked a little queasy.

Jesse had her hands to her mouth, huddling down into Lukas's tight hug, the blonde clinging to her like a little boy might cling to a stuffed animal and not letting go, while Reuben was trying to bury himself in Jesse's lap and not doing the most phenomenal job of it. Jace had managed to tangle himself up in the blanket and somehow migrated to hiding behind Petra's back in fear, the redhead's face oddly pale as well. Olivia had a pillow over her head defensively, while Axel was hugging her tightly (perhaps a bit too tightly, if her little squeaks of pain were any indication).

The screen moved back to show the seat back jerking back into an upright position from where it had slammed into the floor, Jesse's red-and-green eyes wide with horror, before the sounds of pistons moving sounded and Jesse's head jerked up to see several blocks of sand plummeting from the ceiling, slamming into the floor where Sparklez had just fallen.

Aiden flinched. Getting impaled by arrows was a nasty way to go... but getting buried alive in sand was the most gruesome death he could possibly imagine.

Real-Sparklez looked as though someone had just run him over with a truck.

" _No_!" the spider hybrid yelled, starting to move forward desperately- before the lights let out a huge groan, and everything went black, except for their eyes, darting everywhere in shock.

"Oh, no, not _again-_!" Em groaned, looking pale with shock at the speed and _deadliness_ of what had just happened. With everything moving so fast, no time to mentally prepare whatsoever, it felt as though someone had chucked them all into the middle of the ocean and told them to learn how to swim.

" _PANICPANICPANICPANICPANIC-_ "

" _What just happened?!_ "

" _Stampy! Pull yourself together!_ "

" _-PANICPANICPANICPANICPANIC-_ "

" _I can't see!_ "

" _Sparklez!_ "

" _SOMEBODY GET THE LIGHTS!_ " Jesse yelled, voice cutting over the panicked shouts of the others.

Half a second later, her wish was granted- but instead of the warm lighting the room had previously been, the room was washed in a pale blue, dim, eerie sort of glow that turned the previously warm and cheerful atmosphere incredibly chilling. Well, that and the _white pumpkin heads_ that had replaced the lights.

"White pumpkins _again?_!" Ivor squeaked, and had the situation been any different, one might've thought it funny to see Ivor practically trying to become a part of the armchair, he was pressing his back into it so hard. Of course, the situation _wasn't_ different, and no one was thinking it funny.

The screen switched to show that the picture of the baby zombie atop the chicken was gone- instead, there was a tall portrait of a jumpsuit-wearing figure raising an axe, gold eyes insane behind the white pumpkin head they were wearing.

"Hey- that's the guy in the window, from earlier!" Jesse shouted over the hullabaloo in the room.

"Notch- Notch- Notch- Notch-" Isa was squeaking. She sounded a bit like a broken record right about now.

" _Greetings..._ adventurers _,"_ a deep, gravelly voice rumbled throughout the room, echoing menacingly as onscreen-Jesse looked 'round to see where the voice was coming from, and frantically swiveled at last to stare at the painting, " _I... am the WHITE PUMPKIN!_ "

The screen switched to show Sparklez' inventory floating up through the floor, above the sand.

Sparklez looked as though the truck had backed up and run him over again.

" _One of you has the treasure I desire... and I will not rest until it is mine!_ "

Sparklez' stuff, and the sand, disappeared down a hopper, as the White Pumpkin continued, " _even if I have to resort..._ " The lights flickered out again, before coming back on- to the selfsame figure looming where the painting had been, leering at them menacingly. " _TO **MURDER.**_ "

"OH NOTCH, OH NOTCH, OH NOTCH," Stacy was chanting, at a volume that was perhaps a bit louder than was wise for both other people's eardrums and her own throat, while Stampy was clinging to Dan as if he were some sort of life preserver or something and squeaking " _panicpanicpanicpanicpanic_ " over and over in a, well, panicked mantra.

A blast of thunder and lightning on both ends- and when the lights came back on onscreen, the painting of the White Pumpkin was back in place, more thunder blasting over the speakers as lightning sliced through dark rainclouds, rain lashing the windows.

" _They killed Sparklez!_ " Dan yelled in shock, eyes wide, " _they killed Sparklez!_ "

Sparklez turned even paler than he'd already been at the reminder that, yes, _he was dead_.

Stampy suddenly babbled something unintelligible and went sprinting away, flailing his arms in a hot panic and bolting past Lukas. The ocelot's tail was bushy in fear, but he whipped around to try to get a proper look at Stampy, alarm in his expression. " _Whoa, whoa, whoa! Hang on! Hang on!_ " he yelled after Stampy, to no avail.

The screen swiveled around to show Stacy, backing away and trembling like a leaf. " _This is awful! Terrible!_ " she shouted, voice rising into a hysterical pitch as she backed straight into a wall.

"This is _nuts_!" Petra yelled over the hullabaloo onscreen.

"What the _frigg_ just happened?!" Aiden asked, loudly, still trying to breathe from where Cassie had him in an absolute death hug.

" _Who was that guy?!_ " Onscreen-Cassie near-screamed, green eyes wide with fear.

" _And there's no such thing as 'white pumpkins'!_ " Dan yelled.

Stampy came sprinting back around again, still flailing his arms about in a hot panic. " _Tell_ that _to the white pumpkins hanging all over the place!_ " he nearly _screeched_ at the top of his lungs.

He tore past and making the screen follow him to show that Cassie had curled up into a ball in the corner, rocking back and forth, the very picture of incoherent fear. " _I don't like it! I_ really _don't like it!_ " she nearly bawled.

" _I- I saw him in the window when we first got here!_ " Jesse called out over all of the panicking, her usually steady voice now wavering in a nice vibrato.

" _You mean he's been in here the_ whole time?!" Cassie's voice rose to a hysterical shriek at that news, before she unfurled to her feet, bolting for the door. " _I'm so getting out of here!_ "

"Aren't there like a _billion zombies_ outside?!" Ivor nearly shouted at Real-Cassie.

Real-Cassie had her arms still thrown around Aiden, her entire body trembling like a leaf. "Yeah, well, I'm not gonna stay in a house with a psycho murderer on the loose!" she nearly screamed at Ivor (making Aiden flinch away- _man_ could Cassie scream).

"So you either stay in and get killed off by a murderer..." Lukas said, uneasily.

"Or you go out and get torn to pieces by zombies," Petra finished, frowning.

"Yeah, may I just say," Mevia drawled, trying to gently shove Hadrian off of her to get some air into her lungs, "I don't really like either of these options."

"Does anyone?!"

Onscreen, Winslow bolted after the red-haired girl, meowing loudly as he chased after her quickly.

Not half a second later, a shrill scream rang out from the main hallway, and the gang's eyes widened.

"Cassie!" Lizzie shouted.

"This is a huge mess right now!" Reginald bellowed.

" _I don't like the sound of that,_ " Ivor said darkly, before Jesse dropped to all eights and went shooting forward like a bullet. Lukas dropped to all fours and went racing after her, while Petra hopped into the air and then pretty much jet-propelled herself out of there.

Jesse skidded to a halt outside of the dining room doors, looking around frantically. The screen zoomed around to show Cassie backing away from the front doors. It switched to show the red-haired girl from the front, steadily backing away with wide green eyes and an open mouth, terror written into every line of her face. The screen switched once again to show a horde of zombies approaching them.

"Close the door! _Close the door!_ " Maya nearly screamed at Onscreen-Cassie in a hot panic.

"Oh my Notch, oh my Notch, we're all gonna die, _we're all gonna die_ -" Real-Cassie was nearly shrieking shrieking into Aiden's ear now.

He was starting to think that by the end of this episode, he was going to be quite deaf in that ear.

Onscreen-Jesse proceeded to tear across the floor, before shooting upright and proceeding to practically _slap_ the lever so that it flipped, slamming the iron doors blocking the hallway off shut, zombies pounding insistently on the iron door but unable to break their way in.

Lukas skidded to a halt next to her, tail standing on end and still bushy as Winslow meowed piteously. The blonde ocelot hybrid gave a sympathetic meow back, before Cassie leaned over and scooped up her cat, hugging him to her as tightly as she could without hurting him. " _So we're stuck in here,_ " she said, voice oddly high-pitched and very shaky, " _and if we're stuck in here, we're doomed!_ "

Jesse was still panting heavily, her hands trembling as the other members meandered through the doorway of the dining room to where the rest of the group was standing.

" _Guys,_ " she said at last, voice low so that only the gang could hear her, " _I'm... I don't want to say this, but..._ " She glanced at a still-shaking Cassie.

" _She could be wrong,_ " Petra said, her own hands trembling a little bit as she hovered back to the ground, trying to steady herself. " _We- we don't know what the White Pumpkin really wants, but-_ "

" _That's..._ " Jesse trailed off, before shaking her head, slowly. " _Guys, I'm scared that Cassie might be_ right _._ "

And suddenly, with another mechanical groan, everything went black again.

"Are you _freaking serious right now-?!_ " Em's voice had just risen to what one might usually call a 'hysterical' pitch, when suddenly a voice rang out.

It proceeded to say... well, a lot of not-so-nice things.

"Becky, language!"

"THAT'S WHAT YOU'RE WORRYING ABOUT RIGHT NOW?!"

Everyone swiveled to see a bunch of blue figures swarming through the living room. They recognized most of them; although a few were a bit of a blank to them. It was a little hard to get a proper glimpse of any of them, since the living room was now a flurry of glowing blue activity.

The doors flung open, and a glowing blue figure shot through before slamming it shut again, slumping against the door.

"Ariza!" Gommie ran over to her friend, who appeared to have a rather large knife embedded in her shoulder, breathing shallow. There was a lot of dark stuff all over her shirt front, and it took the whole group a couple of seconds to realize that it was blood.

Ariza shot Gommie a weak grin. "Oh, hey, Gom," she said, through shallow pants, although her voice was still oddly casual.

Perhaps it was out of shock.

She reached into her pocket, pulling out a bottle with green liquid sloshing around in it, and downed the whole thing in a few gulps, letting out a relieved sigh as her arm dropped back to her side.

As if it was an afterthought, she glanced down a moment later and pulled out the knife. She blinked at it absentmindedly, before waving it a bit, being careful not to accidentally whack anyone on the head with it. "Does anyone want this?"

Gommie smacked the knife out of her hands. It went spinning across the room before landing in Toni's hands, the boy blinking down at it before opening the door, looking around, and chucking it out of sight before slamming the door shut, pressing his back against it. "These stupid zombies just won't quit, will they?!" he grunted angrily.

"Are you _stupid_?!" Gommie snapped angrily at Ariza. "What on earth made you think running outside while there's like a billion zombies invading the house was a good idea!"

"I never said it was a _good_ idea. Besides, I was just mainly grabbing some healing potions I threw into a chest in the basement. It's not like I was trying to single-handedly fight all the zombies off or anything." Ariza shrugged, apparently not seeing much of a problem as she emptied out her pockets. "Besides, it's not like I tried throwing a redstone bomb out the window and then nearly let a billion zombies in here."

"I _thought_ it would work!" Red protested angrily, as Ariza set the contents of her pocket on the floor carefully.

... there were quite a few healing potions in there.

One of the figures that Jesse didn't recognize groaned as she skidded to a halt, frantically rifling through a chest. "Well, next time would you be more careful? Sammi's already down for the count, we don't need more people getting knocked out of this fight- we need all hands on deck right now." Seeming to have nothing useful in the chest, she slammed it shut with a swear.

"It's not like I was _trying_ to get a knife stuck in my shoulder, Lunar- it was kind of an accident." Ariza's face grew more serious. "How's Sammi?"

"Sammi's Sammi," another one of the figures that they didn't recognize replied, brushing a wave of dark hair that faded to a paler shade out of their face. "She'd say she's fine even if she was impaled with a sword- oh wait- _she was_." And the figure glared at Sammi, who was lying on Aiden and Cassie's couch, on the part that Cassie had just vacated.

"I mean, it's not like Ariza doesn't have healing potions right now, Emily," Sammi replied, although her voice seemed to be losing its strength and there was a lot of dark blood all over her front.

(Em blinked as she remembered that dream Ariza seemed to have been having earlier- was this the 'Em' she'd been talking about?)

"Potions aren't a magical cure-all, Sammi-kun, they don't _work_ like that!" Ariza made her way over, although she seemed to be limping a bit. Closer inspection revealed that her pant leg seemed to have been shredded, and it looked like a dog had bitten her leg and tried to get its teeth in her, if the slight gashes and teeth marks didn't make that obvious enough.

The audience honestly had to wonder what had bitten her.

"I'm not going to be around forever to make potions for you guys, you know."

"Oh, we know," another figure said quietly, chucking their shoulder against the door. It was a bit hard to tell if they were a girl or a boy, honestly, with their dark eyes and slightly messy-looking dark hair.

"Mason-?" Cho asked, frowning in concern at the ominous comment, but 'Mason' shook their head, a bit solemnly.

"I don't think the rest of us will be around for much longer, either."

The moment the last word was spoken, the door thumped- and then splintered. Toni let out a scream of shock as a rotting hand thrust its way through the door. And then another.

"Red, _Red-!_ " An arrow went pelting past Mason's nose, barely missing it, before impaling something beyond the hole in the door. There was a strangled groan, and the hand proceeded to disappear from where it had just thrust through the doorway. "Thank you."

Ariza looked over her shoulder at the zombies, healing potion in hand, worry shining in her eyes, before she turned and stared directly at the other occupants of the room. "If this is the end... well, I'm glad that I at least got to end my story with you guys."

"Ditto." "Yeah." "Same here."

Choruses of agreements rose from the rest of the group, before Gommie yanked out her sword, eyes shining with something akin to determination. "Well, if we're going down... _we're not going down without a fight._ "

Another blast of thunder and lightning, making the entire audience jump and flinch as a blinding blast of white light flooded into the living room.

When the light faded again, the screen was back on. The vision had dissipated. All of the glowing blue figures had completely gone.

Although it seemed that this time, 'gone' was a little more permanent than they could've imagined.

* * *

 **A/N: Gdi I just can't seem to make these chapters any longer.**

 **[HISHEGENATION]**

 **Letters have been correctly guessed by LittleAngelbun, DarkPrincess2001, and AquaK13.**

 **RQTC: How busy would you say you are?**

 **On a scale of one to ten, 13.**

 **Craft: Wow, that _does_ seem really long.**

 **LunarStarsMoons: (laughs) Nice, dude. / (smiles) thanks... / Yes, that would be nice xD / Cool :3**

 **S4SH4L4SH4theGaMeR101: :3 / Lolol no spoilers / No spoilers xD / Cool! :3**

 **RapidSammi: But she doesn't _know_ that she's going to be found out as a murderer. Besides, if she started acting nervous, she'd probably just attract suspicion on herself. She might just be hiding it. xD / Never read 'em. / Thanks!**

 **LittleAngelbun: x3 / Correct. :3**

 **DarkPrincess2001: You are correct; however you are only able to guess one letter per chapter. I took the correct answer this time, but you have to only pick one letter in the future.**

 **the indecisive bird: Ahhhh xD / (laughs) Very true. / Lolol / (cracks up)**

 **You Know Who: 0-0 That... uh... that didn't turn out too hot.**

 **Emily The Avenger: (laughing) / Incorrect, sorry xD**

 **AquaK13: Very true~ / Cool! / Lol fun fact, the voice of the guy narrating is my ex xD / Thank you! / :3 I'm glad you like it... / Ahhh, T has already been guessed, but correct anyway xD / x3**

 **sailor . mikuchan: Cool! / Incorrect, sorry.**

 **RWBYSTRQ: Dull end... xD**

 **Raven: Ah, did it really? xD / Thanks!**

 **BeliTheGhoti0304: Yep~ / I'm glad you both liked it! / (laughs) / Nope, incorrect xD You're the third person to guess 'r'.**

 **Kaos Ruin: (picks up an apple) Okay I'm ready**

 **PoptartCrumbs: (grins) Ah, I'm glad you like it! I don't think it's nearly as good as a professional's, but I'm so glad you enjoy it!**

 **BendyStrawBerry: OMG I KNOW RIGHT? / (laughs) I'm glad to see your priorities are in order xD**

 **RavenBlaze4850: Lol, very true, they will need it xD / Thank you... I'm glad you liked it :3 / Yes! / Sorry, incorrect. x3**

 **InsaneAcrobat: It's fine, don't worry x3 / Bloopers will be so fun to write after this whole story is over xD / No, it's not like an anagram. You guess letters and I fill them in as you get them correct. Basically Hangman xD / I ain't spoiling nothing~**

 **Rabbits rule: (laughs) Ah, I see. That sucks.**

 **NoItsBecky: :3 Thanks, Becky :3 / I'm glad you liked it. / I guess not xD / Incorrect, sorry x3**

 **x.X. A.L. X.x**


	117. One of Us is a Murderer

A moment later, there was a sort of buzzing sound, and the screen began to glow, although it had faded to a black screen, because there wasn't anything onscreen.

"Oh- the generator's back on?" Olivia looked up at the ceiling, a bit confused.

"Thank Notch and Jeb and everyone else," Harper muttered, a bit shakily.

The screen faded in to show that everyone was sitting on the seats in the main hall, all looking a little flustered. Lukas's tail was bushy as he kept pacing around the room nervously. It looked as though he was wearing a small spot into the carpet.

Petra was so twitchy that when Jesse moved a bit more than normal she actually _flinched_ and managed to set a nearby chair on fire.

(Half of the real audience jumped a bit at that themselves.)

Onscreen, Ivor's already rather pale face was even paler than usual, and that's really saying something.

Finally, Stacy looked up, crossing her arms. " _I..._ thought _I heard Sparklez say something about flint and steel?_ " she asked, tentatively.

Stampy frowned, uneasily. " _Oh,_ please _don't bring that up again..._ " he pleaded, obviously a bit twitchy about it.

Real-Cassie frowned a bit at that herself but didn't say anything.

" _Well, obviously TorqueDawg didn't steal it, then,_ " Lizzie spoke up, sounding a bit shaky as well.

Dan frowned a bit. " _Well, there was nothing like it in Sparklez' inventory, so_ he _couldn't have taken it either_... _so_ who _then?_ " he asked, trailing off a little bit curiously.

" _Uh... Jesse?_ "

Jesse looked over at Lukas, who was staring up at the wall with wide eyes, his ears having drooped a bit in shock. She followed his gaze to see TorqueDawg's portrait... then Sparklez... and... then...

Real-Jesse looked as though someone had just slapped in the face, while the audience's heads had all snapped around to stare at Ivor, who was mirroring his onscreen-self and had turned about twelve shades paler.

Because up on the wall, next to Sparklez' crossed-out portrait, was Ivor's.

" _Well,_ " and Onscreen-Jesse turned to see Ivor staring at his own portrait, voice oddly light and a strangely calm expression on his face. " _I guess I'm next._ "

"How are you staying so _calm_ right now?!" Soren squeaked, looking from onscreen-Ivor to the real Ivor, who was just sitting there like a statue.

No response.

"Ivor?" Harper, the nearest person to Ivor, poked him gently.

Nothing.

"I... think he might be in shock?"

Everyone looked at Jesse, except for Ivor, who was still staring at the screen.

The petite girl shrugged at the looks she was now receiving. "I mean, we just saw two people _die,_ and now he's being told... well, shown, that he might be next in line. If that was my portrait..." she trailed off, weakly. "I mean, I'd be in shock too."

There was a short silence, before Axel shook his head and patted her on the back. "I think we've said this before, but you should be a psychologist," he joked a bit, in a poor attempt to lighten the mood.

The spider hybrid growled, eyes beginning to glow an angry red. " _Oh, there's_ no way _in_ hell _I'm letting that happen,_ " she growled, fists clenching protectively.

Petra nodded, eyes beginning to heat up. " _Yeah. We won't let that happen,_ " she agreed.

Jace let a soft smile come over his face, for a moment distracted from the events that had just occurred.

Knowing how Petra felt about Ivor, both onscreen and in real-life...

Well, that meant quite a lot.

Onscreen, Lukas's fists clenched angrily, and his tail started twitching erratically. He blinked, pupils becoming narrow slits as his teeth gritted a bit. He looked _pissed off beyond belief_ right now, seriously. " _This guy's gotta be stopped,_ " he said, softly, nodding his head a little bit.

Jesse took a deep breath, shoulders relaxing, before she turned her head to stare at Ivor. " _Don't worry, D-"_ She physically paused, blinking a bit, before picking back up, as if nothing had just happened, " _Ivor._ "

Several audience members blinked at this sudden pause.

Ivor's dark blue eyes softened a bit as he glanced up at Jesse. " _Thank you, Jesse,_ " he said, oddly softly, " _I just hope that this 'White Pumpkin' isn't beyond both of our abilities._ "

There was an ominous pause at that, before Lukas relaxed, eyes going back to normal. " _Well, I'm sure there's a perfectly logical explanation for how the White Pumpkin is doing all of this. I mean-_ " he shrugged, " _the whole place is pretty much rigged with traps, right?_ " He put a hand on his hip. " _TorqueDawg - trap. Sparklez - trap._ "

Jesse's eyes lit up a little bit in realization, a small smile coming over her face at that. She put one of her lower arms on her hip and nodded. " _Yeah. We need to figure out what's making these traps tick._ "

"Okay," Real-Lukas said, making Real-Jesse jump a tiny bit in surprise, "so we've got a plan. We can figure this out."

"Mmhm," Olivia hummed, leaning onto Axel's shoulder a bit.

The whole group exchanged small smiles, before the spider hybrid pointed at the still-open dining room door. " _Okay, I'm going to head back and investigate that dining room,_ " Jesse said, rather evenly.

"Doesn't going back to the room where someone just _died_ and a murderer is lurking around feel kinda scary?" Slab asked.

"Yeah, I'd get _reeeal_ scared," Facemeat said, grinning a bit.

"Oh, trust me, I'm pretty sure Onscreen-me is just as terrified about the prospect as I am," the real Jesse responded, in a rather light, calm voice.

" _Cool,_ " Onscreen-Petra agreed almost immediately, " _I'll keep these guys in the hall for now so that I can keep an eye on everyone._ "

" _Excellent idea,_ " Ivor conceded, " _don't want them messing up the crime scene._ "

This one sentence made several audience members snort, snapping them out of the dark mood that had fallen over the whole room from both the vision and the scene now playing onscreen. Real-Ivor chuckled a bit too, although he still seemed to be in a bit of a state of shock.

Lukas looked over at Jesse, concern reflecting in his eyes. " _I'm sticking with you, Jesse - doesn't really seem safe to wander off alone right now._ "

"Holy crap I love you right now."

Both Lukas and Jesse froze at the words that had just automatically slipped out of Jesse's mouth, both turning the color of the inside of a ripe watermelon.

"B-b-because you're great and I don't want to be stuck in a creepy dining room by myself and that's _all_ I meant by that, I didn't- I didn't mean anything e-e- _else-_!" Jesse stuttered out half a second later, feeling her cheeks turning hotter and hotter with each passing second.

"Yo, you can sort out your lover's issues later," Magnus said lazily, hiding a grin when the two teenagers proceeded to turn a shade of red that you could only get with cocktail cherries. "For now, can we just finish watching the episode?"

Onscreen, the spider hybrid smiled gratefully at Lukas, in both relief and gratitude, and the two of them walked back towards the dining room. Behind them, Ivor practically bellowed, " _Okay, people, clear out! This is a crime scene!_ "

More laughter; though thankfully it was now not directed at the bright red Lukas and Jesse and rather at Ivor's comment.

Ivor coolly ignored it. He totally wasn't blushing. Nope. No light pink blush dusting his cheeks. No idea what you're talking about.

Onscreen, the dining room was still lit in eerie tones of blue, except for the fireplace, glowing red and casting eerie orange light over the blue overtones of the room. Jesse crossed her arms thoughtfully as Lukas went ahead and shut the door behind them. " _Okay... how are you doing this, White Pumpkin?_ " she hummed thoughtfully.

A few seconds went by before Jesse sighed and tilted her head back. " _Okay, narrator,_ " she said, in the softest voice you could possibly get to, " _do you have any helpful hints or what?_ "

"Hey, that was alliteration."

There was a pause where everyone was staring at Aiden, who was just blinking back at them in confusion.

"What?"

" _Hmm..._ " the narrator hummed, her female voice slightly lilting as she thought about it. " _Well, I do like the painting. Dramatic pose. I can totally get behind that._ "

Onscreen-Jesse's lips twitched, and she stifled a snort. " _Thanks. That was very helpful._ "

Several audience members snorted at that sardonic comment from the spider hybrid.

A second passed as Jesse actually considered the comment, before she snapped her fingers, blinking in realization. " _Actually, that_ was _helpful. Thanks narrator._ "

" _I live to please._ "

Several more audience members couldn't help it and started snickering at the sarcastic comment from the narrator.

Onscreen, Jesse went over to the painting, putting her lower arms on her hips thoughtfully. " _Hm... this_ was _the spot where the White Pumpkin appeared, but now it's just the portrait,_ " she said, pensively, before her eyes narrowed suspiciously at it. " _Un..._ less..."

"Unless? Unless what?" Otto wondered, leaning forward and steepling his fingers together.

Jesse slowly drew her arm back, eyes narrowing at the portrait even further, before her upper body unfurled and she smashed her fist through the painting, breaking the whole thing into little splinters, the White Pumpkin appearing right behind it.

"OH NOTCH-" Stampy leaped into Dan's arms, unbalanced the both of them, and sent them crashing to the floor.

Lukas and Jesse winced sympathetically.

Onscreen, Jesse went into a defensive position, hand twitching to the hilt of her sword immediately.

Nothing. Not even a twitch from the White Pumpkin.

Slowly, Jesse relaxed a bit, although her uppermost right arm was still at the hilt of her sword. She edged forward a bit. When she got no reaction, she hesitantly climbed onto the area. When she _still_ got no reaction, she removed her hand from the sword hilt and gave the White Pumpkin a solid punch on the arm.

It rattled a bit before falling back into place.

Hopping back, Jesse put her lowermost set of hands on her hips, looking both immensely relieved and incredibly disappointed at the same time, if one could be both at the same time. " _It's... just a costume. On an armor stand, with a jukebox for the voice,_ " she said, sounding slightly puzzled. The puzzled tone was practically _saturated_ with relief.

"Oh." Stampy managed to creep back onto the couch, his cheeks slightly red. "That's... actually a lot more comforting."

" _Still have no idea how it was triggered, of course..._ "

Onscreen, Lukas let out a low whistle, ears perking up as he drew level with Jesse and had a look at it. " _Wow. The White Pumpkin must have... I dunno- Ellegaard or Olivia-level redstone skills to rig up something as convoluted as this._ "

"Convo-what?" Clutch asked, blinking.

Hadrian smirked at Mevia. The pale-blue-haired woman shook her head and hid the smirk forming over her face.

Lukas's eyebrows descended a bit, thoughtfully. " _... but why? Must've taken a lot of_ work _to rig it up..._ "

"He's not wrong- something like that would've taken me at least two days. And that's with checking it over, if I don't sleep, eat, or perform other human bodily functions."

Everyone looked at Ellegaard.

"Hey, I'm like Ivor- when I'm working on a project, I focus every tiny bit of concentration on that one project."

Jesse's lips twisted a bit, and she was silent as she thought about it. " _It might've just been a scare tactic, but... maybe it was... I dunno- some sort of diversion, from whatever was going on in the room at the time._ "

Lukas's ears suddenly shot completely upright, and his head snapped around to stare at Jesse, wide-eyed. " _What- like you think the White Pumpkin was_ in the room with us?!" he yelped, voice cracking as he went up several octaves.

Cassie shifted a bit at that.

"And I am no longer feeling comforted," Stampy squeaked, his arms having gone back around Dan.

The spider hybrid's eyes narrowed a bit. " _Hm... well, it's possible, but... like I said, it might've just been to scare the living daylights out of us,_ " she added, giving a slight shrug.

The ocelot hybrid's ears twitched, almost in irritation. " _Yeah, well..._ " He crossed his arms. " _It worked._ "

Jesse glanced at the White Pumpkin costume on the armor stand, her face going a bit stony as she stared at the setup, before turning away from it herself. " _Yeah._ "

Having turned around, the first thing her gaze fell on happened to be the table, and she strolled towards it, resting a hand on the tabletop. " _Okay. So, this is the dining table where we were all gathered right... be...fore..._ " Her voice trailed off, and her eyes darkened a bit. The screen panned down to follow her gaze... to reveal a button sitting under the table. " _Oh,_ hello. _"_

"Ooh- what's that supposed to do?" Stacy wondered, sitting up a bit and leaning forward.

Harper frowned. She had the uncomfortable premonition that she knew _exactly_ what that was supposed to do.

Onscreen, Jesse's middle arm reached under the table, feeling around, before slapping the button. The head chair's seat back flung backwards, slamming into the floor, the hole opening up in the floor.

Several audience members may or may not have jumped at the suddenness of the whole thing with a few yelps. (Stampy was back in Dan's arms, the cat-hoodie-wearing boy having let out the highest of high-pitched squeaks in surprise.)

Sand blocks plummeted from the ceiling and slammed into the floor, where the hole had just opened up.

" _Just like before-!_ " Jesse gasped.

The lights suddenly plunged back out, but there was no alarmed shouts or screams this time- just the gasps of several audience members as they realized that Jesse's earlier statement had been the truth.

It looked like the White Pumpkin _had_ been in the room with them.

The lights flickered back on to reveal Jesse crossing her arms at the setup and glaring at it a bit. " _Yep,_ " Lukas said, eyes narrowing angrily as the voice started going on about it being the White Pumpkin, "just _like before._ "

A blast of lightning and thunder onscreen made the room flicker with white light, before the doors slammed open and the screen moved rapidly to show Petra charging in, eyes wide. " _JESSE!_ " she yelled, skidding a few steps, before running towards the duo at full tilt.

"Awww, you care," Jace teased.

"Of course I care, ya doofus," Petra muttered, her cheeks turning pink. There was a short pause, as Jace grinned smugly, having thought he'd won.

She proceeded to lean forward and kiss him on the cheek.

Jace's face turned red, blinking rapidly as he glanced back at Petra.

" _OhmyNotchohmyNotchohmyNotch_ -" Everyone turned at the sort-of chant to see Nell grinning like a maniac, hands clasped to her mouth and eyes sparkling as she stared at the two, squealing a little bit. "This is practically canon now oh my Notch-"

Petra's face was now turning bright red. "No- that- that was just- that was just to-" she spluttered a bit, blinking rapidly.

Gill was grinning evilly now as well. "Yep. It's official. I ship it."

"That- that was just to make Jace blush, i-it d-didn't _mean_ anything-"

"Oh, of course it didn't, Petra," Soren said, his voice having adopted the same tone that he used to tease Ivor. "Just like Harper practically hugging Ivor half of this episode so far didn't mean anything."

Harper felt her cheeks flush; she thought she'd been pretty subtle about it. She glanced at Ivor to see that the pale man was about the color of the inside of a ripe watermelon and developing a strange interest in one of the potions in his lap.

Onscreen, everyone else charged into the room as well, apparently having heard the whole monologue from the White PumpkinStampy flailed his arms like pinwheels in a panic when he spotted the setup. " _He's back! The White Pumpkin's back!_ " he nearly shrieked, voice rising a few octaves in panic.

" _No no no,_ " Jesse said hastily, going so far as hopping up onto the spot where the costumed armor stand was and poking it to prove her point, " _don't worry, it's just a dummy- a White Pumpkin costume on an armor stand._ "

" _Wait- what?_ " Dan frowned. " _Why?_ " The second part came out much more sharply than the first two words.

Jesse frowned, crossing her arms with a shadow crossing her face. " _The trap that killed Sparklez, that whole-_ show _, with the White Pumpkin... it was all triggered by a button under the table,_ " she said, a bit more darkly than usual. Her eyes were starting to glow red.

" _What does that mean?_ " Lizzie frowned.

Jesse turned to face them, her face completely stony as she processed this whole mess. With most of her face shrouded in shadow except for her glowing red eyes, and the black armor, and her extra arms all crossed intimidatingly in front of her, she looked downright _scary_. " _It means,_ " she said, slowly, " _that the killer sat right at this table._ "

"I'm not sure what I'm more unsettled by," Em said, flatly. "The idea that one of the people in this room is a killer, or Jesse just now."

There was a horrifying silence as everyone processed this fact.

Everyone still alive in that room... was _in this very room._

The White Pumpkin could be sitting right next to any one of them.

And they might not know it.

"It might be both," Maya mumbled, shuddering a bit. Gill patted her on the back in a comforting way.

Stampy's eyes widened. " _Wait- so you're saying that the White Pumpkin-_ " Stampy looked around at the other YouTubers, voice rising a bit in both pitch and volume in fear. " _Is one of us?!_ "

Jesse nodded, crossing her arms. Her red eyes passed over Dan, with his ever-changing hair color; over Lizzie, with her bubblegum-pink hair and cheery manner; over Stacy and her cynical personality; over Stampy, the most cheerful, random, almost _sweet_ guy that any of them had ever met; and Cassie, with her glasses and perfume and calico cat and mild personality. " _That's right,_ " she said, steadily. " _One of us... is a murderer._ "

A blast of thunder exploded on both ends, making the entire audience jump a little bit. Real-Jesse let out a squeak and proceeded to bury herself and Reuben in the blanket wrapped around Lukas, Jesse, and Reuben. She accidentally jerked Lukas with her, succeeding in having his chin clunk into her forehead solidly.

" _And he sat right_ here," Ivor said, indicating a button near the end of the table that was also under the table.

Jesse's eyes widened, blinking a bit as she shook her head and looked _utterly_ bewildered. Lukas finished the thought for her aloud. " _Wait- but that's not where Jesse found the button before!_ "

"Oh good Notch why can't things ever be _easy_ for you kids," Magnus groaned. He sounded a little annoyed.

"I would rather like to know that myself..." Mevia muttered, frowning at the screen.

Jesse winced onscreen. " _This... just got more complicated._ "

" _I'll see if I can find all the buttons,_ " Lukas said, and he quickly began to move around the table, stabbing arrows into the table in the places he'd found a button.

Petra clapped a hand onto Jesse's shoulder gently, making the spider hybrid glance at Petra in surprise. " _Nice work, Jesse,"_ she complimented the spider hybrid, lips curving up into a nice smile.

Ivor nodded, and his own lips seemed to twitch into the ghost of a smile. " _Yes... I must say, I'm relieved to know that there's a logical explanation for what the White Pumpkin's been doing._ "

Jesse gave them a smile as well, but it faded a moment later. " _Thanks guys... but with this case... I dunno. I feel like it's one step forward and three steps back._ " She paused, as that thought sank in, before she let out a sigh and put a smile back on her face. " _But... as long as we eventually get to the answer, it doesn't matter how many steps we've got to take._ "

"Whoa- deep," Petra said, blinking a few times and smiling slightly.

"That was an accident."

About three-quarters of the room snorted loudly at that.

* * *

 **A/N: Red, don't you dare comment on Ellegaard and Olivia's redstone. I know how you feel about it. Talk about it in the GC.**

 **GUYS 50,000 VIEWS**

 **FIFTY**

 **THOUSAND VIEWS**

 **AAAAAAHHHHHHHHH**

 **[hISCEGENATION]**

 **Letters correctly guessed by AquaK13.**

 **ONE MORE LETTER GUYS YOU CAN DO THIS**

 **RQTC: I don't have a random question; but I do have a request that's not-so-random.**

 **If I haven't said that I've preordered Season 2 by Saturday evening, DO NOT COMMENT ANY SPOILERS IN THE COMMENTS WHEN SEASON 2 COMES OUT. If I haven't preordered it, I won't be able to get it until August 5th, and I do NOT WANT SPOILERS while I continue work on this story. That clear?**

 **On a slightly brighter note, I've actually started work on the actual storyline of Phantasmagoria!**

 **LunarStarsMoons: Lol yep xD / (laughs) Uh, glad to hear that, I think xD / (grins) / Ah, I see.**

 **RapidSammi: (laughing hysterically) Haha, sorry Sammi-kun. xD / Lol x3 It's fine.**

 **S4SH4L4SH4theGaMeR101: Why would they not come again? / Lol I feel ya fam / :3**

 **Rabbits rule: Aw :( / (laughs) Nice pun, Jess.**

 **sailor . mikuchan: Already guessed. / It's 1-10. / iMovie.**

 **the indecisive bird: (laughing) / Yeah, poor Sparklez.**

 **AquaK13: (laughing hysterically at that) / xD / Ahhh, I see :3 / No, I've never seen scratchboard art. / Correct! / Thanks :3**

 **Guest: Thank you! / No; it's based off of the original story, 'Hybrid'. / Uhh, pig. Pigs are cute x3 / Hehehe xD / Thank you! I'm glad you like it :3**

 **DarkPrincess2001: Nah, it's fine :3**

 **BeliTheGhoti0304: Very true :3 / Incorrect, sorry x3**

 **Kaos Ruin: (laughs) Sorry, fam.**

 **LegoGirl794: Ah, I see.**

 **NoItsBecky: (nods) I see.. / I'm not spoiling anything haha xD / Incorrect, sorry.**

 **J.M.M: I see.**

 **Emily The Avenger: We did? / (laughs)**

 **RavenBlaze4850: (laughs) Very true. / Your reviews always cheer me up x3 / Ah, I see. / (laughs)**

 **Jack634: (laughs) 'H' is just a stand-in letter. / (hums) / Ah, I see. / Ummm... well, I like too much music... / Okay, Jack.**

 **InsaneAcrobat: (nods) / ... (points at a certain paragraph where it says that his inventory is shown.) / Both have been guessed already. / I'm not saying anything. / Ah, I see. / (laughs) / I have no idea what that is. xD**

 **TheRealRedGaming: When did this happen?**

 **PoptartCrumbs: Why wouldn't we see them again?**

 **x.X. A.L. X.x**


	118. Interrogation Time

" _So... what now?_ " Petra asked after a few seconds, putting her hands on her hips. " _Feels like we've made some pretty good progress so far, right?_ "

Jesse put her lower hands on her hips, her middle arm reaching up and absentmindedly twirling her hair. " _We need to pull together all our evidence, and see how it connects. The tipped arrow means that the White Pumpkin has to be a pretty decent brewer, and the traps show that they're a real redstone expert._ "

"Well, it's definitely not me," Petra shook her head. "I'm not good at brewing _or_ redstone."

"Ivor's good at brewing, and he's good at redstone... but _murder's_ not his thing. Besides, he's oriented towards treasure, but he's not searching for anything specific," Gabriel said, slowly, eyes narrowed, before finally shaking his head. "Besides- he didn't know what tipped arrows were before this."

"Definitely not Lukas or Jesse," Dan added.

Before they could keep theorizing who the White Pumpkin could be, Lukas walked back over to them, jerking his thumb over his shoulder at the table. " _Okay, that's all of them,_ " he told them.

Jesse cleared her throat, before calling out in an authoritative voice. " _If you could all please take the same seat you were at before,_ " she called, everyone filing to their respective places at the table, " _Four of your seats are marked- these are the seats that had a button to activate the trap. That means,_ " she added, the screen panning over the people standing at their places, staring at the people with arrows stabbed into the table, " _that the White Pumpkin could only be... Dan-_ "

Dan's eyes widened as onscreen-Dan stared down at the arrow in front of his place.

" _Lizzie-_ "

Real-Lizzie let out a little gasp, Stacy's head snapping around to stare at the pink-haired girl.

" _Stampy-_ "

Real-Stampy let out a little squeak.

" _And-_ " Jesse blinked at this last name. " _Lukas._ "

Several heads turned to stare at Real-Lukas, the blonde looking startled at being named as a possible culprit as well.

There was a short pause.

"Well, it's definitely not me."

"No, ya think?!"

" _Wait-_ " Lizzie exclaimed, frowning, " _you're accusing us?!_ "

" _I echo her sentiment exactly!_ " Stampy protested to Jesse, frowning at her. " _I didn't even see a button!_ "

"But if you _were_ the White Pumpkin, wouldn't you claim that as well? That makes the protest invalid," Real-Jesse pointed out, innocently.

"You can't seriously think _I_ did it!" Stampy exclaimed, looking annoyed.

"What? No," Jesse replied, blinking a few times in confusion, sensing that she'd irritated Stampy but having no idea how that'd happened, "I'm just saying, anyone's word in this situation doesn't really mean much."

"Jesse's got a point," Ellegaard spoke up, making everyone look at her. "The White Pumpkin would do their best to lie themselves out of this situation- at this point in time, anything anyone says doesn't have too much validation."

Onscreen, the spider hybrid put all of her hands up in surrender- and I mean _all_ of them. " _Hey, hey, I'm_ just _saying, those are the places that have a button, so logic says that the White Pumpkin can only be one of you guys,_ " she replied, calmly. " _I'm not accusing anyone..._ yet." Her voice went steely on the last word, and she put a sort of dangerous emphasis on it.

Stampy frowned. " _Well, it sure_ sounds _like you're accusing us, stranger,_ " he replied, although he sounded a bit more nervous than before. " _And I don't much care for it._ "

Jesse crossed all of her arms, eyes still glowing red in the dim room. " _Look. I'm going to have to take charge now, and we are going to get to the bottom of this thing. I'm talking to each one of you 'suspects'-_ " she gave a quick smile, to show she didn't really mean any harm or offense by that- " _one by one, so I can find out who's telling the truth, and who's lying. I've got questions, and I want answers._ " Her smile suddenly dropped, and her head tilted forward so that she was staring at them with her glowing red eyes. "Got it?"

Stacy nodded quickly, stepping back a bit. " _Loud and clear,_ " she said, hastily, giving a quick salute.

" _Yes,_ " and Stampy nodded, " _crystal clear._ "

" _Who're you gonna interrogate first?_ " Petra asked coolly, eyes glowing oddly as she looked over at Jesse.

The spider hybrid impassively turned to stare at the group, before finally, slowly, deciding, " _I think I'm gonna go with Lizzie._ "

Lizzie started a bit at that, and Petra quickly set a hand on the pink-haired girl's shoulder, before steering Lizzie out the door, following Jesse, who had already left the room.

The screen faded to black.

Jesse gave Lizzie a slightly sheepish smile. "Sorry to just put you on the spot like that, Lizzie," she apologized, meekly.

"Nah, it's fine," and Lizzie gave her head a shake, giving the petite girl in Lukas's lap a friendly smile, "I'm sure you meant well by it."

The screen faded back in to show Jesse glaring at a small fireplace in the library. The wall across from the fireplace was lined with bookshelves, chairs set right in front of the bookshelves. On the walls opposite the windows, there was a huge tapestry of a bunny (it was a cute bunny), and on the wall with the fireplace, though at a more subtle angle, was a White-Pumpkin portrait, with the White Pumpkin wearing a suit and a top hat.

" _Really_ strange taste in pictures," Mevia muttered.

Cassie glared at her.

The door of the library opened, and Jesse looked over to see Petra leading a nervous-looking Lizzie into the room. Petra gave Jesse a cool nod, the spider hybrid returning it, before she turned around and began to walk towards the center of the room, wordlessly.

Lizzie followed. " _Jesse, listen, there's been a whole lot of talk being thrown around today,_ " she said, quickly. " _I'm not sure what people have told you,_ " and she sat down in one of the chairs in front of the bookshelves. " _And I don't know what you believe, but I'll just admit it- I want that flint and steel as much as anyone._ "

"I see you're a believer in the 'show all your cards so that no one thinks you're hiding anything' policy," Jesse said, grinning at Lizzie.

Lizzie grinned back.

Onscreen, Jesse turned to glance at Lizzie, and her red eye flashed slightly, the backlighting making her red eye glow like a hot ember, and you would not believe how _creepy_ it looked, here in this dim room.

"Oh Notch, that's _creepy_ , ya know that?" Em shuddered a bit.

Lukas tightened his arms around Jesse a bit, letting his chin rest on her head.

Onscreen, Lizzie shuddered a little bit, squeezing her eyes shut, before continuing, " _Probably_ more _than any of them. I've been searching for it for_ years. _Do you know how much it stung to have Dan, DAN swoop in and take it from under my nose?_ "

Real-Dan winced a bit; this was apparently a sensitive topic right now.

" _Nope,_ " Jesse said coolly, before turning around and leaning forward a bit. " _But would you want it enough to_ kill _someone for it?_ "

Lizzie's eyes widened, and she looked speechless for a moment. " _... nah. Nah, I wouldn't do that._ " She huffed a bit. " _Starting to get real irritated with this 'White Pumpkin' fella though._ "

Sparklez's lips twitched, the first positive reaction he'd had for a bit. Of _course_ , after two people got murdered, the ever-calm Lizzie would simply say that she was 'starting to get real irritated'.

" _Listen, I just wanna get out of here and get on with my day._ " Lizzie paused for a moment. " _Or, er... night._ "

Half of the audience snorted.

 _"What do you have to hear to be convinced that the White Pumpkin isn't me?_ "

Jesse stared at Lizzie impassively for a minute longer, before flicking out the arrow from earlier. " _Know what this is?_ " she asked, coolly.

Lizzie shrugged at it, rather casually. " _Tipped arrow. Kinda shoddy work, though. Definitely not one of mine, if that's what you're wondering. Some noob made that thing._ " She paused, thoughtfully. " _Stampy asked me once about how to make those. Could be one of his._ "

Stampy shot up straight in his seat, startling Dan and nearly knocking Stacy off of the couch. "Hey! _Hey!_ Are you calling me a noob?!" he asked Lizzie, sounding and looking _extremely_ offended.

Jesse burst out laughing at that, covering her mouth a few seconds later. Lukas was also starting to snicker and trying not to (but failing miserably). Most of the audience was now fighting giggles, but finding it rather difficult- Jesse's laughter was what one might call 'outrageously infectious'. Lizzie was trying not to giggle either, and even Stampy broke down and chuckled a bit.

" _Plus I taught Cassie and Stacy how to make those a while back,_ " Lizzie added, thoughtfully.

"Stop calling people noobs, Lizzie," Stacy teased, a broad grin on her face.

"No! You guys know what I mean-!" Lizzie protested, cheeks turning pink.

"Yeah, Lizzie, you shouldn't call people that," Cassie agreed, a huge grin forming on her face.

Onscreen, the spider hybrid put the arrow back away, her face not showing a single lick of the amusement Real-Jesse was feeling, before asking, softly, " _Okay, I'm just gonna be straight here- who do you think stole the flint and steel?_ "

Lizzie shook her head. " _Well, it wasn't me, if you're curious- if I had an enchanted flint and steel, I'd be off exploring some other world with it. But me and Dan have been competing to find that thing for years. You're looking for a likely culprit... I'd look at that guy._ "

Real-Dan frowned a bit. "But I already _had_ it- why would I be murdering people for it?" he protested.

"Lizzie _did_ say you got it before she did- did you lose it?" Olivia asked, twisting around to look at him.

"No! Someone stole it!"

Stampy shifted uncomfortably in his seat."

Onscreen, the spider hybrid gave an impassive nod at that. " _I'll keep that in mind. You like using redstone? Ever make traps with the stuff?_ "

Lizzie shrugged, looking really mild. " _I'm fine, I guess,_ " she said, a bit dismissively. " _I can do doors and lights and- stuff. You wanna do advanced stuff, you gotta talk to Stampy. He was the_ Tri-Block Champion."

Jesse arched her eyebrow. "' _Tri-Block Champion'_?"

" _Yeah, like two or three years in a row, if I recall correctly,_ " Lizzie replied, casually.

The spider hybrid regarded Lizzie for a few more minutes, before she gave a small nod. " _Thanks for your time, Lizzie. That's all for now._ "

The pink-haired girl hopped to her feet and left the library immediately, Petra looking at Jesse as Lizzie left the library. " _Who's up next?_ " she asked, mildly.

" _Bring me Dan, please,_ " Jesse said lightly.

" _Right._ " And Petra was off.

Jesse had returned to staring at the fire, when Dan came into the room with Petra. He started talking the second the doors shut behind him. " _I saw Lizzie on the way out, I don't know what she told you, but- I'm telling you, you've got the wrong guy, honest! I would never hurt anyone, you've got to believe me!_ "

The spider hybrid turned to regard him with a poker face.

" _If anyone's been wronged here, it's me. That enchanted flint and steel everyone's talking about? I found it! It's mine! Least it_ was _before someone stole it,_ " and Dan scowled at the thought of it.

Stampy started fidgeting even more at that.

Onscreen, Jesse arched her eyebrow at Dan. " _So... someone stole your stuff?_ "

" _Yeah, I just want what's rightfully mine!_ " Dan exclaimed, nodding furiously.

Real-Lizzie shot a searing glare in his direction. Real-Dan winced and rubbed the back of his head awkwardly.

Onscreen, Jesse gave Dan a look, and he hastily backtracked a bit. " _I mean, we_ all _want it. Doesn't mean I'd_ kill _people for it._ "

" _Mm-hm_ ," Jesse hummed, mildly.

" _I'm_ NOT _the White Pumpkin, you've gotta believe me!_ " Dan protested, gesturing wildly. " _What can I tell you to convince you?_ "

Jesse put one of her lower hands on her hip, the upper four crossing and the other lower one dangling to her side. " _Okay, out with it then- who stole the flint and steel?_ " she asked, briskly.

Dan frowned, and he looked off to the side uncomfortably. " _I don't like... like... accusing people, but... my guess would be Stampy._ "

Stampy toppled off the couch.

"Whoa, you alright there, dude?" Nell asked, as Dan helped Stampy back up.

"What- yes! I'm doing fantastically!" Stampy squeaked, feeling sweat begin to trickle down the back of his neck. Good thing he was wearing his cat hoodie.

" _He likes to play it off like he's not interested in it, but I know he wants it just as much as any of us do._ "

Jesse paused, considering that information, before nodding a bit. " _Okay. So, how'd you rate your redstone knowledge?_ "

" _Me. Phoof._ " Dan flicked at his now-white hair. " _Not much. Not really my scene. You wanna know more about that stuff, you should ask Stampy. He was the Tri-Block Champion._ "

" _Yep._ " Jesse nodded at that; that seemed to check out. " _Three years in a row, according to Lizzie._ "

Dan pointed at her, eyes wide. " _There! You see? He's the only one here who could've built such amazing traps._ "

"Well, I mean, it's just a matter of making a redstone trail to a few things and then hiding it..." Harper mumbled, under her breath, glancing at Ellegaard. She didn't know why, but she just got the feeling that Ellegaard liked to make things much more complicated than they really needed to be.

Hence why she'd take so long in some of the traps.

Onscreen, the spider hybrid blinked, before clearing her throat and using her free arm to pull out the tipped arrow. Balancing it on the tips of her fingers, she inclined her head slightly. " _So, know anything about this?_ "

Dan blinked at it. " _Oh, wow. Uh, no, I've never seen anything like that before._ "

"What are you talking about? Jesse showed it to us like ten minutes ago," Lizzie complained.

"Actually," Sparklez spoke up, still looking like he was in a bit of shock, "he wasn't really paying attention. He was kinda wandering off to the side with everyone else- he just got that TorqueDawg died."

"Yeah, and he didn't get the tutorial from you, Lizzie," Stacy added. "He was off doing something else that day- I think he was mining or something?"

Onscreen, Jesse simply arched her eyebrow. " _No? Tipped arrow not ringing a bell? Made with potions?_ "

Dan just shrugged. " _Have you talked to Stampy yet? He loves bows and arrows and stuff,_ " he replied.

The spider hybrid put the arrow away and gave Dan a slight nod. " _You can go, Dan._ " Her lips twitched up into a faint smile, as if showing that she really didn't mean any harm.

" _Thanks, Jesse._ " Dan gave Jesse a relieved smile. " _Thank you. Oh, and when Stampy comes in,_ " he added, face growing a bit more serious, " _don't forget to ask him about redstone. He's_ amazing _with that stuff._ " And then he left.

Petra watched him leave the library, before looking back at the spider hybrid. " _Want me to send in Stampy?_ "

Jesse simply nodded a bit. " _Yes, please._ "

The redhead left and returned a minute later, the cat-hoodie-wearing boy coming in anxiously with a nervous look on his face. Jesse watched him evenly for a moment, before turning on her heel and pacing away.

He darted in front of her a second later, flailing his hands in a surrender/I'm scared/hello way. " _Jesse, I'm telling you this is just_ crazy! _Absolutely_ crazy! _Total misunderstanding!_ " he babbled, anxiously.

The spider hybrid regarded him for a moment, before gesturing with one hand to one of the chairs, which Stampy perched on, still babbling away. " _I don't even_ want _that flint and steel thingy! Not, um, not as much as the others, at any rate._ "

Stampy could feel several stares being turned on him.

" _Did I hear someone say it has something to do with portals? I don't have any interest in portals, no sir not for ol' Mister Stampy Cat, thank you,_ " he finally finished, staring up at Jesse, who- with Stampy sitting in the chair, anyway- was taller than him by a bit.

" _Gotta say, Stampy,_ " Jesse hummed, mildly, " _you seem nervous. Everything okay? You comfortable?_ " And she leaned towards him a bit, best poker face on.

" _Ummm what? No, I'm not nervous. Nope._ Totally _comfortable. I could fall asleep right here, right now. I'm that comfortable, honestly,_ " he rambled a bit, petering to a stop when he spotted Jesse regarding him calmly with that poker face.

"Yeah. You're _totally_ the epitome of calm right now," Cassie remarked, sardonically.

After a few seconds, Stampy bit his lip. " _Pllleeeeease, just tell me what you want to know!_ "

Jesse stepped back a bit, turning her head a bit so that she was glancing at him out of the corner of her eyes. " _What do you know about redstone? What's your skill level with the stuff?_ " she asked, sounding pleasant enough.

" _Well, well- you know. About_ average? _Average level? Moderate? I dunno how these things are graded these days..._ "

Now several stares were _definitely_ being turned on Stampy. The orange-cat-hoodie-wearing boy gulped nervously, eyes darting around to see his peers staring at him suspiciously.

"You're- you're lying." Dan's eyes narrowed a bit in suspicion. "Why are you lying?"

"I-I-I-" Stampy stuttered out. He looked as though he might start _crying_ any second now, he was so anxious.

"Guys, could you stop with the interrogation? _I'm_ the only one who's supposed to be doing any question-asking," Jesse said, mildly enough. Behind the mild joke, however, was a slight edge to her voice that made her intent clear- _would you cut it out?_

They decided to cut it out, slowly turning back to the screen. Rather than look relieved, though, Stampy remained tenser than a bowstring, hands tight and trembling in his lap.

" _That's funny..._ " Jesse hummed casually, leaning forward and letting a wave of hair fall in front of her green eye. With the fire making her look like a silhouette, Jesse looked far too intimidating to be the same girl who usually told puns until you were groaning at the top of your lungs. " _I heard you know all_ about _redstone._ "

" _Wh-what? What are you talking about?_ "

" _Well, everyone says you're the best at redstone..._ " Jesse cocked her head to one side, before regarding Stampy evenly. " _Something about being... 'Tri-Block Champion'?_ "

" _Okay!_ " Stampy suddenly burst out, making Jesse lean back again, raising her eyebrow mildly. " _Okay okay okay, fine, you caught me, I_ do _know redstone. I'm technically even an 'expert'... but I would never KILL anyone, I swear! You have to believe me! Honest!_ "

"Well, why would you try to hide it, then?" Stacy asked despite herself, frowning.

"Well, Lizzie and Dan are no great shakes at it, and if Lukas isn't the culprit, then it'd just be self-incriminating to point out, 'oh, hey, by the way, I'm an expert at redstone'!" Stampy burst out, lips trembling as he glared around at the other YouTubers on the couch.

"Hey, guys, don't point fingers, okay?" Sparklez asked, putting his hands up in a placating way. "Just- just wait. I'm sure things will be revealed in due time."

Onscreen, the spider hybrid simply reached into her pocket and twirled the arrow between her fingers, extending it to Stampy. " _Know anything about this?_ "

Stampy squinted at it for a moment. " _... Errr, I think it's a tipped arrow? I'm still not all that clear about making these things, though. You know who would love to see something like this, though? Lizzie. She's wild about potions and brewing and all that. She's WAY better with that stuff than I am._ "

"Yeah- enough to _call me a noob_ ," Stampy responded to his onscreen-self, shooting Lizzie a glare.

"Stampy, I didn't _mean_ it that way!"

Jesse simply put the arrow back into her pocket, humming a bit. " _Good with potions, you say?_ " she asked, mildly.

" _Very good!_ " Stampy nodded, vigorously. " _Could probably even teach a class, ha!_ "

The spider hybrid's mild expression faded, and she abruptly slammed her hands on either side of Stampy, making the boy jump a bit as she leaned in, eyes narrowed with her face only a few inches from his.

Lukas frowned a bit at that.

With that wave of hair still in front of her green eye, red eye almost _glowing_ dangerously... well, it was no wonder it looked a bit like Onscreen-Stampy was about to faint. " _Okay, enough dancing around. Who do you think took the flint and steel?_ "

Stampy collected himself, looking down at his lap, before back up at Jesse, then down at his lap again, then at Jesse. " _... I don't think it was actually ever stolen._ "

Several sets of eyes blinked.

Onscreen, the spider hybrid cocked her head to one side, the blank look on her face still there, betraying nothing. " _... continue._ "

" _Yeah, so, Dan got to it ahead of Lizzie, right?_ "

" _That seems to line up with what I've heard so far, yes,_ " Jesse replied, leaning back away and nodding a bit.

" _And she was pretty angry about it._ I _think he made up that story about it being stolen, so she'd think he didn't have it anymore,_ " he continued.

Dan frowned and shook his head. "No, it was _definitely_ stolen."

Real-Stampy fidgeted a bit.

Onscreen, Jesse simply gave Stampy a nod, stepping back. " _Okay, you're excused Stampy. Thanks for the time,_ " she told him, politely enough.

" _Oh!_ " Stampy bounced to his feet rapidly. " _Thank goodness. This room's making me very nervous._ " And he trotted out at high speed.

"What happened to being so comfortable you could fall asleep?" Dan whispered to Stampy, a slightly amused smirk sneaking over his face.

Stampy turned pink.

Jesse looked as though she might walk out of the room, when the doors suddenly flew open, and Cassie shoved Lukas in, the ocelot hybrid's ears twitching in irritation. " _Oh, come on! This is nuts!_ " he complained.

" _You had a button, too!_ " Cassie exclaimed, before putting her hands on her hips and looking at Jesse and Petra. " _Fair's fair. It's your buddy's turn next._ " And she strode out of the room, Petra glancing at Jesse- who simply shrugged- before following Cassie out of the room, fluidly pulling the door shut in the process.

The moment the doors shut, Jesse let out a long mix of a groan and a sigh and plopped down on the floor.

" _Hey, Jesse,_ " Lukas said, softly.

" _Ahh, my final suspect,_ " Jesse said, sounding a bit tired, but her lips curved up into a smile, and the next thing she said came out as a slightly teasing joke. " _Here to point more fingers and blame more people, I'm sure._ "

The YouTubers all exchanged slightly guilty looks.

Instead of taking the comment like a joke, like Jesse had probably intended, Lukas looked at Jesse uneasily. " _I didn't push the button, you know._ "

Jesse shook her head a bit, rolling her eyes with a smile coming over her face. " _I figured._ "

"I ship it," Gill whispered loudly.

"Me too, brah," Nell whispered back to Gill.

"You do realize you are in full earshot of where we are sitting, right?" Lukas asked, sending the two of them a pointed glare.

"Oh yes, we are fully aware," Gill replied, cheerfully.

"Myeh," Jesse mumbled.

* * *

 **A/N: Guys, the Season 2 title of Hybrid has been guessed!**

 **[MISCEGENATION]**

 **The last letter was correctly guessed by LittleAngelbun, Raven, DarkPrincess2001, Emily The Avenger, and InsaneAcrobat**

 **RQTC: Without looking up the word, what do you think 'Miscegenation' means?**

 **LunarStarsMoons: (creepily giggles with you) x3 / Good. :3**

 **LittleAngelbun: Correct! / (laughs)**

 **PoptartCrumbs: Haha thanks :3**

 **sailor . mikuchan: Hmmm; maybe; if I remember.**

 **Raven: Technically already guessed, but correct! / Thank you!**

 **TheRealRedGaming: Red, you realize that you're reviewing on a story whose author can't do redstone to save her life, right? / Also, how did the picture disappear and then reappear?**

 **J.M.M: Ah, I see.**

 **DarkPrincess2001: Technically already guessed, but correct! x3**

 **RapidSammi: (laughing hysterically) I'm so incredibly sorry Sammi-kun.**

 **LegoGirl794: (laughing)**

 **BeliTheGhoti0304: Incorrect, sorry :3 / I am legit shocked, I have no idea how that happened. / x3 / (laughs) I see. / Hehehe**

 **AquaK13: (laughs) Yep. / (laughing) / (grins) I'm not telling~ / Yes, she does, actually. Go back to the third chapter; I hinted at her having an axe. / It's fine, lol x3**

 **Emily The Avenger: x3 / (laughs) Yep. / Correct!**

 **RavenBlaze4850: (grins) / (laughs) / (blinks) Plushies are lovely. / Thank you!**

 **the indecisive bird: THANK YOU FAM / (laughs) That works, too. But thanks, dude. / (laughs)**

 **InsaneAcrobat: Correct. / :3 / (laughs) Yeah, that's cool. / I see.. / (laughs) I'd be a madam, but I get the reference.**

 **S4SH4L4SH4theGaMeR101: (laughs) / You can't unless you've got a PC. I've got the iOS version. / Yes. I know this.**

 **Savannah-the-Caracal: (grins) / Yes, I have, actually xD / Only for PC, so no.**

 **x.X. A.L. X.x**


	119. Accusations and Lies

" _How's it been going in here?_ " Lukas asked, frowning a bit at Jesse with a look of concern on his face. " _It's just nonstop whispering and rumors out there._ "

Jesse let out a long-suffering sigh. " _Kinda rough,_ " she said, after a few moments of silence, " _these people have so much drama going on, it's worse than a soap opera._ "

Several members of the audience had to repress a laugh at that. Onscreen, Lukas was obviously feeling the same sentiment, because he smirked a little upon hearing that.

" _It's hard to tell what's about the flint and steel, what's about the White Pumpkin, what's about just personal issues between the lot of them..._ "

" _Well, I know you can do it._ "

The spider hybrid blinked and looked over at Lukas with a start. The ocelot hybrid was giving her one of the most sincere smiles anyone in the audience had ever seen, his ears perked straight up in a cheery way, with his tail swishing against the floor gently.

Slowly, Jesse smiled back, her red-and-green eyes crinkling up. " _Heh... thanks, Lukas._ "

Lukas nodded, reaching out and squeezing Jesse's shoulder gently with that warm smile. Jesse returned it, before her eyes widened a little bit, the smile fading off her face, as the screen rapidly zoomed into her eye again.

"Oh hey, another one of these flashbacks," Gill said, facial expression rapidly changing from ' _I'm shipping this so hard right now_ ' to ' _oh wow_ '.

"It... would appear that's the case," Gabriel agreed slowly, regarding the screen with interest.

Onscreen, the little spider hybrid seemed to be wrapped in a huge cocoon of blankets, when a hand reached out and poked the blankets meekly. " _Jess?_ " a familiar, albeit younger voice whispered.

Jace sat up a little straighter.

" _Mm?_ " Little-Jesse rolled over, eyes eking open slightly to reveal that her red one appeared to be glowing a bit in the darkness.

The screen switched to show Jace sitting there, biting his lip. His tail was tucked between his legs, big green eyes filled with fear, and his already-pale skin looking almost snow white. His hair was standing on end a bit, and his ears were flattened against his head as the little boy trembled. It didn't take a genius to realize that Little-Jace was scared.

" _I- I had a nightmare._ " Jace paused, shuffling a little bit, before asking, in a slightly smaller voice than before, " _c-can I sleep with you?_ "

The spider hybrid blinked v-e-r-y slowly, taking a good three-count to respond. She must've been really sleepy. " _Sure, Jace._ " And a tiny hole appeared in the tangled cocoon of blankets; though it was still enough for Jace to slip through and pop his head through the hole that her head was currently poking through.

" _Thanks, sissy._ " The wolf hybrid snuggled down, burying his nose into her shoulder. " _Love ya._ "

Jace and Jesse exchanged looks, their expressions hard to make out- or, really, to decipher.

Onscreen, Jesse smiled sleepily but warmly, and her hand poked through the blanket and absentmindedly patted Jace on the ears, making them twitch as her eyes drifted back shut. " _Love you too,_ " she hummed back.

Jace's tail, which was still poking out of the blankets, began to slowly wag, though it was a happy wag, thumping against the ground in a comforting, metronomic beat.

The screen suddenly zoomed out again, Jesse's frozen expression still on her face as a soft, hesitant " _Jess?_ " sounded.

Jesse blinked, coming back into focus, the screen moving to show that Lukas was staring at her with a fair amount of concern. " _You okay? You just kinda... drifted off a bit, there._ "

"I imagine those 'flashbacks' _would_ be rather disconcerting..." Otto mused, scratching his cheek thoughtfully. "Especially to those around you. I mean, most people would just stare if you suddenly zoned out."

Real-Jesse hummed a bit, thoughtfully. "I see your point..."

Jesse's lower arm moved up and waved a bit as she smiled mildly. " _Ahh... haha, it's nothing. Don't worry about it._ "

Lukas regarded her for a few moments longer, before shrugging with a thoughtful hum. " _If you say so. We should probably head back then, huh,_ " and he looked past Jesse to regard the door.

The spider hybrid chuckled, her frozen expression melting off completely, and gave Lukas a firm pat on the back as she stood back up. " _Sure thing, suspect._ "

Lukas very maturely poked his tongue out at her, which made her laugh.

"Ahh, Lukas. Ever the charmer," Petra teased, patting the blonde on the back.

"I thought that was cute," Real-Jesse replied a bit absentmindedly, eyes still fixated on the screen.

Olivia chuckled a bit, making her turn a bit more to see the dark-skinned girl, who was smirking in a rather victorious way. "You know, you really need to stop accidentally flirting with Lukas."

Jesse blinked, looking utterly bemused by that. "What do you-"

Oh.

 _Ohhhh._

Petra and Olivia high-fived when Jesse abruptly cut off, turning to face the screen with a dignified silence. (Or, well, as dignified as a tomato-face can get.)

The _literal moment_ Onscreen-Jesse walked through the doors, Stacy immediately turned to face Jesse, her green eyes wide. " _So? Have you decided?_ " she asked, instantly.

Real-Jesse bit her lip in an agony of anxiety. "Err... well, what do you lot think?" she asked, after a moment.

Isa paused the episode quietly- she sensed that this might take a while.

"I'm voting Stampy, here."

The orange-cat-hoodie-wearing boy jumped, turning to stare at Lizzie with a shocked look. "Lizzie!" he exclaimed.

"What? You're the only one who lied out of all of us. I'd say Dan, but- he didn't lie during his interrogation," Lizzie replied, shrugging a bit.

"Yeah, I'd have to guess Stampy too."

Stampy whirled to see Dan, a hurt look mixing with the shock on his face. "You too?" he asked, his British accent thickening a bit in his dismay.

"Sorry, but Lizzie's got a point- you're the only one out of all three of us who lied. And we know it's definitely not Lukas," and Dan jerked his head at the blonde, who blinked as he was abruptly dragged into this small argument.

"I'm thinking Dan."

"Stacy!" Dan exclaimed, turning to face Stacy.

Stacy shrugged. "Hey, Stampy doesn't actually have enough motive to take the thing, and you heard Lizzie- she didn't make the tipped arrows."

"But I don't even _know_ how to make tipped arrows!" Dan protested.

"Which would account for the 'noob'ish quality that Lizzie talked about," Stacy countered.

"Guys-" Sparklez winced as the YouTubers all started arguing amongst each other, Cassie watching from her couch with a bewildered look. "Maybe we should-"

" _ **OKAY GUYS WHO DO YOU THINK THE WHITE PUMPKIN IS OUT OF THESE GUYS?**_ " Jace abruptly shouted, making several people jump and several more plug their ears in shock.

Everyone looked at each other; no one wanting to provoke any ire from the three accused YouTubers.

"I think we can definitely eliminate Lukas," Jesse said at last, before adding, the hint of a smile twitching at her lips, "and if it _is_ him, I'm switching sides."

Several people chuckled a bit at the weak joke, before Ivor cleared his throat, glancing across the room at the Order with a slightly hesitant look. "I'd say... Lizzie?"

Lizzie blinked in surprise.

"Lizzie could easily have simply done a subpar job on the tipped arrows to throw everyone off, and- well- _any_ redstone contraption, with a good book to help, isn't too difficult." Ivor shrugged and pointed at himself. "I mean, look at some of the things _I_ hooked up- I'm not even that good at redstone."

Harper nodded, steepling her fingers. "I'd say the same as well. Dan seems to not be that good with redstone, and while Stampy's good at redstone, potions are probably more difficult to work with- it's easier to do a bad job on a potion than a good job."

Ellegaard frowned. "I'd say Stampy- some of the mechanisms on these things are a bit more subtle than a simple door opening or whatnot. The portrait vanishing and then reappearing, for example, as well as the lights blowing out for dramatic effect- those are a bit more difficult to hook up, not to mention the subtlety used to do everything with them."

Magnus nodded immediately. "I'm agreeing with Ellie."

Ellegaard glanced at him. "Did you even understand any of my argument?"

"Something complicated about redstone. Isn't that basically it?"

Ellegaard rolled her eyes, but she was smiling a little bit.

Gabriel thought about it for a moment, before shrugging. "I think it might be Dan... he's one of the only ones with enough motive to go after the flint and steel with such a vengeance."

Soren nodded after a few seconds. "I think I have to agree with Ivor, here- it's probably Lizzie."

"I'd have to say... Stampy. He lied about his redstone ability," Isa said, after a moment. "He was obviously trying to hide it for a reason."

Reginald nodded in agreement with Isa. Milo frowned thoughtfully; but he didn't seem like he was going to be trying to provoke any conflict with Isa this time. "... I must say, the argument Ivor made against Lizzie is quite convincing. I'll have to side with him on this."

Ivor puffed his chest up a bit; this made Harper cover her mouth with a smile.

"I mean..." Aiden faltered. "I don't know... Lizzie? She was pretty upset over Dan getting the flint and steel before she did. That would provide her with enough of a motive, I feel."

"Dan. He just kind of claimed everything against himself- not enough evidence to point at him. He could've engineered it that way," Maya said immediately.

"... I dunno. Stampy just kinda seems like the most likely culprit at this point," Gill said, after a few seconds.

Cassie frowned. "I don't know- I'm kinda leaning towards..." She gave Dan an apologetic glance. "Dan? I don't know- this is all a little too confusing for me to keep up with."

"Stampy is probably the guy I'd go with," Em drawled, leaning over. "He's super cheerful all the time. I don't trust that too much."

"Well..." Nell frowned thoughtfully; probably the most serious they'd ever seen the blonde. "I dunno. There doesn't seem to be enough evidence to incriminate anyone at this point."

"I didn't think you knew the word 'incriminate'," Hadrian muttered, under his breath.

He shouldn't have done that- Isa cleared her throat and fixed an irritated glare right in his direction. "Hadrian. Is there something you'd like to say?" she asked, primly.

"Hm? Oh. I think Dan did it. A motive- even a weak one- can go a long way."

"That would be true for Lizzie, as well," Mevia added, shooting Hadrian a smug sort of grin that he just scowled at. "So, that's my guess."

Otto frowned for a minute, staring thoughtfully at the screen, then at the YouTubers, before stating in a matter of fact way, "I also abstain. Nell's argument makes sense."

The three gladiators all exchanged looks before Slab shrugged. "Stampy?" he said, after a moment. "He does seem like a more likely culprit at this point. Besides, he's a bit overly cheerful- I agree with Em on that."

Em frowned at that for some reason.

Clutch and Facemeat exchanged bewildered looks, before Clutch finally punched Slab on the shoulder and let out a nervous sort of laugh. "Facemeat and I think Slab's right."

"What a surprise," Hadrian muttered, before wincing as Otto's elbow dug into his ribs.

Axel shrugged. "I have to go Stampy as well. Sorry dude," he added, glancing at the cat-hoodie wearing boy, who looked extremely dismayed at this point.

"Lizzie?" Olivia said, slowly. "I mean, Ivor's argument made a lot of sense."

"I think it's Dan. He was the only guy to not protest when Jesse first announced the interrogation," Jace said, tentatively. "Kinda makes me feel like he has something to hide."

Dan shifted awkwardly.

"I agree with Jace," Petra called out, patting Jace on the head.

He swatted her.

"I... think I'm going to abstain as well," Lukas said, watching the two of them josh around playfully. "There's not enough evidence in any direction."

With that said, everyone turned to stare at Jesse.

The petite girl blinked blankly at everyone's inquisitive stares. Slowly, she lifted one hand out of the blankets and pointed at someone.

Everyone followed her finger to see- with some surprise- that it wasn't pointing at Dan, or Lizzie, _or_ Stampy. It wasn't even pointing at Lukas.

She was pointing straight at Cassie.

"Why me?!" Cassie exclaimed, looking irate about it. "What did I do?!"

Jesse shrugged mildly, her facial expression not betraying anything. "Call it a hunch."

There was an uncomfortable silence, before the girl chuckled a bit, perking back up a bit. "Just kidding. I literally lifted my hand and pointed randomly. I guess you could technically call that a 'hunch'," she joked.

Half of the audience started tittering or full-blown laughing, while the other half was debating facepalming at the silliness of the girl. Seriously- the middle of a murder mystery and she cracks a joke.

"Um... well, I don't know, honestly." Jesse frowned, the playful smile fading off of her face. "They all seem equally guilty and equally innocent to me."

"So, you abstain as well?" Sparklez asked, quietly.

"Yeah, I guess." And Jesse shrugged.

"So, tallying all that up..." Otto frowned, counting quietly in his head. "Ignoring the three YouTubers who are currently under suspicion... 7 votes for Dan, 7 for Lizzie, 9 for Stampy, and 4 abstains."

Stampy looked a little as if he were about to start crying. "But- but- but I _didn't_ do it!" he protested.

"Sorry, Stampy- but if it makes you feel better, if all of us abstains had voted on Dan and Lizzie as well- two for each- you guys would've tied," Jesse said, in an attempt to make him feel better.

"... that makes me feel a _little_ better."

Isa resumed the episode when the silence stretched out for a bit longer. The episode loaded for a few seconds, before actually resuming.

" _Yes, who do you think the White Pumpkin really is?_ " Stampy asked, curiously.

Jesse put her uppermost hands up in a 'slow down' sort of way. " _Okay, hang on, hang on, everyone. First, thanks for answering all of my questions. There's... still not_ 100 percent _proof of anyone, but-_ "

" _But?_ " Dan cut in, making everyone glance at him.

Ivor nodded, cocking his head slightly to one side. " _Yes, where are your suspicions leaning, Jesse?_ " he asked, in a bit of a softer voice than usual.

Jesse paused, in a thoughtful way.

After a few seconds, Lizzie spoke up, " _Jesse was definitely questioning Stampy the longest._ "

"Hey!" Real-Stampy exclaimed, sounding offended.

" _What?!_ " Onscreen-Stampy exclaimed, obviously feeling the same way. " _No!_ "

" _Dan was in there way longer,_ " Stacy contributed.

" _Hey, not cool!_ " Dan snapped back.

" _Guys, guys, come on!_ " Cassie exclaimed, in a pleading way.

" ** _Enough!_** "

All of the YouTubers snapped around at the command to see Jesse's right eye flash red in irritation, expression filled with vexation- a look that basically screamed " _Would you lot cut it out?!_ "

" _I just said, I don't have_ definite _proof on anyone. This is just saying who I suspect the most right now. Having talked to the key suspects, I... I think it_ might _-_ " she put emphasis on the word 'might'. " _-be..._ " She lifted one arm and pointed.

Right at the boy wearing the orange cat hoodie. " _Stampy Cat!_ "

Real-Jesse covered her mouth, automatically glancing at Stampy, who looked a bit as if Jesse had just kicked him in the stomach.

Both Lukas and Dan frowned a bit at that.

" _No!_ " Stampy protested, eyes widening in shock as Jesse quickly put her arm back down and everyone looked at him. " _That's_ crazy _talk! Absolute_ crazy _talk!_ "

" _Of the suspects,_ " Jesse said, raising her voice a hair louder to be heard over him and giving Stampy what looked like an almost _apologetic_ look, " _he's the only person with the redstone knowledge to make all of these traps._ "

" _No no_ no, _you can't really believe that, can you?_ " Stampy cried pleadingly, shooting Jesse a desperate look.

Real-Jesse had started curling up on herself, squeezing her eyes shut and hugging Reuben to her chest, the pig worriedly pressing his nose to her cheek in a comforting way.

Onscreen, Jesse's eyes widened in shock, and the screen zoomed in suddenly.

"Wait- another one?" Petra frowned. "We don't usually have them consecutively- I don't think so, anyway."

" _I did it._ "

Onscreen, the screen zoomed to show a scientist staring down at Jesse, who was staring up at him with a nervous but almost defiant look. "You're _the one who planned the escape attempt?_ "

Jesse nodded, but there was something in the way she was holding herself- something in the way she shifted.

But somehow, the audience knew for a certainty that she was lying.

" _Yes._ "

" _What?!_ " Jace's ears perked up, he had a bandage on his face and looked near _horrified_. " _No! Jesse, it was my fault! You tried to stop me! Why are you telling him it's yours-_ "

Jace looked at Jesse, wide-eyed- just in time to catch the shocked look she was giving him, as well.

" _Don't lie, okay, Jace?_ " and Jesse gave her twin brother a shaky attempt at a reassuring smile. " _You don't have to protect me._ "

The audience all exchanged glances with one another.

From what they could gather, Jace had planned an escape attempt. Jesse had tried to stop him, but eventually played along. It had failed.

Jace furiously shook his head, but suddenly Jesse went flying across the room, back slamming into a padded wall, the spider hybrid letting out an incoherent gasp, before crashing back to the floor. Before she could get back up or even shake her head, a foot slammed into her gut, making the little girl let out a gasping sob as she roughly doubled over on herself, curling in to protect her stomach.

That attempt was discouraged as the scientist seized her arm and yanked her into the air, the little girl letting out an involuntary cry of pain, before pulling a strange, long-looking instrument out of his pocket and slapping it to her arm.

The instrument abruptly snapped into place around her wrist. The scientist dropped her. There was a buzzing sound.

And then Jesse was screaming, screaming, so loudly that it was hurting everyone's ears as tongues of electricity danced over her, in such pain that Harper had to turn away at the sheer amount of- of _child_ abuse that this was; and Jesse was curling in on herself more than ever, clamping her hands over ears desperately as Lukas tightened his arms around her, and making that awful keening noise that hadn't happened in a while, but she wasn't squeezing her eyes shut- no, her eyes were locked on the screen.

She didn't want to look... but somehow, she couldn't _not_ look.

Abruptly, it stopped, Jesse dropped onto her back with a gasp, and that innocuous looking instrument popped back off, the scientist picking it up. (It must be said that at least half of the audience hoped that it would snap around _his_ wrist and start electrocuting him, but of course, it didn't.) The screen switched to show what Jesse was seeing, panned up, swooping in and out of focus and separating into three images, then two, then three more, the scientist staring down at Jesse coldly.

Real-Jesse's blood ran ice cold.

She knew that face.

" _Next time you do something this_ downright disobedient, _don't expect to get off so lightly,_ " the scientist snarled, coldly, voice echoing strangely, before he turned and left.

" _Jesse!_ " And now Jace was in view, shaking the spider hybrid frantically with a desperate look on his face, tears beading in his eyes. " _Jess!_ "

The screen abruptly zoomed out to show that Jesse was staring at Stampy, wide-eyed, before she forced herself to look away from him, shoulders trembling a bit as she tried to control her violently rampaging emotions and succeeding.

But only just.

Dan frowned, and he sounded a little reluctant- worried, even- as he said, " _I'm thinking we should lock him up in the library. Hold him there 'til morning._ "

" _Sounds like a good plan,_ " Lizzie agreed as Cassie moved forward, taking ahold of Stampy's arm.

Stampy was staring at them all in dismay, mouth hanging open, as the redhead started steering Stampy in the direction of the library. " _Sorry, Stampy, but we can't take any chances here,_ " she apologized.

" _Oh, come on!_ " Stampy protested as he was led away. " _I'm Stampy Cat! Mr. Stampy! I'm no White Pumpkin!_ "

Real-Jesse was still frozen in place, staring at the screen, but the rest of the audience was just as silent at what they'd just seen.

What had just happened...

That was essentially _child abuse_.

Mevia was frowning at the screen. She would usually have brushed it off, as usual... but now long-suppressed emotions- a long suppressed _conscience,_ for that matter- was fighting that apathy towards other people at the sight of the disgusting _child abuse_ she'd just witnessed.

Sure, Mevia wasn't a _great_ person, but she wasn't _heartless_.

She glanced at Hadrian, but his face was a mask, as always, so she gleaned nothing from that.

" _Well..._ " Ivor said, putting his hands on his hips slowly, " _that was certainly some excitement._ "

"That perfectly describes both what just happened," Soren mumbled, though it was loud enough for everyone to hear, "and the flashback."

The people who weren't shocked into incoherent silence murmured agreement. A few others nodded, still stunned.

" _Yeah, no kidding,_ " Lukas mumbled.

Onscreen, Jesse looked down at her wrist, as if half-expecting that band they'd slapped onto it was still there. She traced an absentminded line on her right wrist with her left finger, her hands still trembling.

The screen glitched, Jace's desperate face flashing into view, and glitched back to show Jesse shutting her eyes, fists clenching as she tried to keep from shaking like a leaf.

" _If the White Pumpkin is still roaming around, though,_ " Onscreen-Petra said, apparently not aware of Jesse's predicament, " _they might be trying to set up more traps or something. We need to figure out how these things work. We know that the Sparklez trap was triggered by those buttons under the table- but what about the one that turned TorqueDawg into a pincushion? If we figure out how these things work, we might be able to find more proof about who the White Pumpkin is- how they're operating..._ "

Onscreen-Jesse clenched her hands into fists, her hands still trembling, before taking a deep breath and relaxing, muscles no longer tense as a drawn bowstring. She stayed like that for a second, before looking back up at her friends. " _Well, however the White Pumpkin did it... he must've done it from the kitchen._ "

* * *

 **A/N: Well guys, looks like unless MCSM Season 2 releases a preorder for iOS by tomorrow, you're all gonna have to wait until August to get the first chapter of Miscegenation, because I refuse to write the first chapter until I've played it myself. And because I'm at the RISD Pre-College Program until August 5th, I'll be missing the release date of MCSM Season 2.**

 **If you're salty about it, you're not salty enough, because believe me no one's more salty about this development than I am.**

 **And when I said no spoilers, I MEANT IT. I will be literally avoiding everything- DeviantArt, Quotev, any other stories except for HCM, and maybe even Twitter to avoid spoilers.**

 **I'm serious here, NO SPOILERS WHATSOEVER IN THE REVIEWS SECTION. Capiche?**

 **By the way, about Miscegenation's title... I didn't actually realize it meant 'the marriage or mix of different racial groups' (or a mix of races or cultural groups). I just went on and looked up synonyms for Hybrid. That's what I get for not using a dictionary. (laughs) Ignore it and just pretend it means hybrid. It's just a cool word. No, to quote AquaK13 (I think? Yeah), "Hybrid babies." x3**

 **RQTC: How well do you react to people being rude to you?**

 **(frowns) Well... I feel really upset when I see it, but I usually hide it if possible and continue being polite. I see no reason to stoop to the other person's level.**

 **Be rude to my friends though and you have decided to summon Satan.**

 **the indecisive bird: (laughs) / x3 / Yeah, I thought so too, to be honest. x3 / xD**

 **RapidSammi: (grins) / (laughs) It's fine, neither did I. / Hehehehe xD / (cracks up even harder)**

 **Raven: (laughs) Don't worry, I believe you. I think you're right... yeah, you're right. Good job! x3**

 **Emily The Avenger: (laughs) That's a lot of reviewers you've gotta hug.**

 **LunarStarsMoons: (laughs) / (giggles with you) I feel the same, to be honest. / Suspense~ / (laughs)**

 **AquaK13: Yeah, Stampy deserves some hugs x3 / I would be too, but I'd probably hide it. xD / No xD No Hybrid babies, sorry.**

 **sailor . mikuchan: (laughs) I like Spider Dance too, to be honest, though Ghost Fight is also pretty lit. / Well, Jesse looks a little less like a spider. Just has more than two arms.**

 **KaosRuin: (laughs) I didn't either; I was watching Stampy for this part, actually.**

 **PoptartCrumbs: (laughs) It's hilarious, you're right about that.**

 **TheRealRedGaming: No, they cannot build mansions in the blink of an eye. Tiny prisons, yes, but not a huge mansion. / The sound of paintings breaking in both Minecraft and MCSM are very loud and distinct; even with all the panic everyone would've been able to hear the painting being broken. / There's only one command block in the HCM universe.**

 **S4SH4L4SH4theGaMeR101: Correct! :3 Or, well, close enough xD**

 **Jack: Actually, you're not too far off the mark! / Yeah, same / (laughs)**

 **LegoGirl794: (laughs) You're not wrong. _I_ didn't know what it meant before I started thinking about the story.**

 **Savannah-the-Caracal: Nope, not quite. Sorry!**

 **J.M.M.: Excuse me? Did you just call me an idiot? Exactly why did you call me that? I have no idea what I've done to provoke you. In fact, up until now we've been pretty polite to each other. If it's because I said 'Ah, I see' twice, that's just because I had nothing else to say. That was incredibly rude for no reason. And if it was just a joke, then one of our senses of humor is messed up, because I'm not finding it funny at all.**

 **Seastorm25: Get used to it, that's how I write xD / Hehehehe xD / She knows but she doesn't know to what extent. She thinks it's like a casual crush. / (laughs) / Ahh, cool :3 / Yes, it's just relating to them being hybrids. No, there are no hybrid babies.**

 **RavenBlaze4850: :3 / Cassie: 0-o / (laughing) Is she really? Is she from Ace Attorney? I've only played with her once, so I have no idea about her. I just know that she's a really cheery person. / Sort of. You're somewhat on the right track.**

 **Darkbeast Dend: I see... by the way, sorry if I'm being rude by asking, but could you improve your grammar and spelling a little bit? It's extremely difficult to read some of your reviews, especially because I have to essentially decipher what you are saying. / I'd turn into a phoenix, if that's what you're asking. / ... can you not take up so much empty space with a review, either? It just bothers me, sorry.**

 **LittleAngelbun: Yeah, you're pretty much on the mark with that!**

 **Toni42: I'm glad you like it so much! :3 / (laughs) Right? / That actually might've been it, as well.**

 **x.X. A.L. X.x**


	120. The One Who Did It

" _Yes..._ " Ivor nodded, looking rather thoughtful about the whole matter. " _It seems like it might be worth our while to poke around the kitchen._ "

Lukas nodded at the sentiment, before jerking his thumb at the group of YouTubers. " _You guys go on ahead. I'm gonna stay here and keep an eye on these other people. I don't want anyone trying anything when we're not looking._ "

" _Ah, Lukas. Ever the levelheaded one,_ " the spider hybrid teased him.

" _Gee, thanks,_ " he joked back with a roll of his eyes, halfheartedly swiping at her.

Jesse ducked the swipe with a laugh and trotted offscreen, the screen fading out to black as she did so.

"Notch these two just need to kiss already."

"Shut up, Gill," a now-very-embarrassed Jesse and Lukas chorused, refusing to even look in his direction.

Maya grinned, eyes lighting up a bit. "Hey, you just quoted Aiden!" she joked.

"Well, looks like things might be calming down a bit, at least," Stacy said, in an attempt to be positive about all that hullabaloo that had just happened.

"You just jinxed it again," Petra pointed out, absentmindedly.

Stacy considered this fact for a few seconds.

She then proceeded to say a word that is not really polite for public company.

" _Back in the kitchen,_ " Petra said onscreen, the screen fading in to show the three of them walking into the kitchen. It actually still looked exactly the same as it had before this whole fiasco had started- even the glass from Lukas and Jesse's unplanned collision with the window was still there.

I'm pretty sure that despite the very much janitor-like suit the White Pumpkin wears, we can see that they're not, in fact, a janitor in disguise. She put her hands on her hips, looking at Jesse expectantly. " _So, what are we looking for exactly?_ "

Jesse tilted her head, considering it for a minute, before replying, " _We just need concrete evidence in terms of Stampy right now- either something that proves he_ IS _the White Pumpkin, or something that proves that he_ ISN'T. _If we're gonna do that, we just need to find something that might show that he was involved- something more than excellent redstone. That really doesn't prove much._ "

Petra saluted, albeit slightly playfully. " _Got it. I'm on the lookout._ "

Jesse looked around the room absentmindedly, brow creasing as she frowned thoughtfully at her surroundings, before tilting her head slightly.

The screen switched to show the picture of the creeper wearing an apron and a chef hat that all of them had spotted earlier.

"I _still_ think it's a weird painting," Mevia mumbled.

Onscreen, Jesse approached it, tilting her head slightly. " _Huh. Looks like it's the painting I spotted when we first got to the mansion._ " She paused at that, blinking. " _... man, that feels like that was ages ago._ "

" _Indeed it does, spider-lady._ "

Jesse actually jumped a bit at the sudden vocal intrusion, courtesy of the narrator. (She wasn't the only one- her real self, along with a good ninety-percent of the audience, started a bit at the voice suddenly coming on.) " _Dude_!" she hissed, after looking around and making sure that none of the others were in earshot. " _You gave me a_ heart attack."

" _Aww, that's the nicest thing anyone's ever said about me. I'm flattered, really. I might cry, I'm so full of squishy pink feelings._ "

Lukas may or may not have snorted at that.

Jesse poked him.

Onscreen, Jesse stuck her tongue out at the ceiling and went back to looking at the painting. As she looked back down, though, she blinked, and cocked her head to one side. " _Does this painting have... eyeholes?_ " she wondered at last, reaching out and carefully extending her fingers towards the eyes of the painting...

Her fingers went right through.

" _Oh yeah,_ " Petra said from right behind Jesse, blinking at the painting in surprise. " _How did I not notice that before?_ "

Without answering the question, Jesse reached out carefully, aligning her six arms with the edges of the painting, before curling her fingers around the frames, giving a slight lift...

And, with a neat _pop_ ping sound, the painting came right off the wall to reveal a tunnel, right in the wall.

Cassie scowled.

They found it.

 _Dammit_ , they _found_ it.

She _knew_ she should've hidden that a lot better, but _nooooo_ , she just _had_ to prepare the templates for the paintings, hadn't she?

" _Ooh!_ "

Both onscreen-and-Real Jesse let out an amused giggle at Ivor's exclamation, before climbing inside the tunnel, having to lift herself a bit to avoid tripping over the rim. The tunnel opening actually led to a much wider space than it appeared to be from the outside, with a lever on the wall right next to its entrance and a redstone torch not too far away.

" _It's some sort of secret passageway!_ " Ivor exclaimed, eyes lighting up as he poked his head inside.

"No, really, I thought it was the End," Hadrian drawled.

Ivor scowled at him.

" _Interesting..._ " Ivor looked around for a moment longer, before tilting his head at the lever. " _What do you suppose that lever does?_ "

" _I've got a bit of a hunch... just in case, guys, make sure you're_ nowhere _near that arrow trap,_ " Jesse warned them. Ivor pressed his back to the wall, and Petra shifted back a few steps, also joining Ivor in pressing her back against the wall.

Jesse reached up, taking ahold of the lever... before bringing it back down with a satisfying _thud_.

The lights suddenly flickered out, the sound of the dispenser disengaging sounding in the silence. When the lights came back on, it was to reveal several tipped arrows still quivering ominously where they were embedded in the floor.

" _Yep- more of those tipped arrows."_ Petra frowned at them. " _Nasty._ "

The hopper proceeded to whir into movement, and sucked them down into the floor.

" _Well, seems like we found how the White Pumpkin killed TorqueDawg..._ " Ivor said slowly, turning to face Jesse and arching his eyebrow at her.

" _Yeah, and how he's getting around the house,_ " Jesse agreed, turning around to survey the dark secret passageway. There was a ladder on the right, and she went to the wall and climbed straight up it, ignoring the ladder altogether.

Petra let out a heavy, but amused sigh and hovered after her, leaving Ivor to clamber up the ladder behind them. " _I assume we're investigating the creepy passageway?_ "

" _What, you wanna head back to the dining room?_ " the narrator asked, drawling a bit sarcastically.

Petra scowled. "That was unnecessarily rude."

"Has the narrator ever been _polite_ before?" Jace wondered, abruptly.

"... I see your point."

Onscreen, Jesse glanced at the narrator, before giving a slight shrug as Ivor crawled up behind them. " _Your assumption is correct. We've come a bit too far to just turn around and call it a day,_ " she responded, slightly teasingly.

And with that, the three of them walked down the hallway.

The screen switched to show Jesse coming to an intersection, with at least twelve different paths branching off from there- some of them going straight up, and some of them going at odd diagonal angles. It looked like the secret passageways were some sort of winding maze.

Jesse cautiously continued forward, almost at a tiptoe.

" _Be careful, guys,_ " Jesse said, in a soft voice. " _And stay on your guard. We have no idea if the White Pumpkin might be around the next corner or something. Just... standing there and watching us._ "

"And now I am creeped out," Em announced, flatly.

"You are not the only one," Hadrian murmured, staring at the screen with a 'wtf' look on his face.

Onscreen, Petra frowned at the floor, gold eyes glinting as she tilted her head downwards. " _I hope Stampy's okay locked up in the library... we could've put them all in even bigger danger._ "

Jesse frowned at that, eyes narrowing as she chewed on that thought for a few moments. " _I'm pretty sure he'll be safe in there,_ " she said at last, firmly. " _I don't think the library has traps._ "

"Yeah, I didn't see any during the interrogations," Lukas agreed, giving Jesse's midriff a comforting squeeze.

" _I sure hope so,_ " Petra replied, softly.

They all turned the next corner, to see another opened-up space with a painting back, eye holes in the painting. There was a lever right next to this painting, as well.

" _Another lever,_ " Ivor said, thoughtfully, regarding it with fascinated dark blue eyes.

"Ivor, I swear, if you flip that lever," Ellegaard growled, shooting the black-haired man a glare.

"Why are you _looking_ at me like- I wasn't even _planning_ on flipping the lever!"

"Glad to hear it."

"Oh, _come on!_ Why are you looking at me like that when _Soren_ was the one who flipped the lever?!" Ivor complained- evidently this was an incident that had happened back in the days of the Order of the Stone.

Well, the original one, that is.

Onscreen, Jesse unknowingly interrupted the argument Ellegaard and Ivor were about to start, shuddering a bit as she looked at the lever. " _It's probably another trap. Don't flip it, D-_ " she caught herself again. " _Ivor._ "

"What on earth do you keep accidentally nearly calling Ivor?" Soren wondered, looking at Jesse, whose back was to him.

With a tremendous amount of self-restraint, Jesse managed to keep herself from looking in a faintly conspirational way at Ivor. "Nothing," she said, mildly. "I'm sure I'm just kind of blanking out right now."

"... well, with the situation, I guess I could see that happening... Notch knows Aiden used to do it a lot," and Maya shot Aiden a pointed look.

"In my defense, I didn't sleep the night before," Aiden shot back, frowning at Maya.

"Well, you _did_ kiss Gill on the cheek."

Half of the audience would've done a spit-take had they been drinking water. As it was, they still spluttered loudly and looked 'round at Aiden so fast that they ricked their necks. The rest were now laughing hysterically. Jesse had managed to get stuck somewhere in the middle of the two camps and was now choking slightly. (Reuben was attempting a piggy version of the Heimlich maneuver.)

Aiden was turning a very lovely shade of amaranth pink. "Maya," he hissed, his blush growing steadily more acute by the second, "I told you it was an _accident_ , I was half dead on my feet from lack of sleep and-"

"Oh yeah, and you used about twenty pick-up lines on Jace."

Jace abruptly laughed, the memory finally clicking into place in his head. "Oh yeah. I remember asking Lukas out of _actual fear_ who that was and what they had done to Aiden."

Lukas grinned, the memory coming back to him as well. "And I told you that he was a professional assassin who took on Aiden's appearance to perpetrate his mission."

"Yeah and then Aiden kissed Jace, too," Gill added, grinning widely at Aiden.

Aiden smirked a little, even though he was now turning the shade of a watermelon. "Didn't Jace slap himself in the face to try to wake himself up?" he added.

"That I did."

Jesse was laughing so hard she was actually turning red with the effort of trying to get herself to stop. (She was not the only one, I will tell you that now.)

After a few moments, Jesse finally managed to quiet herself enough that while she was giggling, it was no longer distracting them from watching the remainder of the episode.

Onscreen, Jesse went over to the painting, and put her eyes up to where the eyeholes were.

The screen switched to show Jesse's green eyes looking around from a bunny, fading out even further to show that Jesse was behind the bunny tapestry in the library.

"Oh!" Lizzie's eyes widened. "You can keep an eye on Stampy this way!"

The screen switched once again to show Stampy sitting on a chair in the library, hands resting on his knees in a fidgety way, the boy shifting around in an uncomfortable way.

" _It's the library,_ " Jesse reported, blinking in interest, the screen switching to what Jesse was seeing through the eyeholes, " _I can see Stampy locked up in there-_ "

She was cut off by the sound of the door opening. " _Hey, I have to speak to you._ " And Dan slipped through the door, letting it shut behind him with a soft little click.

"Dan?" Sparklez blinked, looking a bit startled. "What are you doing in there?"

Dan shrugged, looking bewildered by the whole thing. "How do you expect me to know?"

" _Oh! Dan!_ " Stampy stood up, face filled with obvious astonishment. " _What are you doing here?_ "

" _Yeah, Jesse would really like to know that, too,_ " the narrator commented, although the feminine voice lacked some of the usual snark that it contained.

"Forget Jesse- _all_ of us would like to know," Slab grumbled, sounding extremely disgruntled about the whole thing.

" _I snuck in past that blonde guy- uh... Lukas?_ "

Lukas frowned. "Is my name really that easy to forget?" he asked nobody in particular.

" _That doesn't matter right now- I have to speak to you. It's really important,_ " Dan said, urgently, waving off the matter of remembering Lukas's name.

Stacy frowned, looking bewildered. "This, uh- this sounds _really_ important," she said, slowly. "I- I wonder what it is."

There was a full moment of tense silence, before Dan blurted- " _It was me..._ I _killed Sparklez!_ "

Real-Dan's eyes widened in shock, mouth dropping open in stunned silence.

"What?! _WHAT?!_ " Lizzie exclaimed, backing away from Dan hastily (and accidentally shoving a poor, shocked-silent Stacy off the couch, but that was irrelevant right now). "You- you- you're-?!"

"You-" Sparklez's eyes were wider than dinner plates as he scrambled away from Dan a bit too, hands up to his mouth. Stampy was gaping at Dan, mouth hanging wide-open as he stared at Dan. " _You_ killed me?!"

"You're the White Pumpkin?!" Petra and Jace were goggling at Dan in shock, ignoring the fact that they'd just spoken in near-perfect sync. Jesse was mouthing wordlessly at the green (no, now it was- was it blue? It was hard to tell in this lack of light) haired boy, Lukas surreptitiously scooting away. Olivia was hiding behind Axel, who was hugging Olivia so tightly that she was nearly turning a little blue from lack of oxygen. Cassie was clinging onto Winslow, but also hugging Aiden with one arm (Aiden had a funny look on his face from that- maybe she was squeezing him too hard?), while Maya and Gill were scrambling back into the armchair from where they'd accidentally knocked it over.

Harper was hugging Ivor again, the dark-blue eyed man too shocked to blush or stutter about it. Magnus and Ellegaard were totally not death hugging each other. Nope. No idea what you're talking about. Anyway, ignoring the two of them obviously not death-hugging one another, Gabriel had his sword half out of his sheathe in defense, and Soren was taking refuge behind the couch.

Isa was hiding behind Milo (she'd somehow managed to squeeze between Milo and the back of the couch, huddling into a little ball with Benedict cuddled in her arms. Milo would've usually snapped at her, but something made him stop. Maybe he just thought it was the wrong time), while Reginald had automatically drawn his sword and extended it defensively in Dan's direction.

Em and Nell were exchanging looks that basically read ' _WHAT_ ' in shock, while Slab, Clutch, and Facemeat were hastily grabbing at various weapons on their person (and fumbling them in panic, to boot). Hadrian was half-out of his seat, ready to get himself out of there at the speed of light, Mevia grabbing onto Hadrian's sleeve- maybe her arm would get dislocated, but at least she'd be out of there. Otto simply remained sitting on the couch, looking downright stunned.

Onscreen-Jesse jerked back in surprise.

" _What?!_ " Onscreen-Stampy yelped, backing away in shock. "YOU'RE _the White Pumpkin?!_ "

Dan blinked at that, looking confused. " _Oh- what? No. No no no._ " And he moved forward, further into the library.

To reveal that the White Pumpkin painting- the one with the top hat- now had a pair of moving, golden eyes.

"Wait- but-" Jesse stared at the screen, abruptly cutting herself off, before suddenly exclaiming, "What?!"

"Wait, so Dan's _not_ the White Pumpkin?" Lukas said, quickly, frowning at the screen. "But I thought-"

" _I swear, it was an accident!_ "

Stampy spluttered incoherently for a moment. Onscreen, Jesse froze, the spider hybrid's eyes wide in _utter_ horror as she gaped at the painting, which was surveying the scene before them. " _But but, Dan, 'accident', really?_ " Stampy had a beseeching tone to his voice.

The kind that said he wanted to believe Dan- really and truly.

But he was currently finding it a little hard to do so.

" _I swear, I had no idea, there- there was this button (I'm not good with buttons) but but I had to push it, I had no clue what it would do, now I feel_ awful," Dan babbled, pacing up and down the room like an utter maniac as he ranted to Stampy.

"Oh." Real-Stampy abruptly relaxed. "That actually does make sense."

"Yeah, we all know how Dan is when it comes to buttons." And Lizzie shot Dan a look.

Dan winced sheepishly.

"Actually, that... oh, that explains a lot," Jesse mumbled, leaning forward. Her slightly frightened expression relaxed. "It explains why so many of the clues could've fit more than one person... and why no one person could fully fulfill the other 'requirements' for being the White Pumpkin."

"So- _none_ of them are the White Pumpkin?" Petra asked, sounding like she was in a mix of being disappointed and being relieved. On one hand, they didn't have to accuse anyone of murder...

... but on the other hand, they were no closer to finding out who the White Pumpkin was.

Lukas frowned with a sigh. "I guess not."

" _Well, it's just-_ " Onscreen-Stampy frowned at that. " _Th-that's a little hard to believe..._ "

" _I know, I know, it sounds ridiculous, I've been beating myself up about it ever since it happened- and then_ you _got locked up in here,_ " Dan abruptly drew to a close, taking a deep breath, before letting it out and making this dejected sound. " _I just_ had _to come in. Clear my conscience._ "

" _Well, that was very sweet and all,_ " the narrator drawled, " _but, uh, yeah, there's a_ murderer _right behind that wall-?_ "

Onscreen-Jesse stared at the White Pumpkin portrait, frozen in shock, her eyes still widening in horror. The White Pumpkin- whoever it was- hadn't noticed Jesse yet, still scrutinizing Dan and Stampy.

A moment later, she shook her head furiously and jerked away, whirling around on her heel to face Petra and Ivor. Her face was paler than _Ivor's_ (and we all know how hard _that_ is to achieve), and she was shaking a bit. " _The White Pumpkin-!_ " she blurted, voice having dropped to a desperate whisper. " _He's in there!_ "

A (slightly overdramatic) blast of thunder and lightning from both ends.

And then, with another mechanical groaning, the lights went out again.

* * *

 **A/N: Welp. Next chapter will be nerve-wracking (but fun for me to write). Also, we've discovered a segment of exactly how Cassie could prepare Ivor's, Jesse's, Lukas's, and Petra's portraits so fast. (If we follow the time that passes in the game- let's say about ten minutes- but also assume that they did a time skip of simply walking through the hallway, and the 'time speed-up' of Lukas climbing up the tree, that gives Cassie about 15 minutes to prepare the portraits, which, considering it takes ME one day to make most of my art, and I'm probably a quicker artist than most people, is more than a little implausible. So... explanation time!)**

 **RQTC: Did anyone notice anything last chapter? 'Special', I guess you could say? I know some of the reviewers DEFINITELY noticed, but some of the others I'm not entirely sure.**

 **Responses to reviewers!**

 **sailor . mikuchan: What do you think? :3 / Nope, I wish there was pre-order though.**

 **TheRealRedGaming: Red, you do realize that I said _in HCM_ , right? In the Hybrid universe, there is only _one_ Command Block. (Ignoring if that's canon or not.)**

 **RapidSammi: (scratches head) How did this chapter turn poor Sammi-kun into a broken record? x3**

 **AquaK13: Fear and paranoia are more powerful than you think. / (laughs) / I'm not saying anything, but... you might be right. / (laughs) Nope, sorry. / Savage comebacks are the bomb x3**

 **LunarStarsMoons: (nods) / I did, as well, to be honest. I was just following Stampy's playthrough tbh xD / ... I have no idea where that came from. / (laughs)**

 **Darkbeast Dend: Darkbeast, please- _one or two reviews a chapter_. / I'd use the shikomizue. **

**Seastorm25: (laughs) / Ah, same here. Minus the ignoring part, haha xD / :3 / Very true, hence why Jesse abstained. Well, except for her little 'hunch' with Cassie lolol**

 **PoptartCrumbs: (laughs) / (slowly smiles a bit)**

 **Emily The Avenger: x3 / Indeed. / (evil laugh with you)**

 **Cassie: x3 / Do you have iOS or a PC? You can buy it on there. Or, you can buy it on Google Play- for Android.**

 **J.M.M: Hmm, okay. Please don't joke like that again, I take everything very seriously and very personally, since I can't sense the inflection in anyone's tone. / Yay! :3 / Oh no, what happened?**

 **KaosRuin: Lol you're right about that**

 **RavenBlaze4850: (laughs) / Haha, very true. / (laughs) Ah, I see. I'm glad you'll be back shortly./ Mmm, I see. / Ahhh, I see. / Er, nope. No time. But I _do_ know the movie now. / :3 **

**InsaneAcrobat: Ahh, I see. / (laughs) / That will be explained. Actually, it was explained in Hybrid- didn't I mention that? / (points) / ... I never said I wasn't going to update HCM. / (laughs) Cool.**

 **DarkPrincess2001: Yep.**

 **S4SH4L4SH4theGaMeR101: (laughs) / Ahh, I see.**

 **RWBYSTRQ: (laughs) / Not on iPhone, you can't.**

 **BeliTheGhoti0304: Hahahaha xD / I used Thesaurus; it said it was a synonym for 'hybrid'. So I went with that. xD xD / Ahhhh. :3 / Nahh, it's fine. I was busy too.**

 **Jessedude33: 'I really like this story. You're delusional.' Those two statements seem a bit at odds with one another, hm? / Yes, Magnus. The _griefer_ (puts a lot of emphasis on 'griefer) who _destroys_ things. / 1) What's wrong with being a nerd? That just means you're smart. / 2) What's wrong with being a dork? _I'm_ a dork. / 3) Because at that point in time, Jesse _was_ a small fry. Also, my Jesse is super small and petite- so 'small' fry is not as much of an insult. / 4) If you were living in a town where every citizen was trying to maim/kill you, you'd be paranoid about it too. Besides, anything can be stolen. / 5) Yes, because he's a _griefer_. / 6) More times, actually. Also, a few occasions were accidents. / I don't mind if you don't like Magnus. That's your opinion. But you _do not_ force your opinion on others. / I don't care if you call me delusional, but until you've written a story either better than or _at least_ on the same level as this one, I will pay your insult as much attention as Trump pays his taxes. / Did _you_ pay attention when playing Episode 2 for undoubtedly fewer times than I have (I've played through MCSM at least 7 times by now), because Olivia/Axel _did_ help Lukas, at least for a little bit- when you come back with Magnus and Ellegaard, the entrance to the temple is fortified with the style that Olivia/Axel would use, and I can't imagine that Lukas would go to such lengths to imitate their style. / This is _my_ story. If you don't like the choices I go with, then don't read it, and come up with your own ideas for a story.**

 **(sighs) I'm sorry for this huge block of text, everyone who is not A-Magnus-Flamer/Jessedude33. It's just that the points that they made were ridiculous enough that they irritated me to no end.**

 **RebekahTPE: (laughs) Was it really? / (laughs) Well, you got one. Now to wait for the other. / Ahhh. / Sign language for sure. I'd rather be able to communicate with others.**

 **LittleAngelbun: Nah, you're good :3 / (laughs) / Hmm, maybe.**

 **x.X. A.L. X.x**


	121. The White Pumpkin Does Crossfit

" _Are you freaking kidding me_ " Harper groaned under her breath, burying her head in her hands.

Ivor might've given a response, except a loud scream cut him off.

It then turned into a squeal.

" _GUYSGUYSGUYSGUYSGUYS!_ " screamed a voice, Gommie abruptly skidding through the door.

Several people fell out of their seats in shock. Gommie didn't have that hard look on her face, or a sword in her hand- she looked _genuinely_ happy. Almost giddy, really, bouncing on the balls of her feet like that.

Ariza's head snapped up from where she was sitting on the couch with a notebook and a weird thing that looked like a book, but with half of it glowing and standing up on its own. More importantly, she looked _completely_ normal. No blood, no arrow in her shoulder. Nothing wrong with the girl. "Oh, hey, Gom. What's up-?"

" _Lookitlookitlookit_ -" Gommie shoved her phone into Ariza's face, making the black-haired girl with long black hair, a huge bang of it dyed hot pink and a streak of purple through it (wait- but- her hair had been different before, right?) jump back and fumble the phone a bit.

She'd only stared at it for a second when she squealed as well, eyes lighting up as she stood up, nearly knocking her weird thing onto the floor. She scooped it up hastily and dumped it on the couch (Aiden flinched when it landed right in his lap) before hopping up and down a bit. It looked a bit funny, actually, a nearly 7-foot tall girl hopping up and down repeatedly. "This is real? This is legit?"

"YES!" Gommie squealed, hopping up and down a bit herself.

"Holy crap. _Holy crap!_ " Ariza continued hopping around.

"What's with the racket?" Red rounded the corner, looking rather bemused about everything.

He didn't even get five feet past the doorway when Ariza was grinning at him about three inches from his face, eyes wide with excitement. "Red, Red, look at this!" She pushed Gommie's phone at Red.

Red had a look, and his eyes widened. A huge grin spread over his face as he looked back up at Ariza. "You're serious? This is serious?" he asked, pacing over to the TV's shelf to sit down with a shocked look on his face.

" _Yeah!_ " Ariza squealed, voice reaching an octave that most opera singers probably couldn't achieve. "And there's some gameplay on it, too."

Another loud squeal pierced the air, and Emily proceeded to shoot in like a bullet and throw their arms around Ariza, nearly bowling her over altogether. " _Holymolythisisawesome!_ " she nearly shrieked into Ariza's ear, making Ariza wince a bit, but with a huge grin spreading over her face.

"The website said July 11, yeah?" Red asked, plucking the phone out of Ariza's hand and taking a gander at it again.

"Wait- then shouldn't it be out by now?"

Red jumped a bit with a yelp and fumbled Gommie's phone at the sound of the voice coming from behind him, courtesy of Sammi. Her foot automatically kicked out, 'hooking' the phone, before flinging it into the air and over her head before it could hit the floor.

"Nice one, Sammi," Lunar said from where she was standing near the other girl, bouncing on the balls of her feet in excitement with her hands clasped to her mouth (she looked rather like Ivor when he fangirled, to be honest), who looked over and gave Lunar a small grin.

"Thanks!"

The door opened, and Becky walked in, along with Cho. The blonde girl didn't even flinch as she reached up and smoothly snatched the phone out of the air before it could smack right into Cho's face.

"That's a handy talent you have, Becky," Cho said, letting out a relieved sigh. "Thanks for that."

"No problem. This yours, Gom?" Becky called casually, waving the phone at Gommie.

Gommie nodded, gesturing at the two of them with a faint smile. "Yuh-huh, but check the screen."

Becky and Cho both proceeded to do so, looking down at the screen. Cho's eyes lit up in excitement, while Becky's grew wide and round, her mouth dropping open in astonishment. "Holy _sh_ -"

"We heard screaming, what's going on?" Becky and Cho quickly sidled aside to let Toni and Mason enter, looking rather bemused as they (unknowingly) cut Becky's sentence off before she could most likely deliver an expletive.

"Oh, hey, Toni. Hey Mason," Emily said, still clinging onto Ariza in a tight hug. "Check the phone, once those two are done with it."

Becky quickly recovered, holding the phone out to Mason, who took it and had a good look at it, Toni leaning over his shoulder to have a look.

"But if the release date's the 11th, then...?"

Ariza abruptly let out a cheerful, friendly laugh upon realizing the mistake the red-haired girl had just made. "Sammi-kun, the release date's _July_ 11th. Today's the 26th of June."

Sammi colored a bit in embarrassment, and she crossed her arms with a soft huff. "I knew that."

Lunar 'coughed' a bit.

"It's fine-" Ariza was cut off as Toni let out a loud cheer and started doing a sort of impromptu war dance, dancing around in circles victoriously. " _Yes!_ " he crowed, loudly.

Mason let out a friendly laugh as he gave the phone back to Gommie, who'd trotted over to retrieve it. "Yeah, this is _definitely_ exciting. Oh, but, Ariza-" his face grew more serious, and Ariza's amused smile faded as she took note of the urgency in his tone.

"What's up, Mason?"

"Doesn't that mean the story's going to 'reopen'?"

Ariza blinked blankly at Mason, for a moment being just as confused as the shocked-silent audience... and then her expression filled with something somewhat akin to _horror_ as she realized something that none of them knew about.

" _Sh*_ _t._ "

And all of the blue figures dissipated in the next, gentle breeze.

None of them even had time to process that- not half a second later, the screen suddenly flickered back to life, a 'loading' signal circling in the middle of the screen, before it disappeared, returning to the scene they'd been watching.

But before that, just for a second- there'd been a gray silhouette standing in front of it.

Harper's face paled a bit.

The audience all exchanged small glances, before giving a slow nod.

They would _definitely_ be talking about that later.

Onscreen, Petra didn't even hesitate- her gold eyes narrowed, and she whipped out her sword in a smooth, fluid motion, flames flaring along the blade expertly a second later. " _Then let's go kick his ass into next Tuesday,_ " she nearly _snarled_.

Ivor nodded in agreement, dark blue eyes flickering with something that looked like worry. For once, though, he simply kept his mouth shut and said absolutely nothing.

The spider hybrid whipped out her own sword, and proceeded to slam it straight through the bunny tapestry, smashing it to splinters.

" _What the-?_ " Dan began, starting back in shock, but Jesse wasn't paying attention as she sprinted straight forward- skidding to a halt a second later as the sound of a lever being toggled sounded.

"Oh _no_ , not _another_ trap!" Em groaned.

"What is it this time, a pit of venomous vipers?" Aiden grumbled, under his breath.

(Cassie heard though. She frowned for some reason.)

Onscreen, Jesse's head jerked to her left. Spiders were emerging from the now-open fireplace, making odd creeping sounds as they crawled towards Dan and Stampy. There was a sudden scraping of metal, and Jesse whirled around to her right to see bars slamming down over the door, a thud coming from the other side. " _What's going on?!_ " Lukas's muffled voice called through the door. " _The door's locked-_ Jesse?!" The shout for the spider hybrid was more of a desperate one than anything else, filled with _utter_ panic.

Lukas's arm tightened around Jesse's shoulders.

" _Spiders!_ " Jesse yelled back to him, " _let me handle it!_ "

" _Got it- I'll see if I can get in another way!_ "

" _Okay!_ "

Stampy had his hands over his eyes. As a sort of reflex reaction, Dan looped his arm around Stampy's waist and yanked him into an impromptu hug. Stampy didn't shove him away, instead muttering under his breath " _Googliesgoogliesgoogliesgooglies_ " at the speed of light.

Lizzie and Stacy shared slightly teasing grins, despite the severity of the situation.

Onscreen, Jesse whirled back around, eyes flashing angrily as her right eye began to darken to a deep red, before raising her sword above her head.

"Jesse, what are you-?"

Axel's question was never finished- the sword came flashing down, smashing through a few of the wood planks and making everyone's attention- even the spider's- snap to her. " _STOP!_ " she commanded in a loud hiss, chest thrumming as she abruptly started speaking in Spider.

To the audience's relief, the spiders all stopped and turned to stare at Jesse. She raised one arm and pointed at the picture of the White Pumpkin, narrowing her eyes in a glare. " _Can you do me a favor?_ " she continued. " _Get that guy- the one wearing the white pumpkin head thing!_ "

The spiders all nodded, hissing at her in perfect sync, before they all pivoted to face the painting and started towards it.

"We aren't going to die!" Dan cheered, throwing his arms into the air.

The others all cheered as well, throwing their arms into the air with him, with the exception of Hadrian, Mevia, Otto, Harper, and Isa. (Isa _was_ grinning like a madman, though, and Harper and Otto were sharing beaming grins. Hadrian and Mevia just seemed indifferent.)

Jesse charged forward, eyes narrowing dangerously, before slamming straight through the portrait- revealing the _real_ White Pumpkin standing there, glowering at Jesse. " _Why, you little-!_ "

Jesse did a backwards flip, just in time to avoid the diamond axe that swung horizontally through the air where Jesse had been a second earlier, the spiders all poising for attack and everyone whipping out a sword and holding it up defensively.

The White Pumpkin charged, swinging their axe at Jesse. Jesse darted backwards, narrowly avoiding it again, before gasping as her foot slipped on the carpet, and her back slammed into the floor with a painful-sounding _smack!,_ head following half a second later and making Jesse grit her teeth in pain. The White Pumpkin dodged a spider that lunged at them, ducking and rolling, before coming up into a thrust and slamming straight into Petra's armor, the redhead having started charging at her.

"Petra!" Jace screamed. Real-Petra was watching the screen raptly.

Onscreen, Petra flinched back a step, flashing red as she took damage, and the White Pumpkin took the opportunity to swing their axe again, slamming right into Petra and knocking her back straight into Dan, who plowed into Stampy and managed to knock all three of them to the floor in a huge heap. Ivor's eyes widened, and he quickly started rummaging in his pockets for a healing potion.

The White Pumpkin raised the axe again, Jesse still in her stupor.

" _JESSE!_ " Lukas screamed in a panic, voice rising a few octaves.

The screen switched to show a spider tackling the White Pumpkin from the side, the white-masked figure staggering sideways as the axe came swishing down and slammed-

\- straight into the floor with a nasty crunching sound, Jesse having jerked out of the way a few heartbeats before.

Almost all of the audience heaved loud sighs of relief.

Jesse leaped to her feet, sword back in hand, and slashed outwards with the blade. The White Pumpkin managed to throw the spider off and bring the axe up defensively just in the nick of time, Jesse's sword poofing the spider by accident and clanging against the axe with tremendous force- enough to make the White Pumpkin stagger back a step from the impact.

Jesse followed this up with an upwards slashing motion, and the White Pumpkin managed to dart back- but not before a huge gash appeared in the mask.

"Yes!" Slab pumped his fists in the air with a grin on his face. "Smash 'em to a pulp!"

Cassie winced a bit at that.

" _My mask!_ " the White Pumpkin exclaimed, before levelling a glare at Jesse with venomous intensity. Jesse tensed a bit, all of the spiders, Stampy, Dan, Petra, and Ivor all beginning to approach the White Pumpkin, Petra holding herself slightly gingerly but otherwise looking unharmed.

" _That's my cue,_ " the masked character hissed, back to the fireplace- before suddenly turning around and charging through the flames, the fire suddenly clearing to leave a clear path into a tunnel that had _definitely_ been there a few seconds ago.

" _Come on!"_ Jesse shouted, charging forward-

\- before the walls slammed shut behind her.

"Are you _f*cking kidding me?!_ " Magnus swore, making everyone look at him in surprise. So far, he hadn't cursed once. Sure, he'd been kinda _inappropriate_ a few times, but never cursing.

" _Jesse- are you okay?!_ " Petra shouted through the stone, voice a little muffled.

" _We have to- break through!_ " Ivor grunted, a metallic thud coming from the other side. Judging from his comment, he must've tried to slam his sword into the 'door' in an attempt to break through the wall.

A loud cackle rang out behind Jesse, who'd turned back to the wall, and she turned back to the wall, eyes hardening. " _I'll be fine- just make sure everyone's okay!_ " she shouted, before adding, as an afterthought, in a Spider-y hiss, " _and don't kill anyone or so help me, you will all die at my hand!_ "

With that, she whirled on her heel and bolted down the passageway as fast as she could. Skidding around the nearest corner, she came to a stop at a staircase with the White Pumpkin standing at the top of it, leering down at Jesse with the gashed mask.

" _Try to keep up!_ " they shouted, before slamming their foot into a pressure plate.

The sound of pistons disengaging made Jesse look up- to see that the ceiling was _chock-full_ of arrow dispensers.

"Move! Move! Move!" Reginald chanted, eyes widening.

" _Crapcrap_ crap!" Jesse shrieked, lunging forward and dropping to all eights in the process, tipped arrows slamming into the ground where she'd just been with ominous thuds, before racing up onto the wall and continuing to run along the wall.

The White Pumpkin slammed their hand into a lever, making Jesse's eyes widen. " _Try to keep up!_ " they shouted.

Jesse flinched- before realizing that nothing had happened. She looked down to see that the floor had opened up to reveal Soul Sand making up the entire floor, lava steadily pouring out onto the floor.

"You definitely would've lost some time if you'd gotten stuck in there," Ellegaard sighed in relief.

Onscreen, Jesse looked up, sending the White Pumpkin a deadpan look as they rubbed their head sheepishly. " _Good planning,_ " she told them flatly, racing pell-mell across the wall towards them.

The White Pumpkin growled in frustration, lunging back a step as she flipped herself off the wall and onto the floor, reaching into their pocket to pull something out.

"Watch out, bro!"

" _Your luck's about to end!_ " they snarled, making Jesse flinch- as they drew out an Ender Pearl, pivoting on the spot and hurling it down the hallway. They suddenly disappeared, and Jesse whirled around to see them hovering over a staircase, waving sarcastically at her, before dropping out of sight.

Dropping back to all eights, Jesse bolted down the wall of the staircase as fast as she could, the White Pumpkin still charging away ahead of her.

The screen switched to show the White Pumpkin smashing through a portrait on the wall (Ivor's? It was a bit quick), soaring through the opening and landing on the ground. Jesse jumped through as well, landing on all eights and panting heavily.

There was the sound of wood splintering, and Jesse looked over in time to see Lukas with a sword in hand, having just smashed through the library doors with the bars still in place, as Petra, Dan, Stampy, and Ivor began to work at the bars.

"Where did all the spiders go?" Soren wondered.

"I think they might've all gotten killed," Aiden speculated, narrowing his eyes at the screen.

"... well, I can't say that I'm upset about that," Milo muttered.

Onscreen, Lukas suddenly spotted Jesse, whirling around to face her. "You're alright!" he exclaimed, voice saturated with relief.

Jesse clambered back to her feet, panting heavily and shaking her head. " _This guy's... this guy's_ fit," she panted out.

There was another deep, wicked laugh, and Lukas dropped to all fours before bolting after the White Pumpkin. " _Jesse! I'll try to corner him!_ " he shouted to her.

" _Okay!_ " and Jesse dropped to all eights, scuttling after Lukas up another staircase, then up the wall of the next staircase, before doing a flip expertly at the top of said stairs, kicking the doors open and dropping to the ground like a ninja in a darkened room.

"Fancy," Mevia joked weakly.

Real-Jesse couldn't help but giggle a bit at that, Lukas also reaching up and covering his mouth with an amused smile.

" _Lukas?_ " Jesse called uneasily onscreen, looking around in the room.

A low rumble of thunder and lightning made the room flicker- enough to reveal that the White Pumpkin was standing there, swaying unsteadily in the room. " _Ugh... Jesse..._ " they muttered.

Jace frowned. "Did the voice sound a bit off to you?" he whispered to Jesse.

"Oh good, so I'm not hallucinating then."

Onscreen, Jesse frowned a bit, brow creasing slightly in confusion... before bolting forward, tackling the White Pumpkin to the floor.

"You've got him!" Sparklez exclaimed, eyes lighting up a bit. "You got the White Pumpkin!"

"Well, who is it?" Ellegaard asked, frowning a bit impatiently.

The screen switched to show the White Pumpkin mask rolling off, having been knocked off in the fall, before coming to a stop a few feet away on the floor.

Jesse stared down at someone in complete confusion, eyes widening a bit.

" _Lukas?!_ "

* * *

 **A/N: Yaaaaaaaaasssssss x3**

 **Hey, the blue figures are back. I wonder what they were fangirling over lolol**

 **I never actually officially said this, did I? My bad. (If I did, I'm doing it again.)**

 **Welcome to the Authors, LunarStarMoons (Lunar), Emily the Avenger (Emily), and coughandcolds (Mason)!**

 **RQTC: How much of Phantasmagoria do you think I've got done at this point? (Those who know me on Twitter are exempt from guessing and may therefore answer the alternative question)**

 **ARQTC: Do you ever like a character for one random reason?**

 **Yep. I like Soren, Isa, Milo, Reginald, and Mevia just because of their voices. xD Personality DOES have something to do with it as well, but... eh.**

 **So there was a bit of confusion on the time thing I mentioned last chapter, so I'll repeat.**

 **Ten minutes pass, in game, from when the White Pumpkin spots them and when Lizzie enters the room that Cassie was in, which is the window of time it took for Cassie to paint the portraits and then put them up. However, let's add a bit of a time skip to the thing, since they had to walk through the hallway to get there- that gives Cassie 15 minutes to paint and put up the portraits. (Putting up a portrait takes only a second or two, so let's say it took Cassie a minute to put them up, to be generous.) So she had ten minutes to paint the portraits, and she had templates.**

 **Oh, also, uh**

 **1,910 REVIEWS?!**

 **HOW THE HECK DID THAT HAPPEN?!**

 **GUYS THANK YOU SO MUCH!**

 **LunarStarsMoons: (laughs) Yes, that was fun. / Ahh, I'm sorry xD / (laughs) did I really roast him that bad? / Yep xD / Ahhh, gotcha. xD**

 **RapidSammi: (cracks up) Yes, this was fun to write. So, so, _so_ much fun. xD**

 **the indecisive bird: (grins) Yes :3 / Oh, sorry- does the above bit clear it up a bit? / True, but painting does take a bit more skill I think. / (laughs) uh, no. Sorry. / Yep! :3**

 **Emily the Avenger: 'Blue people' xD / Hahahaha xD / YEP**

 **RavenBlaze4850: Mmhm. / (laughing hysterically) / (blinks) / Yes, do hug poor Sparklez, Blaze xD / It's not that it's not that different, but you kinda got it.**

 **DarkPrincess2001: Lol**

 **AquaK13: (laughs) / Haha xD I would've gone with Gilen/Gilden myself. / Of course she does, but if she didn't recoil wouldn't that be more suspicious? / Yep~**

 **S4SH4L4SH4theGaMeR101: Go ahead and do that xD / Apparently. / (laughs)**

 **Darkbeast Dend: My favorite is a phoenix.**

 **BeliTheGhoti0304: (laughs) / Nope. Look closer. / (laughs)**

 **Guest: ?**

 **RWBYSTRQ: Nope. / Oh.**

 **PoptartCrumbs: (laughs) I'm glad you're excited. Sorry about the cliffhanger, though xD / Haha, glad to hear it x3**

 **Guest: (cracks up)**

 **InsaneAcrobat: Nope, nope, and nope. / x3 / Oh, thanks :3 I'm glad you liked it! / Ten minutes, actually.**

 **That's all for this chappie! Baiiii!**

 **x.X. A.L. X.x**


	122. He Can't Be

" ** _WHAT?!_** "

The entire audience pretty much _shouted_ this word in perfect unison, mouths hanging open. Lukas's arm had actually _slackened_ from where it was around Jesse, his blue eyes fixed on the screen in almost comical shock. Jesse had actually sat up straight and nearly conked her head into his chin, while Jace and Petra were looking 'round at Lukas with their eyes popping out of their head. Olivia was smacking Axel viciously to try to get him to release her from the chokehold he just put her in.

Maya and Gill were staring at Lukas with wide eyes, and Aiden had actually flailed sideways and ended up with his head in Cassie's lap. (Surprisingly, she didn't try to shove his head off her lap, although that might've just been out of pure surprise.) Soren's jaw was practically hitting the floor, while Gabriel was half out of his seat and about to fall to the floor. Ellegaard was squeezing Magnus's hand so tightly that she was pretty much cutting off all circulation to said hand. Ivor was actually grabbing Harper's arm tightly, having automatically grabbed the thing nearest to him. Harper didn't complain, either- she was too busy staring at Lukas in shock.

Sparklez was mouthing silently at Lukas, shocked silent. Stampy had fallen off the couch, yanking Dan with him, while Lizzie was looking from Stacy to the screen, then to Stacy, then to the screen, over and over again. Stacy was just gaping at Lukas and gesticulating wordlessly at the blonde boy in pure shock.

Isa was squeezing Milo's upper arm so tightly that he was pretty sure that his right hand was going numb, but he wasn't complaining at her. Reginald was gaping at the screen in silent shock, so he didn't really have any comment to give right now. Em was staring at the screen with a gaping open mouth, while Nell was nearly _choking_ in surprise. Slab, Clutch, and Facemeat were scrambling back into their seats from where they'd just toppled out (and toppled it over) of it. Hadrian was actually _staring_ at the screen, while Mevia looked completely thunderstruck. Otto simply just looked confused.

"But- Lukas- you _can't_ be the White Pumpkin-?!" Dan blurted at length, just looking totally confused at this point.

"Yeah- no, I'm- I'm definitely not," Lukas whispered, sounding completely confused. He looked around a bit, anxiety creeping into his voice when he next spoke. "You- you guys believe me, right?"

"Of course!" Jesse replied immediately, twisting around and throwing her arms around him in a tight hug.

"Yeah, you're too much of a cinnamon roll to actually hurt anyone," Aiden replied, surprising even himself with the comment.

Petra grinned at the comment, despite herself. (The grin widened when she saw Lukas pouting.) "Well, I mean, he's not _wrong..._ "

"See? You're too cute," Jesse told Lukas when the pout grew more intense.

"I swear you're just _intentionally_ flirting with him at this point," Gill chuckled.

Jesse's cheeks turned slightly pink. "... no I'm not."

"Yes you are."

"No I'm not."

"Yes you are."

"No I'm not."

"... no you're not."

"Yes I'm- crap."

The younger half of the audience burst into raucous laughter, while the older half just chuckled a bit as poor Jesse turned the shade of a ripe tomato. (Lukas was looking more than a little pink, as well...)

Onscreen, Lukas blinked up at Jesse, a faintly dizzy look on his face. " _Hey,_ " he told her casually, a bit loopily but overall still as if he was just asking her if she wanted to go get a coffee or something along those lines.

The spider hybrid crawled off of him, allowing Lukas to stagger to his feet before clearing his head with a good shake and going over to pick up the slashed White Pumpkin mask on the floor. " _Give me a second..._ " he said, unsteadily, as he picked it up, " _I'm still trying to figure this one out myself._ " And he turned back around to face Jesse.

" _What happened?_ " Jesse asked, unsteadily, still looking a bit hyped up on adrenaline right now. She looked as though she wanted to punch something. " _I- you were chasing him, you- you were right behind him!_ "

Lukas made a face at the white pumpkin he was holding in his hands. " _Yeah, I_ was- _until, you know, he punched me on the neck and stuffed this white pumpkin on my head..._ " he trailed off.

Before anything else could be said, footsteps echoed, and they all turned to see Petra literally soar into the room, Ivor charging up the steps a few seconds later as the Blaze hybrid neatly tapped down onto the ground. " _What's going on in here?!_ " the redhead exclaimed, gold eyes wide.

Ivor's dark blue eyes widened at the sight of Lukas holding the white pumpkin head. " _No!_ "

" _You caught the White Pumpkin! Grab him! Quick!_ " Stampy gasped as he came up the staircase, pointing at Lukas in an accusing way.

"Wait- you think that _I_ -" Lukas's eyes widened, and his hand went up to his mouth.

Jesse, who was still in her awkward hugging position, tightened her arms around his midriff in a comforting way.

The YouTubers all winced.

" _On it!_ " Stacy exclaimed, moving towards Lukas. Cassie was coming with Stacy, her eyes hardening in a warning way.

" _Hey, no, he's not- he's not the White Pumpkin!_ " Jesse exclaimed, stepping in front of Lukas in a protective way.

Cassie stepped forward, green eyes suddenly awfully cold. " _Get away from him, Jesse,_ " she told the spider hybrid, in a voice that could've made hell freeze over, making several members of the audience blink a few times.

" _Yeah, it's all out in the open, now,_ " Stacy said sharply, stepping towards Lukas and Jesse.

The spider hybrid's lower arms reached back, taking the white pumpkin from Lukas's hands and flipping it into the air. She caught it in her middle arms, looking down at it with a rapidly-getting-more-upset look. " _Lukas_ isn't _the White Pumpkin though!_ " she repeated, more insistently this time. " _You don't have any proof that he is, besides this stupid head, and that doesn't prove anything!_ " And she rapped on the white pumpkin a couple of times.

" _Jesse-_ " Lizzie began warily, but Jesse abruptly cut her off.

 _"He's_ _not the White Pumpkin. Because-_ _because he's not the White Pumpkin, he_ can't _be the White Pumpkin,_ " her voice was rising in pitch and anxiety, " _not one of my oldest friends, not the ocelot hybrid who purrs like a carburetor every time I pet him or the guy who's always apologizing when he doesn't even_ have _to or the guy who never gets upset about getting the short end of the stick all the damn time, and-and-and I_ know _this situation looks really bad right now but Lukas isn't the White Pumpkin-_ "

"Whoa..." Petra blinked, glancing at Real-Jesse. "You're getting _really_ worked up about this."

"It's Lukas," Jesse replied simply.

Jesse's voice caught, and she was definitely trembling now. " _He_ can't _be, you- you don't have any concrete proof-!_ "

" _Well, you ARE all half-monster..._ "

Real-Jesse, who had already been looking a bit pale, let out a gasp and turned around fully, burying her head into Lukas's shoulder in fear.

Reuben poked his head out and glared at Real-Cassie, who was now finding herself the subject of quite a few stares. She shrank down a little bit, cheeks flushing in embarrassment. "I- okay, I have _no idea_ why I just said that," she whispered. "I am _so_ sorry."

" _Oh_ wow _. Okay, going a_ little _too far, there,_ " the narrator spoke up, drawling sarcastically.

Onscreen, Jesse turned to stare at Cassie, her arms slackening a bit as she gasped, shoulders rising and falling as her breathing started quickening into hyperventilation.

Ivor glared at Cassie with a look that made most of the audience think that the redhead was pretty lucky that looks couldn't kill. Jesse looked a bit as if she had the same idea, and she probably would've vocalized that if she wasn't still gasping for air and staring at Cassie, who now looked rather apologetic and embarrassed and the offhanded comment. " _Racist, much?_ " Ivor growled lowly.

" _That's not fair to Jesse!_ " Dan suddenly exclaimed sharply, making everyone look at him.

Stampy nodded vigorously, putting his hands on his hips. " _Yeah, Jesse saved our lives_ because _she was half a googly! Don't be rude like that!_ " the cat-hoodie-wearing boy scolded Cassie, defensively.

" _Besides, Lukas is the one hybrid here that's not even an actual monster- he's half ocelot! Ocelots are peaceful!_ " Petra chipped in, snapping angrily as she glared around at the rest of the group, literally _daring_ them to say otherwise.

" _Lukas_ was _at one of the buttons, though,_ " Lizzie pointed out, " _and these horrible things only started happening when YOUR group arrived..._ "

"That's like saying that I did something because I happened to be at the scene of the crime with some evidence in my hand," Lukas grumbled. "Oh wait- _that is_ what you're saying, my bad."

Lizzie winced apologetically.

Jesse scowled, crossing her arms defensively. " _Lukas was breaking through the library door. Petra, Ivor, Dan, and Stampy DID see him, just now, right before we bolted up the stairs, and I'm pretty sure they saw the White Pumpkin bolt up the stairs, too. So- care to explain how he was in two different places at the same time?_ " the spider hybrid asked Cassie, voice dripping with sarcasm.

Cassie scowled at Jesse. " _So explain why he's got the head on him? Anything he says is going to be pretty suspicious after that._ "

Jesse opened her mouth to say something, paused... and then closed her mouth again a few seconds later. For once, she had nothing- absolutely _nothing_ \- that she could say.

" _Exactly,_ " Cassie smirked a few seconds later, when Jesse could come up with no satisfactory answer, " _I say that we throw him outside and let nature take its course._ "

"Whoa- what?!" Olivia blinked rapidly. "That's- that's _way_ too excessive."

"Yeah, you didn't pitch Stampy outside!" Petra exclaimed, pointing at Stampy.

"Well- I mean, I know Stampy, he was less likely to be the White Pumpkin-"

" _Bullsh*t._ "

Everyone turned to stare at Ivor, who was halfway out of his seat with a look that could've been described as absolutely _enraged_ on his face. "You've literally been watching Lukas for the past 6 episodes, do you _honestly_ think that this boy is capable of committing murder?" he growled.

Real-Cassie paused. "Well, I mean..."

One heartbeat passed.

Two.

Three.

"... no..."

" _Precisely,_ " Real-Ivor growled, sitting back down on the couch.

" _Wait-_ outside _outside?_ " Stacy asked, looking rather taken aback. Winslow shot the female owner a disapproving stare and a low hissing sound, making Cassie blink down at him in surprise.

" _Where all the googlies are?_ " Stampy asked, voice rising a bit in pitch and looking rather unsure as he glanced out the window, where rain was still pouring down from the heavens.

Lizzie frowned, blinking at Cassie. " _That's, er... that's a little too extreme, don't you think?_ " she asked, hesitantly, fidgeting a bit.

" _Look, we might all have our suspicions about Lukas,_ " Dan said, crossing his arms and jerking his head at Jesse, " _but Jesse just saved me and Stampy back in the library._ "

Real-Jesse blinked a bit in surprise. "... all I did was talk to the spiders and go after the White Pumpkin. It didn't really do that much in the end."

Lukas couldn't help but shake his head a bit at that horrible understatement. Jesse would probably deny she was proficient at _breathing_ if someone told her she was any good at it.

Petra and Jace exchanged flat looks, while Stampy and Dan exchanged shocked/deadpan/confused looks at Jesse's overly humble comment.

Stampy nodded at that, looking over at Jesse, the spider hybrid giving the two of them a relieved sort of smile. " _It... just wouldn't feel right to throw your friend to the googlies,_ " he finished the thought for Dan, smiling weakly.

" _Thank you,_ " Jesse said softly, sagging a bit in relief at that.

Cassie looked around at the rest of the group, all of whom looked reluctant or downright hostile about the idea of throwing Lukas outside, and gave a curt nod. " _Fine,_ " she said coldly.

Lukas actually deflated a bit, tail flopping onto the ground with his ears flattening against his head as he let out this long sigh of relief. " _Thank you,_ " he said, gratefully.

" _Don't go celebrating yet,_ " Cassie responded, in a warning sort of way, as Winslow gave Lukas this apologetic look, " _we've still got to do something with you so that you're not roaming around._ "

Lukas immediately tensed back up, all of his hair rising and standing on end. " _What? Like lock me up in a closet or something?_ " he asked, voice steadily rising until by the end it was a full octave higher.

Jesse blinked, the screen abruptly zooming in to her eye.

Little-Jesse was crouching on the floor, doing a little puzzle, when suddenly a door opened, and Lukas came flying in, flattening Jesse to the floor with a very much cat-like yowl.

" _Ouch,_ " Little-Jesse stated, from where she was now plastered against the floor.

This made most of the audience snicker a bit, despite the severity of the situation right now.

Onscreen, Jesse looked up to see that one scientist (Real-Jesse tensed) brushing themselves off, their face covered with thin red lines and their lab coat looking a bit torn to shreds. His face was filled with a suppressed rage.

" _I thought you had a test today?_ " Jesse asked Lukas.

" _They are not locking me up they can't make me sit in a little room no no no no no-_ "

The door slammed shut again, Lukas clinging onto Jesse tightly in a sort of hug as the spider hybrid sat back up, shuffling over with tiny little steps over to a bedpost. Lukas slowly began to release her, dragging his claws rapidly on the bedpost and making an odd scraping sound. His hair slowly started to relax.

" _Better?_ "

" _Yeah, a lot._ " Little-Lukas clonked foreheads with Jesse, making the spider hybrid flop over. " _Thanks, Jesse._ "

"... _ow._ "

Most, if not all, of the audience just snorted at that. Jesse twisted to look at Lukas, pushed herself up a bit, and clonked her head on his before twisting back around and plopping back down into his lap.

The screen zoomed back out, Jesse blinking a few times. " _Uh... I think you might just want to keep a watch on him,_ " she suggested, after a few long seconds, " _because I don't really think you wanna go around with claw marks all over you. Lukas is a bit claustrophobic._ "

There was a loud snort from Petra at that. " _A bit. Yeah. That's totally not the understatement of the century,_ " she drawled sardonically, a faint grin on her face, although her eyes still looked rather uneasy.

"Yeah, I'm not exactly the biggest fan of small spaces, if you know what I mean," Real-Lukas mumbled, scratching his head awkwardly.

"That's fine. Soren's afraid of flying, isn't he?"

"Yeah, and Magnus is afraid of rats."

Magnus elbowed Soren in the ribs, the ginger architect elbowing him back, as Mevia added, "Yeah, and Hadrian's phobic of potatoes."

Jesse had been yawning a little bit right when Mevia said that (she was pretty tired at this point), but when she heard that she choked rapidly. Lukas stifled a laugh and looked over at Mevia. "Really?"

"Oh yeah. I think the 'eyes' on the potato bother him," Mevia said, nodding sagely with a grin the size of Kentucky over her face.

"Well, Mevia, why would they name little holes in a potato _eyes_?! That's _creepy!_ " Hadrian snapped back, shuddering a little bit.

Cassie's expression softened a little bit at this slight banter. " _I guess that's fair... but I'm keeping guard first, because I don't trust him._ "

"Well... fair enough, I guess." Jace shrugged. "I guess what just happened is enough to make anyone a little paranoid- especially what's been going on all night at this point."

"True..." Aiden frowned. "Doesn't mean we have to really _like_ it, of course."

Maya and Gill exchanged startled looks at that.

Jace considered the statement for a few seconds, before nodding sagely. "Very true."

Onscreen, Jesse looked over at Lukas, a question mark dancing in her eyes. " _Are you okay with that, Lukas?_ " she asked, hesitantly.

The ocelot hybrid smiled weakly at her, although his eyes were practically _glowing_ with gratitude- he must _really_ not confinement in that universe. " _I mean, it- it's not_ ideal _, but if it makes everyone more comfortable..._ " he trailed off a bit.

" _It's fine, Jesse,_ " and Jesse blinked as Ivor stepped forward a bit. " _I'll watch over Lukas as well. Come on, Cassie,_ " and he started walking out of the room with Lukas at his side, Cassie following a little behind the two of them as they trotted out of the room.

"Oh- that was, uh," and Lukas blinked. "... that was surprisingly nice."

"What are you talking about? I am the definition of nice."

Ivor somehow managed to say this with a straight face.

None of the rest of the audience could know that inside, at that moment, he was laughing hysterically, and it didn't seem like he'd be stopping anytime soon. As it was, his lips still twitched up into a little smirk.

" _But don't go getting any funny ideas, Lukas,_ " Ivor added, dark blue eyes narrowing at the blonde ocelot hybrid, " _this isn't because I_ like _you or anything._ "

"Of _course_ not," Soren smirked, flashing a smirk in Ivor's direction.

Ivor threw a pillow at him.

Lukas's voice was practically saturated with amusement. " _Nooooo. Of course not._ "

" _Quiet,_ " Cassie ordered him, eyes narrowing. " _Prisoners aren't supposed to talk._ "

* * *

 **A/N: Ehhh, shorter than usual. Well, it's finished x3 A bit late, but it's finished.**

 **Ooh, by the way- I have a contest for background characters in Phantasmagoria! If you want to enter, please go to the bottom of the chapter to see how, and to see some loglines for the planned 'books' of Phantasmagoria.**

 **By the way, answer to the RQTC, which very few people actually answered... I just finished the second book, which will be about 53 pages when fully finished.**

 **RQTC: Are you looking forward to Miscegenation? (When I can actually get it out lol)**

 **Responses to reviewers!**

 **Raven: (laughs) Ahhh, do you really? xD / (laughs) / Thank you!**

 **RapidSammi: (laughs) Glad you like it so much, Sammi-kun. / OMG this sudden reasoning made me laugh.**

 **LunarStarsMoons: (cracks up) / Awww :3 I'm glad you liked it! / (laughs) I see... / Ah. / Oh xD / It might've been you. Not sure, actually.**

 **Emily The Avenger: YEP IT'S US / (laughs) / Ohhh, really? xD / YOU'RE WELCOME FAM / (laughs) / Oh haha xD**

 **TheRealRedGaming: (laughs) I meant totally fictional characters, Red. Like Jack (MCSM) or something.**

 **AquaK13: MCSM haters. / (laughs) / (laughing even harder) Also considering what I said about not being able to get it until August 5th... / (winks) / Through the whole of Phantasmagoria? No xD I'm about... 2/7s done? / Ahh, cool :3 / Thank you!**

 **Guest: (laughs)**

 **Darkbeast Dend: Uh, yep :)**

 **Infernius Flashfire: (laughs) / Yes, I do. / No spoilers, fam xD**

 **J.M.M.: PFFFFFFFF OMG did you really xD**

 **RavenBlaze4850: Pfff now I got THAT in my head xD / RIGHT?! / (laughs) No, that's not the feeling I felt. Have you seen Recode Reality yet? / (cracking up) / Technically, I'm the Cliffhanger Empress. Cassie's just the queen. xD / No, I'm only about 2/7ths of the way done. Thanks! / No, just description- I'll figure out the actual character appearance on my own from there. / Thanks!**

 **the indecisive bird: (laughs) / yee :3 / (laughs) / Hahahaha xD / OMG. YES. xD / Hehehe xD**

 **NoItsBecky: Yep! / Lol yes to that too xD**

 **BeliTheGhoti0304: (laughs) Yep. / x3 / 0-0 Nope, not even close. 2/7ths of the way through. / Hm. / (laughs) True. / 0-0 Hint- scientist.**

 **PoptartCrumbs: (smirks)**

 **Toni42: (laughs) That's one way of describing it.**

* * *

 **Oh, if you don't know what loglines are, by the way, they're short summaries of a comic, TV show, book, movie, etc., stating the main central focus of the story with a little 'hook'. I'm still working on the overall one, but let's see what I've got so far!  
**

 **Book 1: The Phantasmagoria Hotel  
** The Phantasmagoria Hotel; a luxurious hotel where the rich, famous, talented, and dead hang out. 17-year-old Verity Cohen, one of the few people in the world who have the cursed gift of the Sight, and her school's 11th grade history class are planning to stay there for a week to experience the history of the Phantasmagoria and their sleepy town of Islesbury. You know- just a regular field trap. Oh- did I say the 'dead'? Yeah, I did, didn't I... well, anyway. Welcome to the Phantasmagoria Hotel.

 **Book 2: The Shadows in the Hallway  
** After a strange day in the Phantasmagoria Hotel, Ri and a new "pal", Jesse, decide to have a look-see at the hotel to see if they can figure out what's with all the paranormal activity. Little do they know, they just broke one of the unspoken rules of the Phantasmagoria Hotel - _don't leave your room at night._ So now, Ri and Jesse are going to have to deal with the shadows in the hallway.

 **Book 3: The Ghosts  
** *This logline contains slight spoilers. To avoid any detriment to your experience when reading the final product, we have decided to leave it out.*

 **Book 4: The Murder  
** The Phantasmagoria is _definitely_ not just lively anymore- it's deadly, too. When a mysterious murderer makes their presence known in the hotel, one of the school's own is going to get murdered, secrets will be told, and fingers will be pointed. Ri and her new friends have decided to team up and figure out who the culprit is- but will they be able to finger the right suspect, with so many suspicious figures among their own? Without outside help, will anybody be able to solve the murder?

 **Book 5: The Suspects  
** Secrets and alibis will be revealed through interrogations, and clues indicate the likely suspect. But nothing is ever as it seems here at the Phantasmagoria, and no secret is going to be revealed without a struggle... and there might just be another death before this murder mystery is tied up. Let's have a lineup of the suspects.

 **Book 6: The History of the Phantasmagoria  
** When an unexpected betrayal ends with Ri out of the way, it turns out that this might actually be the right time to figure out exactly who this 'Obsidian Assassin' is, which of their own is the guilty culprit... and if everything in this story is really as cut-and-dry as it seems. The only way we'll be able to find out is if Ri takes a look at the history of the Phantasmagoria.

 **Book 7: The Last Stand  
** Magic tricks, seances, and phantom pranks weave together in the elaborate finale of Phantasmagoria. But the Obsidian Assassin might just not be as black as their name and actions have made them out to be... and there might just be an apology or two before this whole murder mystery is wrapped up. Welcome to the last stand.

 **Did you guys like the loglines? Do you want to be in the comic that they're is endorsing, or at least have your name mentioned?**

 **Then I've got a contest going for background characters! And I do mean _background_ characters, they are just there and will most likely never have a speaking part, except for the top 3 OCs that are deemed the best. (Those will be decided based on personality, quotes, and a few other factors.)**

 **Now, I actually need _quite_ a few characters- originally 100, but then I realized that that was a little too many and so took it down to 40. So, feel free to advertise it to as many people as you want!**

 **Actually, please DO advertise it. Like I said, I need 40 background characters.**

 **Here's the form to enter your character in the contest!**

 **Name:**  
 **Age: (16, 17, or 18)**  
 **Appearance:**  
 **Height:**  
 **Weight:**  
 **Personality:**  
 **Quotes: (Two or three things the character would say)**

 **Please send the forms either via my website, arizalucaphantasmagoria . wordpress . com ; dA (DeviantArt), or through DM on Twitter. You can also send it to me via messages on Quotev or on Wattpad. If you don't have an email... you can also comment on the video trailer on my YouTube account, or ask someone who DOES have an account to message me.**

 **Now, there are a few rules.**

 **1\. NO copyrighted names, or quotes. I'm planning on selling this comic eventually, and possibly animate it, and I would really like to not get sued by a company.**  
 **2\. NO inappropriate things in their appearance and etc. Again, I'm planning on selling this comic eventually. Yes, there'll be blood and death, but that could fit into a T rating if I play it right. I'm trying not to get what would be an ESRB M rating.**  
 **3\. No superpowers or superhuman things about this character. There ARE ghosts in the series, but I've got plenty of them- these are actual humans.**  
 **4\. You can only submit up to TWO characters per person. And believe me- with some people, I WILL be able to tell who's submitting more characters than stated here.**  
 **5\. This is NOT first come first served- there's a reason there's personality and quotes in the character form. I will be ranking them from 1-40.**

 **Rules will be updated in future chapters when they come up! There also might be teasers from other people on different sites- so keep an eye out for that!**

 **x.X. A.L. X.x**


	123. You're Welcome

" _What do we do now?_ " Petra whispered to Jesse, worry dancing in the Blaze hybrid's eyes as she leaned in to talk to Jesse. " _I mean- Lukas isn't the White Pumpkin. How are we supposed to prove it?_ "

Jesse thought about that for a few seconds. " _Well- the White Pumpkin has to have some sort of lair or base of operations or_ something _here in the house- we've got to figure out where that is. If we can figure out where it is, there's_ got _to be some evidence that proves that Lukas didn't to it,_ " she whispered, at last, voice sounding firm and authoritative.

If Onscreen-Jesse was feeling anything like Real-Jesse was feeling, though, she would've much rather liked to run around in circles and scream.

The redhead simply nodded a bit, before moving off to go and inspect the walls.

Jesse watched her go, before simply collapsing into a nearby seat.

Most of the audience blinked at that, half of them in concern and the other half in just pure confusion. And about 3/4s of them out of both.

"Uhh, you okay, there, sport?" Hadrian asked Real-Jesse, frowning at her a bit in what most people would probably have interpreted as concern but what Mevia knew was mostly just curiosity.

Real-Jesse stared at her onscreen-self blankly, before looking over at Hadrian with a slight shake of the head. "I have no idea."

Lukas hugged her.

" _Uhh, you okay there, Jesse?_ " the narrator asked, tentatively, making the black-haired girl look up at the ceiling with a tired sort of look. She stared for a moment, before sighing and letting herself flop back.

" _How did we ever get involved in this?_ "

There was a pause as the narrator- and also the rest of the audience - tried to figure out what the spider hybrid meant. When they didn't understand, they continued tentatively, " _Jesse-?_ "

" _How did we ever get wrapped up in- in a_ murder _mystery?_ " Jesse muttered, staring blankly upwards and going dead to the world. Stampy probably could've been shouting in her ear, but so long as he wasn't in her field of view she probably wouldn't even notice. " _Of all the things to get wrapped up in- we end up getting tied into a_ murder mystery. _I'm not the type of person who likes killing or death or anything, y'know? So..._ " She trailed off, before making an uncertain gesture and allowing her hand to drop right back into her lap.

There was another pause as the narrator considered that. " _... a sacrifice,_ " they stated at last.

Onscreen-Jesse was not the only person to blink in confusion at that.

Jesse sat up a bit straighter now, brow furrowing a bit in confusion as she continued staring up at the ceiling. " _What do you mean a... sacrifice?_ " she said, slowly, green-and-red eyes narrowing at the ceiling.

" _So many rules were broken to accommodate this world. So many things were changed for the sake of this story,_ " the narrator mumbled, sounding almost as if she was in a trance.

" _Uh, Narrator? Y'all right there, bud?_ " Jesse whispered up to the narrator, frowning at her in a bewildered way. (Well, 'her'. The ceiling... oh you know what I'm talking about!)

" _... ah, it's nothing._ "

Magnus grunted in irritation. Ellegaard correctly guessed the source of it and whispered to him, giving him a severe look, "Magnus, I know you're mad about the 'cliffhanger'y thing going on, but at least wait until the episode is finished to discuss it."

He mumbled something along the lines of "meh" but complied, cozying up to Ellegaard. She absentmindedly set her hand on his knee. Without thinking, Magnus looped his arm around Ellegaard's waist and pulled her in, the young woman scooting over a bit to give him a bit more room without squashing him.

Soren sent Gabriel a somewhat ecstatic grin, before subtly making a few gestures that conveyed his meaning perfectly.

 _About time._

Gabriel rolled his eyes, but he was grinning.

Honestly, he felt the same way Soren was feeling.

Jesse frowned, crossing her arms slowly and giving the narrator a suspicious look. " _What do you mean, it's-_ "

" _Perhaps I should make myself a bit clearer. It's nothing. I.E., none of your beeswax. Not right now, anyway,_ " the narrator responded, tersely.

"She's a regular little pixie, isn't she?" Mevia muttered, making Otto grin at the sarcastic comment from where he was sitting next to her. Not only because the comment was a bit amusing, but it was... nice.

Seeing Mevia act a bit like the way she had before the Games.

Onscreen, Jesse simply shook her head with a sigh, looking back down and staring blankly at the huge White Pumpkin portrait on the opposite wall. In this one, the White Pumpkin was perched in a chair and wearing a suit, holding an Ender Pearl in their hand as they stared at the person who'd painted the portrait.

"Are you not going to press it, then?" Axel asked with a frown. "I mean, I'd think that was pretty important."

"So would I, Axel- but the narrator doesn't seem like the type of person to dish out hints casually. If they're going to tell me something, I feel like she'll just tell me or hint at it- she wouldn't just dish out random hints," Jace pointed out, frowning at the screen.

"... well, I mean, I _guess,_ " Axel mumbled, sounding slightly reluctant.

A few seconds passed, when she blinked suddenly, and touched her knuckles to her chin thoughtfully." _... huh. So far, the only paintings that were vertical contained a secret passageway... and this portrait's in pretty easy reach._ "

"Oh yeah. How'd we not notice that?" Dan wondered, leaning forward and squinting at the screen in curiosity.

Onscreen, Jesse pushed herself to her feet, slowly walking towards the painting and regarding it with a curious look.

Finally, a mischievous grin spread over her face. " _Welp- won't deny that this'll be fun._ " And with that, she drew her upper arm back, her muscles ensing a bit.

Gill grinned, catching on rather quickly. "Ahh, are you doing what I think you're about to do?"

Real-Jesse grinned back cheerfully, having also caught on. "Most probably."

Lukas frowned at that for some reason.

Jesse proceeded to punch violently through the painting, the painting smashing into thousands of little splinters as her fist slammed right through it, destroying it quickly. Stampy leaped up as if he'd been set on fire, Lizzie whirled around from where she'd been perching in her seat, Dan toppled _out_ of his seat, and Stacy whipped around to stare at Jesse, expression falling into an almost comically shocked one.

Jesse smiled pleasantly at the towering ceiling of this secret passageway. " _Huh. That_ was _fun,_ " she said cheerfully.

Petra let out a low whistle as she approached, resting her hands on her hips. "Wow. _Another secret passageway, huh?_ " she mused, softly.

"No, really? I thought it was a zombie," Hadrian muttered, voice practically _dripping_ with sarcasm, before wincing as Otto's elbow caught him in the ribs and made him catch his breath.

Real-Petra scowled at Hadrian, Jace following suit. Jesse looked at the slightly-glaring brown-haired boy sitting next to her, before also joining in on the 'group' glare. Lukas glanced at Jesse before following her lead.

Gabriel repressed a small smile at that. If this kept up it'd turn into a game of Follow-the-Leader.

Onscreen, the spider hybrid stepped inside the passageway, taking a look around. Not too far ahead was a set of iron doors, three picture frames on the wall adjacent to it, with a spiderweb, a poison-tipped arrow, and a sand block.

"What's that for?" Facemeat wondered.

Real-Jesse blinked at him. "You don't see?"

"See what?"

"The puzzle?"

"There's a puzzle?"

"... never mind then."

Onscreen, Jesse absentmindedly popped all three of the objects out of their respective picture frames, weighing them as she regarded them silently. Behind her, the YouTubers- and Petra- were coming up to have a look as well. With hardly a pause, Jesse popped the tipped arrow into the first frame, the one closest to the door- which made the door click a bit.

" _Strike one,_ " she hummed, before tossing the sand block into the middle square- almost literally. Another lock clicked as it disengaged. " _Strike two._ " Neatly, she slipped the spiderweb into the final picture frame, the door springing open the literal second the spiderweb locked into place. Had Jesse actually been standing any closer to the doorway, the door and her face would've exchanged a rather painful greeting. " _Strike three, and you're out!_ "

" _You are a dork,_ " Petra told her, voice slightly teasing, but still containing some sort of irritation. Jesse glanced up at the taller Blaze hybrid, and looked a bit startled to see that her eyes were pretty much _glowing_ with ire. She gave Petra a worried look, but the moment Petra spotted the look she just looked away.

"What are you looking so upset about?" Milo wondered, glancing over at Petra with a curious frown on his face.

Petra just shrugged, looking slightly bewildered. "Well- why are you asking me? _I_ don't know."

Milo felt his cheeks flush a bit as he realized the truth of that statement, and he gave a couple of awkward coughs. "Oh. Yes. Right."

" _Oh wow!_ " Stampy exclaimed, putting his hands on his hips and sounding rather impressed, " _you got it open!_ "

" _Yeah,_ " and Petra nodded, turning to face the others and putting her hands on her hips, " _you guys should stay here- it could be dangerous._ "

" _Nooo,_ " Stacy drawled sarcastically, " _I_ totally _want to follow you into your friend's creepy secret passageways._ "

Real-Stacy winced apologetically at the look on Lukas's face- something between irritation and just being upset. "That was... needlessly confrontational. I am so sorry."

"Also, if no one had been _murdered_ before this point," Jesse added, "we'd all probably be finding the secret passageways really cool or something. I know _I_ would."

Lukas grinned, the odd look on his face turning into one of amusement. "True. And Ivor would definitely find them pretty awesome."

"I like secret passageways," Ivor said mildly, not even trying to deny the statement. (Harper couldn't help but just grin like the Cheshire Cat at that.)

Lizzie thought about it, before nodding. "Yeah, I see their point. It'd be kind of cool if the house wasn't rigged with traps... and if Sparklez didn't get murdered." She paused. "And TorqueDawg, I guess."

Several members of the audience snorted at that.

" _Ugh- seriously?!_ " Petra snapped back immediately, sparks spitting out and flitting off of her in anger. " _You really think LUKAS did it?!_ "

"Thanks, Petra," Lukas told the redhead, barely able to keep the huge amount of relief in his voice out. It was nice to know that in this whole murder-mystery-mess, he still had people who believed in him.

"No problem, Lukas." Petra gave Lukas a reassuring grin.

" _You haven't proven he didn't yet,_ " Stacy shot back.

Jesse quickly put all of her hands up into a surrendering motion. " _Hey- cool it!_ " she exclaimed, although her voice had adopted a placating tone and she looked more calm and comforting than anything else. " _We're all in this together, aren't we?_ " Petra shot her a small grin at that.

Lizzie put her hands on her hips. " _Depends. Are you on the White Pumpk- I mean... 'Lukas's' side, or ours?_ " she asked, in a voice that clearly said she did not believe them. (Real subtle, Lizzie. _Reeeaaaal_ subtle.)

Real-Lizzie let out an incoherent groan and buried her head in her hands. "I am _so sorry_."

Onscreen, Petra's smile fell right off of her face, turning into a glare in the span of half a second. " _Ugh. You know what? They're not worth it. Come on._ " And with that she whirled on her heel and stalked into the room past the iron doors. It was pretty easy to see that she was fuming- mainly because there was literally clouds of smoke now spitting off of her.

"Oooh..." and Jace winced. "Looks like you just pissed Peets off."

Petra gently smacked him. "Don't call me Peets," she scolded, although she sounded more amused than irritated by the nickname.

Onscreen, the spider hybrid glanced at them apologetically from where she'd been watching Petra. " _I- um- sorry, it's a bit late. We've gotten almost zero sleep. We're all getting a bit high-strung._ "

Dan nodded, shrugging slightly. " _Sure. C'mon guys, let's go wait in the living room._ " And he trotted out of the little hallway again, the others turning around and following him.

"At least _one_ of us is giving them the benefit of the doubt," Sparklez mumbled, sounding a little relieved about that.

Dan gave Sparklez a really, _really_ sheepish smile. He'd really have to apologize to the guy after the episode was over.

The moment they were out of earshot, Jesse turned around and trotted after Petra into the room beyond the iron doors. There was a huge hole leading down seemingly endlessly, going darker and darker with each foot it went down, until after a certain area it turned black as squid ink.

" _That's deep,_ " Jesse hummed, blinking a bit. " _Guess it leads down to... whatever the White Pumpkin calls 'home'. Wonder how he gets down there-_ "

"Maybe," Petra snapped, throwing her arms into the air and nearly smacking Jesse in the face, " _in addition to walking through walls, he can_ FLY _for all we know._ UGH!" And she whirled around on the spot and stormed as far as she could without walking right back out of the room.

"Whoa," and Gill blinked. "Something's really eating at you here, Petra."

"I see that," Real-Petra replied drily, although she was still blinking at the screen in confusion.

Onscreen, Jesse blinked a few times, looking slightly taken aback by Petra's loud outburst. A few moments passed, before Petra said, a little more calmly than before, turning back to Jesse, " _It's just- I'm really worried about Lukas. Those people think they're all safe, but the White Pumpkin is still running around, and he could strike again at any minute!_ " Her voice started sharpening again. " _Not to mention, those people out there have been so ungrateful, so petty-!_ "

All of the YouTubers (save Sparklez) winced in perfect unison.

Onscreen, Jesse reached out with one of her uppermost hand and clapped it onto Petra's shoulder, giving it a reassuring squeeze and cutting off Petra's rant midsentence. " _Hey, Petra, I understand. Okay? I'm with you._ " And she gave a mild smile.

Petra deflated, slumping forward under Jesse's hand. The smoke stopped spitting off of her in such copious clouds of smoke, her gold eyes cooling from red-hot to simply warm. " _You're right- I know you're right... phoof._ " She let out a long huff, the screen switching so that the audience could see her face in more detail. " _Sorry, Jesse. I just_ really _needed to get that off my chest._ "

The Blaze hybrid blinked suddenly, before looking down to see that Jesse had wrapped her arms (and I mean all of them, not just the uppermost set) around Petra tightly. " _Uhh... J-Jess-?_ "

" _You look like you needed a hug. You're getting a hug._ "

" _Uh- well, thanks, Jesse._ " And Petra's gold eyes went back to their normal gold color, her arms finding their way around Jesse in a hug as well. Her lips twitched at the corners in a soft smile. " _... thanks, Jesse,_ " she repeated.

" _No problem. Now-_ " and Jesse released Petra, neatly stepping back and putting one of her middle arms on her hip, green-and-red eyes sparkling a bit as she smirked at the Blaze hybrid. " _Race you down there._ "

Soren let out a mix of a huff and a laugh. Honestly, sometimes it was hard to remember that some of these people were either young adults or- well- _kids_ , really.

"I'm gonna beat you~" Petra told Jesse in a singsong.

"No you're not."

"Yes I am."

"No you're not."

Lukas and Jace watched the byplay with amusement, before Jace glanced up at Lukas. "My money's on Petra," he told the blonde.

"We all know, dude."

Onscreen, Petra blinked at Jesse's sudden change of topic... before grinning. " _Oh, you're_ on."

The spider hybrid grinned, before dropping to all eights and shooting straight over the edge of the cavern, scuttling down at rapid speeds. Petra hopped into the empty space, hovering down as fast as she could without sacrificing safety. Despite Petra having more of an advantage, she _did_ have to restrain herself- it would be bad to sprain her ankle just because she hovered down too quickly.

The screen blacked out. Harper let out a low sigh, leaning back into something warm (presumably her seat back) in slight relief. "Well, it's good to see there aren't any _significant_ problems right now."

"I'd say that Lukas being accused of murder is kind of significant."

"Well, nothing _life-threatening_ ," Harper corrected herself, shooting Hadrian a slight glare. (Only slight because he _did_ have a bit of a point there.)

"True."

Harper started a bit at the sound of Ivor's voice sounding right in her ear- was he leaning over or something?

The screen lit back up, and Harper couldn't help but glance over to see what exactly was going on with Ivor.

Her cheeks slowly began to flush red as she realized that the 'something warm' she'd leaned back into was Ivor's side.

Her cheeks went even redder when Ivor's arm absentmindedly wrapped around Harper, tightening slightly. "Uh- Ivor?" she whispered to him, hoping that nobody would notice.

(Most people didn't, but Jesse definitely did, and she had to hide the tiny evil smile spreading over her face. She now had blackmail material.)

Ivor glanced down at Harper, realized the problem with his cheeks turning the color of a ripe apple, and quickly removed his arm from her waist. "Uh- sorry," he whispered back.

"I-it's fine..." Harper ignored the fact that she was still leaning into him. And the fact that Ivor was _surprisingly warm._ Seriously, he would've made an excellent heater.

Onscreen, the screen faded into a dirty tunnel, Jesse leaping through a hole in the ceiling and landing expertly, before tensing her arms and using it to flip herself back to her feet as Petra dropped the last few feet as well. " _Done!_ " Jesse called out, cheerfully.

" _D- aw, man,_ " Petra groaned playfully, letting out a soft laugh a few seconds later. Jesse shook her head, chuckling slightly and absentmindedly dusting some dirt off of herself. The Blaze hybrid hesitated, a softer smile coming over her face, before she looked down at Jesse. " _Thanks, Jesse. I needed that._ "

" _Dirt all over my armor?_ " Jesse asked, innocently.

Petra thumped her on the head, making Jesse giggle a bit. " _The laugh, you dope,_ " she teased.

Jesse smiled up at Petra, eyes crinkling up happily, before she reached out and gave Petra's shoulder another squeeze. " _You're most certainly welcome, Petra._ "

* * *

 **A/N: New rule(s) added to the contest!**

 **6\. ALL FORMS ARE DUE BY AUGUST 5TH. Forms that are late will not even be considered, so don't turn 'em in late.**

 **Guys, characters MUST be sent to me via:**

 **The website (arizalucaphantasmagoria . wordpress . com minus the spaces; then go to 'Contact' or comment on the post)  
Twitter (ArizaLuca)  
DeviantArt (ArizaLuca)  
Quotev (ArizaLuca)  
Wattpad (ArizaLuca)  
YouTube (ArizaLuca, go to the trailer)**

 **You CANNOT post background characters in the comments section of HCM; that is NOT the point of me announcing the contest on here. Get your character to one of those sites.**

 **11 more days until July 11th!**

 **RQTC: Does anyone know how important Phantasmagoria is to me, by the way?**

 **Responses to reviewers!**

 **DarkPrincess2001: ... (grins) What do you think?**

 **LittleAngelbun: That's awesome! :3 / Yee xD / (chuckles)**

 **LunarStarMoons: Might've. :3 / (laughs) / Which is extremely unhelpful to the situation, to be honest. I mean, that might get the opinion that she's crazy, or that she's at least very unstable- mainly from the YouTubers, not her friends. / (laughs) / (LAUGHS) I had to put that in I am sorry xD**

 **TheRealRedGaming: Stop it**

 **RapidSammi: (laughs) / (cracks up) / Jesse's never had anyone who'd play the trick with her before, so she doesn't know about it very much.**

 **Raven: (laughs) / Aww, thank you! I'm glad you like this :3**

 **RWBYSTRQ: Which ones?**

 **Emily The Avenger: (laughs) Uh, thanks Em. / (cracks up)**

 **PoptartCrumbs: (laughs)**

 **InsaneAcrobat: Lukas... isn't the murderer. / Eh, it's fine. xD / Dude, please choose a different last name, I don't want to be copyrighted. This is extremely serious. I'm planning on eventually releasing the comic as a published book, and if you use copyrighted last names that could get me into major legal trouble. / Alright, thank you, please do so soon :3**

 **RavenBlaze4850: (laughs) / Ahhh. xD / x3**

 **AquaK13: (laughs) / Of course Ivor's pissed, Lukas is actually decent to him xD**

 **DarkbeastDend: (smiles)**

 **J.M.M.: (laughs) / 1) Give your character a full name. / 2) Post it in the correct location. / 3) You have email, don't you? You can just contact me via the website.**

 **Toni42: YEP**

 **S4SH4L4SH4theGaMeR101: (chuckles) Don't worry it's a hard word. / Mmm, if you have an email could you just send it to me via the website?**

 **GuestPerson13: Thanks! I'm glad you like it :3 / ... (smiles) / Thanks! / Oh, I definitely remember you! :3 I happened to look at the reviewer name and was just like "Wait a second" / Well, thank you, but could you submit to one of the locations in the A/N?**

 **x.X. A.L.X.x**


	124. A Creepy Creaky Basement

The screen switched to show the two of them cautiously creeping through the secret passageways. Petra glanced around, a frown coming over her face as a thought occurred to her. " _You think we're gonna find the White Pumpkin down here?_ " she wondered, in a low voice. " _I mean, with all these secret passageways..._ "

"Ooooh," and Cassie frowned at the thought of that. "Yeah, that's a good point."

Jesse glanced back at Petra, still slowly moving along the hallway as Petra turned around to make sure no one was following them (which is smart, 'cause you know- secret passageways). " _Well, I hope we do... but at the same time, I hope we don't,_ " she said slowly. Slowly, a harder edge crept into Jesse's voice when she next spoke. " _But this time, if we DO find him, I will say that he's not going to just walk away with a scar on his mask._ "

"Ooooh, White Pumpkin, you're in trouble," Maya teased, a grin spreading over her face at the odd sight of Jesse being threatening.

Cassie casually shifted a bit, although inside her heart was thumping away like a jackhammer.

"Jesse," Sparklez said, playfully adopting a 'teacher' tone of voice, "violence is not the answer."

Dan let out a relieved sigh; it was highly unusual for Sparklez to stay this quiet for this long- he'd been wondering if there was something beyond Sparklez dying that was bothering him.

The petite girl just gave a light shrug, smiling right back at him. "Well I'm not going to sit down with the White Pumpkin and have a cup of tea with 'em, am I?"

Stampy chortled suddenly, out of the blue. "Haha, I wouldn't actually put it past you to do that."

" _Brutal,"_ Petra said slowly, giving Jesse a wolfish grin, golden eyes flashing in the darkness, " _I_ like _it._ "

"No, Petra," and Jace gently poked the redhead, giving her a small pout. "Bad."

Petra grinned, having a rather wicked idea to tease Jace. "Well, I like things bad~" she nearly _purred_ into his ear, although she was definitely loud enough for everyone else to get it (as evidenced when several people turned to stare at Petra with a mix of mortification, embarrassment, and amusement).

Jace's face grew incredibly red, and he sat there for a few seconds, as if trying to figure out a good comeback, before abruptly twisting around from where he was ensnared in blankets, going up on his knees, leaning forward and-

Axel let out a loud whoop, quickly joined by Gill and Magnus. Aiden grinned and put his fingers to his mouth, giving a sharp whistle at the sight of Jace now full-out kissing Petra on the mouth.

Jesse and Lukas did little golf claps with grins all over their faces, and Reuben let out a cheerful squeal, grinning a very special piggy grin at Jace. Olivia was shaking her head in amusement, while Nell was _literally_ squealing.

Jace sat back again, perching on his heels and giving the now-bright-red Petra a victorious smirk. He didn't say anything, but that was alright in its own way.

He didn't really have to.

Petra stared for a few moments longer, before letting out a little cough. "Uh, well- yeah. Okay. I like this good." She paused, before tacking on "And you" at the end.

Jace beamed, gave her another kiss on the cheek, and flopped back down to finish watching the episode.

The two of them turned a corner a moment later, and Petra frowned as the low but distinctive sound of moaning. Jesse's brow furrowed slightly. " _Hey... do you hear...?_ "

"Oh _no_ , there are zombies down here?" Isa groaned, putting her head in her hands. Benedict let out a clucking sound that honestly sounded _distinctly_ annoyed, making Reginald glance over to see Benedict making now-rather-irritated clucking noises.

Milo winced and patted her on the back sympathetically.

Onscreen, Petra cut Jesse off, frowning. " _Lots and lots of zombies? Unfortunately._ " She gave a couple sniffs and made a soft sound in the back of her throat, reaching up and covering her nose. " _Starting to_ smell _'em, too._ "

The spider hybrid winced a bit, making a face and quickly weaving together a small handkerchief before reaching up and slapping it over Petra's face, the redhead quickly catching it before it fell on the floor. " _Ugh. Ditto- gross,_ " she muttered, wrinkling her nose a bit.

The two of them kept going, beginning to draw level with a huge wall of bars, endless darkness stretching out behind them. Jesse frowned at them, slowly edging forward to have a look inside...

And then letting out a eardrum-shattering shriek as she lunged back, a rotting hand slamming violently into the bars inches from where her face had been drawing near, banging on the bars incessantly as it tried to grab Jesse.

"Oh Notch!" Soren had a hand resting on his heart from the shock, trying (unsuccessfully) to steady his breathing. "That was- _oh Notch_ -"

Stampy had managed to leap behind Dan and was now hiding behind the green-haired boy, hoodie over his eyes in a protective way. Harper had let out a little yelp and tightened her hold on Ivor's arm anxiously. Jace had toppled over, dragging Petra with him, while Jesse had let out a frightened squeak and scooted away from the screen for safety, Lukas's arms securely around her waist.

Onscreen, Jesse straightened back up, taking a deep breath to steady herself, while Petra simply let out a tired sigh. " _Well, that explains the zombie noises._ "

The spider hybrid's eyes narrowed, and she stepped forward again, putting her face as close to the bars as she dared while peering through. The screen switched to show a small cage with what looked like a miniature zombie spinning around and around inside of it, fire spitting off of it. " _What the heck is_ that _supposed to be?_ "

Her question was answered not a full second later, as suddenly another zombie shot out of the cage and exploded into existence, smoke spitting off of it as it let out a customary zombie groan. " _Oh. I guess it's some sort of zombie spawner._ "

"Who'd _want_ a zombie spawner?" Gabriel muttered under his breath.

Too bad Magnus heard him. "Soren, me, Ellie, blonde guy-"

" _Lukas!_ "

"- maybe redstone girl-"

"My name's Olivia," the dark-skinned girl spoke up with a frown on her face, but Magnus just kept plowing on.

"And Axel for sure," Magnus finished, Ellegaard shaking her head at Magnus in amusement. Some of these nicknames...

" _Wait-_ " Petra frowned onscreen, gold eyes flashing slightly as her head snapped around to look at Jesse. " _Does that mean the White Pumpkin actually_ made _the sea of zombies outside?!_ "

Milo frowned at that. "It's like the Eversource... but it can only spawn one mob at a time. And it appears to be automated," he murmured, sounding somewhat interested as he regarded the screen.

"I'd imagine that's _more_ destructive than having a chicken that can lay every type of spawn egg, in a way," Reginald mumbled, narrowing his eyes at the screen.

Onscreen, Jesse frowned at the zombies, making a bit of a face at them.

(The audience all couldn't help but chuckle at that.)

" _That's... what it looks like,_ " Jesse said slowly, lowering her makeshift handkerchief to frown at the zombies.

There was a short silence for a moment.

" _Can I set them all on fire?_ "

Real-Jesse started laughing hysterically at the mild tone of voice Petra was using to ask about it, Lukas furiously repressing giggles that were only becoming more amplified from Jesse's comment. Jace was also starting to laugh hysterically, actually having to actively stuff his knuckles into his mouth to keep from doing it _too_ much. The rest of the audience was also kind of starting to titter here- laughter, especially Jesse's- could be _extremely_ contagious.

Onscreen, Jesse actually _choked_ a little bit, reaching up to keep herself from doing anything silly. " _Uh- haha, I wish. I'm not sure it's a good idea, though; we could end up getting the whole secret passage area flooded with smoke._ "

"Yeah, that, uh," Mevia coughed a bit, deadpanning, "that would be bad."

Onscreen, Petra winced. " _Oh. Good point._ " With that, the two of them kept walking through the hallway, turning past another hallway... into a room that went up a rather large distance. There was a pool of water in front of where the two of them were standing, with hoppers underwater and a gold-stained-glass tunnel that towered up quite a ways.

Petra let the hand holding the handkerchief to her mouth drop to her side, gold eyes narrowing a bit at the whole system. " _What is THAT?_ " she wondered.

Jesse squinted at it for a moment, thoughtfully... before snapping her fingers, having just recalled something. " _Oh! I remember- this is like the item system thingy which Soren had in the mountain fortress._ "

"Oh, yes- just simpler on more levels," Soren mused, tapping his lips mildly.

Cassie shrugged a bit.

" _Y'know for someone who forgot the first one-fourth of her life, you have a surprisingly good memory sometimes,_ " the narrator spoke, nearly making Jesse jump and trip straight into the pool of water.

"This narrator is not very considerate," Slab frowned.

Petra gave the whole thing an appraising look. " _Oh yeah. I guess it is. But... where does it go?_ "

" _Hopefully,_ " Jesse mumbled, " _straight to the White Pumpkin's lair._ " And she let her eyes follow the stained-glass tube as it rose higher and higher up the wall... before disappearing into the wall next to a large, open tunnel mouth. And there was light pouring through it.

"I'm going to make a wild guess," Em drawled, "and say that that's the way to get in."

Onscreen, the spider hybrid ran a hand through her hair absentmindedly, narrowing her eyes at the tunnel. " _So, you see that light-filled tunnel too, right?_ " she asked, casually.

" _Huh?_ " the Blaze hybrid followed Jesse's gaze, and an 'oh' expression dawned on her face. " _Oh yeah...! And it doesn't look like it's blocked off like all of the, um, zombie-filled ones._ "

" _I bet two iron that if we get up there,_ " Jesse said, already looking at a nearby wall with an appraising look, as if trying to decide if she'd be able to climb up and then jump straight to the tunnel, " _we can follow it and get straight to the White Pumpkin's lair._ "

" _I'm not taking that bet._ "

Real-Axel snorted at that, while Nell snickered and Aiden 'coughed', trying to hide his amusement.

Cassie's eyes just narrowed a bit.

Onscreen, Jesse snickered a bit, before hopping onto the wall and beginning her ascent. " _Sometimes I wish I could fly,_ " she told Petra in a wistful way, watching Petra just hover on past her.

"Yeah, now that you mention it, that would make things so much more conveniently," Real-Petra mumbled.

Onscreen-Petra just smirked, continuing her ascent. " _Well, you've got a pretty good Spider-Jesse thing going on. Spider-Jesse, Spider-Jesse, does whatever spiders can because she's Spider-Jesse,_ " she hummed, aimlessly.

Gill snorted loudly at that, drawing a lot of attention to him and Maya, who were actually starting to giggle a bit. Facemeat was making soft "huh, huh, huh" noises that took a few seconds to equate it to laughter, while Hadrian exchanged a smirk with Mevia.

The spider hybrid gave Petra a look, which made Petra simply shrug back with a grin. " _What?_ "

" _And you call me a dork,_ " Jesse teased Petra, the two of them drawing level with the tunnel. Jesse quickly twisted around and launched herself at the tunnel, landing on her stomach in a neat dive onto the stone floor. Petra just floated in with no trouble at all, but her relaxed expression quickly turned into one of slight alarm as a spider approached them.

Jesse quickly put her hands up and hissed to the spider, " _Uh, please don't attack us... we're just having a look around here right now. We're definitely not planning on fighting you._ "

The spider watched the spider hybrid for a moment, before going on its merry way.

"Well, at least they didn't have to waste time fighting it?" Lizzie said, looking a bit bewildered.

"I guess..."

"I totally call Jesse being Snow White in disguise."

Onscreen, Petra looked over at Jesse, a grin coming over her face. " _I like it when you're here and we've got spiders- I really do,_ " she told the spider hybrid, teasingly.

Jesse up with her middle arms, setting them over her heart, before jokingly wiping away a tear. " _Aww, thank you, thank you. That means so much to me,_ " she joked back.

Then Petra snorted, and the two of them started laughing.

Jesse glanced over at Real-Petra, who noticed the look Real-Jesse was sending her and gave the smaller girl a warm grin.

Jesse slowly returned it, almost shyly.

Petra watched as she turned back to the screen, before leaning over to Lukas and whispering into his ear, "My _Notch_ , she's cute."

" _This is a bit like when you jumped off the bridge that night at Endercon,_ " the narrator spoke, absentmindedly, as Jesse and Petra slowly calmed down from the tiny laughing fit that the two of them were having.

Jesse blinked at that, her smile fading into a more thoughtful look.

This wasn't even in real-time with their world...

And already she felt like that was just so long ago.

Onscreen, the two of them continued into the tunnel, still grinning from the little joking session of banter the two of them had been having. The screen switched a second later to show that the two of them had just turned a corner and were still walking down the tunnel, reaching a spot in the corridor that pulled in an abrupt u-turn direction, as soft sounds began coming through the wall.

Soren blinked. "Oh- is that...?"

Jesse paused, slowing to a stop and frowning, before glancing over at Petra. " _Hey, doesn't that almost sound like..._?"

Petra cocked her head to one side, listening, before a bemused look crossed her face. "... _cats?_ " she finished the thought.

Slowly, Jesse frowned and moved forward, steadily moving along as she turned the corner- to come face to face with the White Pumpkin.

Ivor jumped so violently that he conked foreheads with Harper, who yelped and grabbed at her forehead in pain. Lukas's arms tightened around Jesse's midriff so tightly that it forced a loud squeak out of her. Stampy dove into Dan's lap, while Aiden automatically seized Cassie and hauled her to him in a tight hug.

" _OH NOTCH_ " Stacy proceeded to abruptly dive behind the couch in order to hide her eyes, yelling (by accident) at the same time that Jesse shrieked, lunging backwards but lashing out in a kick at the same time, slamming her feet into the White Pumpkin and catapulting herself away from the White Pumpkin, who toppled over with a loud-

Clatter?

The white pumpkin head toppled off, landing on the ground, the armor stand literally following it to the ground a few seconds later, making an annoying wooden clattering sound.

"Oh." Hadrian cleared his throat and sat back up. He totally hadn't just grabbed a cushion and hidden beneath it. Nope. No idea what you're insinuating. He _totally_ hadn't done anything.

Onscreen, Petra shuddered a little bit. " _Holy crap, was_ not _expecting that. Good reflexes, by the way-_ " she cut herself off, showing that Jesse was no longer right next to her. " _Jesse?"_

Lukas blinked in surprise, arms inadvertently tightening around Jesse's midriff and making her squeak a bit in surprise. "Wh-? Where'd you go?"

"I don't know..."

She looked around again before glancing up, and blinking bewilderment. The screen switched to show Jesse crouching on the ceiling, hands pressed intensely to the ceiling of the tunnel.

"Uh, wow," Stampy blinked, "that's, ah, that's impressive."

"Yeah," Dan nodded in agreement, "that was pretty quick."

" _How in the name of Notch,_ " Petra asked, blinking up at the spider hybrid, " _did you get up there in five seconds?_ "

The spider hybrid looked down at Petra. Then up at the ceiling. Then back down at Petra. " _I'm going to be completely honest with you here, I have no clue._ "

With that, she flipped herself back down, landing neatly on her feet, continuing forward to see that there was a small raised area of dirt with lamps and a fence separating the two sides, with white pumpkins growing on either side.

" _It's just some sort of... growing station,_ " Petra murmured, looking a bit bemused.

Jesse poked one of them, a small smirk coming over her face. " _Well, I guess white pumpkins do exist,_ " she said teasingly.

Several members of the audience snorted at that joking comment.

A few moments later, footsteps suddenly started sounding. Jesse's head snapped up, and she and Petra spun to face the area they'd just come from, the footsteps growing louder and louder.

"Oh no!" Isa exclaimed, letting out a gasp and scooting closer to Milo for protection.

" _The White Pumpkin must've heard us!_ " Jesse whispered urgently, drawing her sword.

Aiden leaned forward, anxiety forming a rather solid knot in his chest inadvertently.

Petra followed Jesse's lead, flames flickering along the blade and eyes heating up rapidly, while Jesse shifted into a fighting position.

The two of them approached... closer... closer... until their blades were poking around the corner...

" _GAH!_ " and Stampy yelped, leaping back, tripping on his feet, and landing right on his bum with a little 'oof' sound.

"Stampy?!" Stacy exclaimed, eyes widening. "What are you doing down there?!"

"I have no idea!" Stampy announced.

Onscreen, Petra's mouth dropped open in shock. " _Stampy Cat?!_ " she blurted.

* * *

 **A/N: Hahaha cliffhanger x3 Sorry, I was getting really sleepy so I decided to just post it.**

 **Just a little over one week now :3 Expect some fanart on dA for the countdown.**

 **RQTC: How far am I in Phantasmagoria? (What's your idea?)**

 **LunarStarsMoons: Ah. / Hehehe xD / (smiles and nods) / (grins) Yep.**

 **S4SH4L4SH4theGaMeR101: (chuckles) Alright, thanks. / Lol xD**

 **RapidSammi: Thanks! / Arima Lucari.**

 **Emily The Avenger: ALL THE WAY / (laughs)**

 **Guest: (grins) / No spoilers~**

 **InsaneAcrobat: (laughs) / Ah, it's fine, Don't worry about it :3 / I think our time differences are a bit off. / (spits out a mouthful of water)**

 **J.M.M: No. / Nothing.**

 **Savannah-the-Caracal: :3 / Random Question of The Chapter.**

 **sailor . mikuchan: (chuckles)**

 **RavenBlaze4850: (laughs) / Hehehehe xD / I don't know. I don't have tumblr so I'm just posting on dA and Twitter. / Aw thanks :3**

 **GuestPerson13: No problem! / (grins) / I can't either~**

 **Darkbeast Dend: None.**

 **Toni42: (laughs) Nah, your version was pretty great too. / (laughs) / Thank you. :3**

 **LittleAngelbun: (points at chapter) / Indeed.**

 **Shorter review section this time, but I'm really tired. Night!**

 **x.X. A.L. X.x**

* * *

 ** _LOG 1-175_**

* * *

 _Nothing built can last forever. Every legend, no matter how great, fades with time. Each year, more and more details are lost to time and age, until all that remains are myths- half truths._

 _To put it simply, lies._

 _And yet, in all the known universe, from a small town that was devoured by a living storm to a dimension that not even the Old Builders could ever access, the legend of the New- or HYBRID - Order of the Stone endures, unabridged, as self-evident fact._

 _Indeed, it is only troubled lands that are in need of heroes, and we are so fortunate to have had, not so very long ago, FIVE heroes such as these._

 _PETRA the Blaze hybrid, whose hot temper, glowing blade, and deadly flames was often the fiery end to many a battle, even if said hot temper was the very thing that caused said battles._

 _OLIVIA the Enderman hybrid, an amazing redstone engineer and a creature of the elusive End, where the monstrous Ender Dragon used to dwell, since before the Hybrid Order existed._

 _AXEL the Creeper hybrid, whose explosive nature and destructive creativity caused damage greater than even the King of Boom Town could've imagined, and repaired damage that could've been far worse._

 _LUKAS the Ocelot hybrid, whose sharp claws and mind carried his team even when their situation was dire, and whose loyalty never wavered, even before he could remember the others he'd called his friends._

 _And JESSE, the Spider hybrid, who was always willing to lend her six hands to anyone in need, an amazing multitasker and friend, the first hybrid that the Old Builders ever created, and leader of the Hybrid Order of the Stone._

 _The road that these FIVE heroes, FIVE friends have followed was paved by those who came before them. The Old Builders, the Old Order of the Stone, the Bureau of Amalgamology. They've discovered so many things that may not have been possible had they not been what they were. New friends, new enemies, new allies, old friends, deaths and rebirths, memories that have been lost, then found, then fit back into place like a puzzle._

 _Their greatest quests have been recorded and stored, in a book that remains in the Order of the Stone's treasure room, a file on a computer in the Bureau of Amalgamology, a distant file on a former scientist's computer, in one of who is known as the 'Author's' computers, and their story will be passed down and retold and passed down again through generations, and generations, and more generations. So many enemies have been defeated, and so many more have been made a friend._

 _These FIVE friends have given so much to be remembered as FIVE heroes, and have definitely proved that what Gabriel the Warrior once said, not so long ago, is true._

 _Anyone can be a hero._

 _Even a hybrid._

 _This has been completed. The book has been closed._

 _Their story has ended._

* * *

 _ **LOG 2-1**_

* * *

 _Once a story has been completed, it can never be reopened._

 _It's over. No matter how hard you try, even the most powerful Author can do no more but add to it, write more. They can never go back and change the story, for better or worse. No matter how many times you try, how hard you attempt, how desperately you desire it to change, the story can never be reopened. You would have to break the laws of reality itself in order to change it._

 _Theoretically, if a story was reopened, we would have to continue it until there came a time when we could close it once again._

 _But you would be unable to do so._

 _Once a story is reopened, there is almost no way to close it again. A reopened story is trapped in a vicious loop, of closing, reopening, closing again, and reopening again- over and over. The story would go on forever, and ever, and ever, and because every story has an ending- how else would new stories be made?-With no new stories, the natural order would be corrupted, and eventually the story would wipe out the universe itself._

 _That is why stories cannot be reopened, and that is why you would have to change reality itself in order to reopen a story._

But that is only for most situations.

 _Jesse and her friends have been living happily for the past 7 years, I'm happy to say. Jesse is now the mayor of Beacon Town- her hometown- that has slowly grown and evolved as years as ticked on by._

 _But in these past 7 years, things have become more complicated. The Hybrid Order of the Stone's bond of friendship has begun to fade. With little time for adventures, more responsibilities, and less time for simple interactions, old friendships have begun to fade, rivalries have begun to emerge, and people are beginning to have higher and higher expectations for the spider hybrid- expectations that even the leader of the Hybrid Order may not be able to fulfill._

 _Well, at least until Jesse somehow manages to get her hand stuck in a creepy, cursed prismarine gauntlet... and finds a mysterious phone that is intent on helping Jesse repair the 'damage' done to Jesse's world._

 _We discover the downside of fame that comes with being a hero, too. For example, having a dark and ancient power know your name, an Author who needs the world's greatest hero to 'close a story', hybrids of beings that were never_ _meant to be hybrids, and_ _the omniscient presence that permeated her life throughout her adventures since the Witherstorm's creation becoming a much more tangible force._

 _A new adventure beckons, sending the spider hybrid on a journey that'll take her to the darkest depths of the world, and farther. With old friends and new allies alike, fortune hunters, frenemies, old friends, family members, an Author or two, or three, or ten, and a rather disobedient llama, Jesse will embark on this journey of tough choices, peril, mystery, and the responsibility to help an Author close a story that was never meant to be reopened._

 _My friends, if we are going to have any hope of closing a reopened story, if we're to have any hope in breaking this vicious loop, we are going to have to fight a myth with another myth. A story with a story._

 _Even more potently, the story's creator._

 _As this story unfolds, we're going to find out exactly how a story that was never meant to be reopened-_ should never _have been reopened, did exactly did._

 _And we're going to find out exactly why this story has become a **COMPOSITE**_.

* * *

 **Yes I know I didn't use composite correctly but no other words fit so shush**

 **How's this teaser for ya guys?**


	125. Was Not Expecting That

" _Boy, you two gave me a fright!_ " Stampy told the two of them in a stage whisper as he clambered back to his feet with a little shiver. " _What are you doing down here?!_ "

"Uh, I think that _we_ should be asking you that," Jace said, looking over at Stampy as a slightly accusing tone crept into his voice.

Stampy blinked at him a bit, taken aback by the comment. "Well _that_ was needlessly confrontational."

Onscreen, the spider hybrid blinked. " _Well- you did see us go through the doors to go have a look at the 'secret lair', so... yeah. That's what we're doing,_ " she told him Stampy, tilting her head slightly as she regarded him cautiously. " _So... what are_ you _doing down here?_ "

Stampy bounced a bit, anxiously, wringing his hands in a furor of anxiety. He sidled past the two girls, careful to avoid impaling himself on the swords that they were holding out in his direction. " _I needed to find you, because I have something important to tell you!_ "

Dan blinked a bit at that. "Oh?"

Real-Stampy bit his lip suddenly, realizing exactly _what_ his onscreen-self was talking about.

Oh boy.

Onscreen, Petra looked at Jesse automatically, as if trying to tell her that she was going to follow the shorter girl's lead. Jesse glanced at Petra unsurely, before slowly sheathing her sword again. Following suit, Petra also sheathed her sword, although her hands were still open in a defensive way.

" _I have something to confess,_ " Stampy blurted in a flood of words, rubbing his arm uncomfortably as he looked down at the dirt floor. " _Something I haven't told_ anyone."

Petra frowned a bit at the orange-hoodie-wearing boy. " _Where is this going?_ " she asked him, slowly.

Several members of the audience glanced at Stampy automatically, but he was biting his nails in an agony of anxiety and not paying any attention to them. Therefore he missed most of said looks.

Onscreen, Stampy hesitated for a moment, before reaching into his back pocket...

And pulling out a green, glowing flint and steel.

"Whoa- _what?!_ I- what- Stampy?!" Dan spluttered, looking both angry and shocked at the same time, though right now he was looking more shocked than angry. " _You_ had the flint and steel this whole time?!"

Real-Stampy bit his lip again, agonizing over it, before reaching into his own back pocket and timidly pulling out a matching set of flint and steel.

"You _did_ take it!" Lizzie exclaimed, eyes widening in shock. Sparklez just looked rather surprised at this turn of events.

"Nnnnn, I'm so sorry!" Real-Stampy exploded, sweat trickling down the back of his neck as he shrank down in his seat even more and more, his heart thumping away rapidly. "It was just supposed to be a prank, a harmless practical joke, and I am _so_ sorry, so very, _very_ sorry!"

"Hey, yeah, guys, calm down," Stacy said quickly, reaching over and giving a now-trembling Stampy a pat on the back, "it's _Stampy_. He really wouldn't try to hurt anyone."

"Well, yeah, but he _stole_ it-" Dan began to argue back.

"It was just a joke! I stole it two days ago, and then I was just going to put it back to startle you, but I guess we got invited before I had a chance to put it away, and I am so very, _very_ sorry!" Stampy looked as if he might start crying.

Dan's glare faded, and he sighed and wrapped an arm around Stampy's shoulder. "Yeah, yeah, okay, it's fine," he grumbled, but he'd definitely relaxed a bit now.

Onscreen, Jesse's mouth fell open into a perfect, stunned 'o' as Stampy babbled, shuffling his feet nervously in an agony of anxiety, " _Nnnn I stole it from Dan, and it was just supposed to be a joke, a harmless prank, but then- well- you saw what happened! I knew people_ wanted _it, but, but I had no idea that, that, that_ this _would happen!_ "

"We believe you, Stampy, shhhh," Dan said, patting Real-Stampy on the back. Stampy peeped meekly up at Dan. When he saw that Dan didn't actually look that angry, he abruptly threw his arms around the taller boy, making Dan squeak a bit as Stampy accidentally squeezed some breath out of the poor guy.

Jesse blinked a few times, her mouth shutting again. " _Well... I did not see that coming,_ " she said at last. " _I_ did not _see that coming._ "

Petra frowned at Stampy, her gold eyes sparking a bit as she narrowed them at him. " _You have to admit, Stampy, this seems pretty suspicious,_ " she told him at last.

" _I know! And_ that's why _I had to keep it a secret!_ " Stampy exclaimed, hands tightening on the flint and steel, " _I may be a thief, but I'm no killer! But that White Pumpkin_ is! _And he's killing people for it, and now we're all down in his lair!_ " He paused, lips twisting as he shuffled his feet back and forth, rather guiltily, before glancing at the White Pumpkin's mask on a nearby armor stand. " _I was thinking... maybe I should just... give it to the White Pumpkin._ "

" _What?_ " Petra deadpanned.

"Yeah, uh, that's a terrible idea, sport," Hadrian deadpanned. Otto scowled at him, but, well, it was an accurate statement.

"But- but maybe all the killings would stop?" Stampy whispered weakly.

"I don't know... I can hardly imagine that the White Pumpkin would just go ' _Oh, thanks. Have fun with the rest of your lives_ ' and then go skipping off merrily into the sunset," Jesse muttered, sarcastically.

Half of the audience choked a bit at that mental image that proceeded to pop up.

" _Well- maybe, maybe if I gave it to the White Pumpkin... all of these killings would stop,_ " Stampy mumbled, shrinking a bit under Petra's intense stare.

Onscreen, Jesse considered this, before folding her hands together neatly. " _Well... who do you think Dan would want to give it to?_ " she asked, calmly.

" _How are you staying so calm right now?!_ " Petra whispered, hands twitching and sending a spray of sparks flitting outwards.

Jesse simply shook her head a couple of times, still with that serene look on her face. " _I have no idea,_ " she replied, in the same even voice as before.

Stampy thought about that for a moment. " _Well- well, I suppose-_ " He hesitated, " _he'd want it back. It IS his, after all, he got it fair and square..._ "

Jesse shrugged at that and clapped her hands together neatly. " _Well, then that's settled,_ " she told him, cheerfully enough.

" _Well- yeah, I guess,_ " and Stampy's shoulders relaxed as he slipped the flint and steel back into his pocket. " _Er, thanks, Jesse._ "

"Ahh, our Jesse. Ever the diplomat," Ivor teased the black-haired girl.

Jesse pinked a bit at the compliment (well, she assumed it was a compliment, anyway), giving him a slight smile. "Well, it's not really being a diplomat... I just talk to people."

Remember how Lukas said that Jesse would deny that she was good at _breathing_ if someone told her she was proficient at it?

Yeah, that still applies.

Turning around, Jesse regarded the iron doors with a lever on the wall right next to it. Petra put one hand on her hip before leveling the other one at the door in a dramatic pointing motion. " _That looks like a 'lair door' if I ever saw one,_ " she said, firmly.

"You would be a fantastic actress," Jace grinned.

Petra smacked him.

Onscreen, the spider hybrid's upper arms reached up at the same time as her middle arm shot out and flipped the switch downwards, flicking the sword back out of its sheathe defensively. You know, just in case.

" _Before we go in there,_ " Stampy said softly, Petra continuing past Jesse as the spider hybrid paused and turned back to look over her shoulder, " _I- wanted to thank you._ "

The spider hybrid blinked a bit, before twisting to look over at Stampy altogether. " _What for?_ " she asked him, curiously.

" _Well- for saving me and Dan. You don't know us, you- you didn't have to, but you did, so-_ " Stampy took a deep breath, cutting himself off before he could begin rambling. " _Thank you._ "

"Oh yeah. We never got around to that, did we?" Dan twisted to look at Real-Jesse, who simply blinked at him in confusion. "Thanks for saving us, Jesse. I know that we were both technically... 'suspects', and we weren't exactly making life easy for you..."

"It's fine," Jesse said mildly, eyes crinkling up cheerfully. "I would've done the same for anybody. Everyone deserves to be saved."

Just for a second, her eyes flickered to Aiden.

Onscreen, Jesse's expression had softened. " _No problem,_ " she told him, and the two of them ventured after Petra... into a huge cavern. Light poured in through a hole in the ceiling, providing light that wasn't just from the lamps on the walls. Bookshelves lined the rough walls, as well as a few paintings and papers. On Jesse's left side, near a miniature lake, were a couple of chests. If you glanced in the other direction, there were more chests and a brewing station...

And cats.

Like, literally, there were just four or five calico cats lounging around on some rough stone 'shelves', and one resting on a chest.

Real-Jesse blinked at that. "... are those cats?" she asked, at last, sounding rather confused.

"Uh... I guess the White Pumpkin is a cat person?" Axel said slowly, sounding a bit weirded out.

Cassie's heart was thumping away, faster and faster now. Her mouth had suddenly gone quite dry, and it took a small flash of pain in her arm from Winslow swiping at it to realize that she'd started squeezing him like a stress ball.

"I guess..."

" _Oh... wow,_ " Onscreen-Jesse said, blinking.

Petra looked around the lair, before looking over at the much-shorter Jesse and arching her eyebrow. " _Very... creepy._ "

" _I would_ not _put this in my 'top ten places I've ever been',"_ Stampy added.

Real-Jesse got a small fit of the giggles.

Onscreen, Petra put her hands on her hips and looked at the cats with a rather deadpan look. " _Well... there's where the meowing's coming from,_ " she said at last, arching her eyebrow.

" _We can get out of here as soon as we find something that proves the White Pumpkin's identity,_ " Jesse said quickly, having a look around the lair with a look that basically read that she agreed with Petra about the 'creepiness' of the lair wholeheartedly. Quickly, just to have something to do, she went over to the painting to have a look- and then her eyes widened, the spider hybrid stepping back a bit.

Because in the painting was a beautifully rendered image of the portal hallway.

"Oh, wow." Olivia blinked at the painting. "I... guess the White Pumpkin's not from this world, either."

Cassie's brow darkened a bit at the innocent comment.

" _Uh, Petra... did you see this-?_ "

" _That's the portal hallway!_ " Petra blurted, eyes widening as she drew level with Jesse.

" _Yeah- looks like the White Pumpkin's been there, too..._ " Jesse mumbled, stepping back a bit more and then moving away, Petra also following suit a few seconds later.

Jesse passed by two chests that seemed to read 'CHESTS OF THE DEAD' (although she shuddered a bit at the sight of it) and was swinging a right at the pool of water-

There was a sudden sound, and Jesse spun around and shot out with her hand, a web shooting out before retracting rapidly to reveal... a flopping fish.

"A bit paranoid, aren't we?" Mevia mumbled.

Lukas scowled at her, twisting around on the spot to send a glare at the pale-blue haired woman. "They're in the _secret lair_ of a murderer. I'd like to see _you_ not acting a bit paranoid about the whole thing."

"... nice hearing."

Jesse looked at the fish flopping around in her hand, before shrugging and sticking it in her pocket and then moving back along the wall from earlier to the huge, almost artistically-built tower of books in the corner of the room. She leaned forward and poked through the books a bit. Her brow furrowed the more she poked through. " _... uh, wow, they're_ all _about portals. Pretty obsessive..._ " She poked through the shelves some more, before pausing. " _Oh- 'Walking with the Enderman' by- Soren?!_ " she straightened up, looking a bit put out. " _How the heck did the White Pumpkin get_ that?"

Several people looked at Soren.

He just shrugged a bit.

Onscreen, the spider hybrid walked over to a chest on the opposite end of the room with a calico cat stretched out on it lazily, snoozing away. Jesse frowned at the chest thoughtfully. " _I bet this is important..._ " she murmured thoughtfully.

She proceeded to poke the calico cat gently. " _Um, hello, kitty. Hey, kitty kitty. Could you scoot out of the way please?_ " she asked, softly.

The cat ignored her.

" _... wow, wish Lukas was here,_ " she muttered, running a hand through her hair.

" _Yeah, he would've loved to chat with all these cats. Not to mention that little lake filled with lots of very edible fish,"_ the narrator spoke up, making Jesse glance up at the ceiling.

"... _maybe I'll catch one for him._ "

" _Oh- hey, sweet!_ " Petra exclaimed, making Jesse blink before turning around to see Petra holding up a huge handful of Ender Pearls- about ten, perhaps. " _Ender Pearls!_ "

Jesse put all of her hands up, turning to face Petra. " _Toss me a couple?_ " she called.

"Wait, you're not- you're not about to actually-?" Cassie began, sounding slightly taken aback.

The Blaze hybrid threw an entire handful of them at Jesse, all five of them spinning through the air in a lazy arc in Jesse's direction. Jesse's hands all moved, snatching them all expertly out of the air without a single one popping.

"... okay that was pretty impressive," Em mumbled under her breath.

" _Ooh, nice!_ " Stampy exclaimed.

Jesse bowed, her five Ender Pearl-laden hands stowing them away into her pockets. " _Thank you, thank you,_ " she joked, making the three of them all chortle a bit in amusement.

The spider hybrid turned back to the chest, regarding it with a thoughtful look, before reaching into her back pocket and pulling out the fish she'd inadvertently caught earlier. " _Here, kitty kitty,_ " she coaxed, the cat's head rising off of the chest.

" _Progress!_ " the narrator called out.

Several people in the audience started giggling at that.

" _Here, kitty,_ " Jesse said in a low coo, setting the fish down and backing away a few steps. " _Get the fishy._ "

The cat finally slinked off of the chest towards the fish, making Jesse smile a bit. " _There you go,_ " she called, coaxingly.

Suddenly, a loud chorus of meowing began. The spider hybrid looked up, mouth dropping open to see that instead of the three or four calico cats that had been perched up there earlier, about TWELVE.

They all began to jump down, stampeding towards the fish. (In a really cute, adorably cat-oriented way...) " _Ah! Cats!_ " Jesse exclaimed, practically launching herself backwards to avoid accidentally stepping on any of them in the flood that had just poured onto the floor, " _so many cats!_ "

"That is, uh..." Stacy blinked, trying to make sense of what had just happened. "That is a _lot_ of cats."

Petra frowned at the flood of cats competing for the fish. " _Ugh. Besides Lukas, cats give me the creeps._ " There was a short pause, before she glanced at Stampy. " _Uh, no offense, Stampy._ "

" _None taken._ " Stampy cupped a hand around his mouth, dropping his mouth to a whisper: " _I'm not really a cat."_

Jesse was looking at Petra when her eyes widened again, the screen zooming in on her eye.

"Ooh another flashback!" Ivor exclaimed, leaning forward rapidly and nearly making Harper slip and fall on him.

Onscreen, the screen zoomed back out to show the tiny spider hybrid perched on a seat, humming away as she fiddled with her strings in a little game reminiscent of 'Cat's Cradle'. Lukas practically had his head in her lap, batting at the strings lazily, while Axel was leaning on Olivia, snoozing a little bit. (Several audience members couldn't help but smile at that.) Petra was shooting little glowing embers across the room into a metal bucket, more often than not burning a small mark on the white wall.

Suddenly, the door opened, and fear shot across all of their faces as they automatically turned to look at the door.

Their faces lit up with excitement as the Order filed in, and they all ran to greet their respective Order member with a tight hug or a happy greeting. Jesse had just thrown her arms around Ivor when she jerked back with a yelp. " _You have something in your armor!_ " she squeaked.

Ivor looked down to see that there was indeed a lump moving around under his coat, and he let out a long, irritated sigh. " _Good lord did the cat really tag along?_ " Reaching inside, he pulled out the tiniest, fluffiest ball of- well- pale yellow fluff from under his coat, complete with giant hazel eyes and tiny paws and a little fluffy tail.

"Okay- _that's_ adorable," Milo said, leaning back and nodding decisively.

"Awwww, you brought a cat, Ivor," Jesse teased kindly.

"Hush, child," he muttered, feeling his cheeks flush a rather deep red color.

The cat suddenly seemed to glitch, replaced by a familiar-looking, calico kitten.

Everyone glanced at Winslow, who was grooming himself using his tongue. When he noticed everyone was looking at him, he just smiled beatifically- if cats could indeed smile beatifically.

Jesse's excited look had faded to one of slight confusion as the other hybrids practically ran over to see the cat... except for Petra, who was just staring at it blankly.

" _Petra? Are you okay?_ " Jesse asked, innocently, as she fondled the kitten's ears slightly. " _Don't you want to come see the kitty?_ "

Petra frowned and shook her head. " _I don't like it,_ " she said bluntly.

The cat meowed.

Petra looked at it before moving to sit behind Lukas.

The screen zoomed out again, Jesse blinking several times in surprise at the memory that had just come out.

"I guess Petra wasn't kidding... in that dimension I guess she doesn't like cats," Aiden mumbled, scratching his cheek.

Real-Petra shrugged, looking slightly bewildered. (Jace knew for a fact that here, she liked cats quite a bit.) "Guess not."

Onscreen, Jesse shook it off and moved towards the chest, pushing it open and rummaging around inside. " _It's full of... oh, wow._ " Jesse straightened up, holding a large banner-type object in her hands, before reaching up and popping it into place on the wall. And there was Petra, on the wall.

With a big, red, slightly-dripping X drawn through her.

* * *

 **A/N: My roommate bought takeout and didn't offer me any... now I'm hungry and I can't get to sleep.**

 **RQTC: If I publish Phantasmagoria, would you guys read it? (sorry, out of questions and I'm way too tired right now.)**

 **LunarStarsMoons: (laughs) / (cackles) Mwahaha, you have fallen into my trap xD / Yep~**

 **RapidSammi: x3 / (laughs)**

 **LittleAngelbun: (laughs) / Indeed; I have plans~ / I'm nearly at the exact halfway point now. xD**

 **Toni42: YEP x3 / (laughs) I dunno, she just put it there as a sort of prank. / (laughs) / Welllll~ xD / (grins) / Huehuehue x3**

 **InsaneAcrobat: (laughs) So do I, fam. / Nope :3 / ... I don't get what you just said... / Yes, I think so.**

 **the indecisive bird: Hahaha xD / I have that bug too; I can only hear footsteps. / (cackles) No one's actually commented on that yet.**

 **KaosRuin: (laughs) Did it really?**

 **RavenBlaze4850: (cracks up) / Uh, we won't xD / (laughs) I did mention not being able to get it until August 5, didn't I? / Nearly halfway through, actually.**

 **J.M.M.: ? What are you sorry about?**

 **Emily The Avenger: I'm glad! (lAUGHS)**

 **RWBYSTRQ: Oh. No. That was an extra.**

 **PoptartCrumbs: THANK YOU! / Haha xD He finally got revenge~**

 **giriri: (laughs) Yep. / (chuckles) Indeed.**

 **DarkPrincess2001: ... eh.**

 **Infernius Flashfire: (laughs) / (shrugs) / (cracks up) Uh, Idk.**

 **Darkbeast Dend: Go read the notice I put up on the sequel.**

 **S4SH4L4SH4theGaMeR101: (laughs) / I'm glad you liked both!**

 **x.X. A.L. X.x**


	126. The Culprit is YOU!

A shiver ran up several of the younger viewers' spines, and the older viewers were all definitely a bit weirded out by that image onscreen. Even the ones who didn't just outright shudder felt chills shoot up their spines. Jace tightened his arms around Petra in a tight hug, and she returned the hug a moment later.

Notch knows she kinda needed it right about now.

"That's..." Aiden frowned, for once not feeling self-conscious when every eye in the room turned to land on him, "that's a little creepy."

"A little?" Maya muttered, frowning at the screen herself as she rubbed her arms in an attempt to stop herself from shivering. (Gill wrapped his arms around her in a quick hug when he noticed.)

Isa was hugging Benedict while doing her best to cuddle into Milo, who blinked over at her when he noticed that this was happening.

She glanced up at him and moved away a bit when she realized he was now looking at her, cheeks flushing slightly pink. "Er... sorry," she mumbled a bit, cheeks turning rather pink in embarrassment.

Reginald suddenly smirked as he realized what was going on.

So, _that's_ how the cards had been played, huh?

Cassie just frowned a bit, but didn't say anything.

Reuben, Winslow, and Benedict all made their various animal sounds, but no one paid them any attention- not even Jesse; she was just so shocked.

Maybe that was why they were the only ones to notice that gray shadow that had just passed by behind Ivor and Harper's chair.

Onscreen, Petra shuddered a bit, looking rather bothered about this. " _Oh, I don't like that. I_ really _don't like that. Guess he already had all the X'ed out ones ready to go,_ " she muttered, regarding the portrait on the wall with a hand on her chin.

" _Yep,_ " the spider hybrid mumbled, looking slightly disconcerted about that, turning back to the chests and poking around inside it. " _Let's see, besides Petra, we've got Lizzie, Dan, Stampy, Stacy, Lukas, Ivor, and- hey, there's me..._ " Jesse blinked at that. Then she reached in and pulled out another portrait, frowning at it in slight bewilderment.

" _That yours?_ " Petra asked, leaning over her shoulder to get a good look at it.

" _Well, no- that's the thing, it's... blank. Just a background with a white blank space that's shaped somewhat like a person,_ " Jesse mumbled, holding it up to show the audience that, indeed, it was blank. " _There's about five of them in there, though the poses vary a little bit._ "

Soren frowned. "Why would the White Pumpkin make a blank portrait...?" he wondered aloud.

" _Ooh, maybe it's like a template?_ " The two girls turned to see Stampy regarding it with interest from where he was standing. " _Maybe the White Pumpkin had all the bodily proportions and stuff already ready with a background done, so then he- or- or she, I guess- could just paint the person in,_ " he explained when he saw their blank looks.

"Well, it would explain why Jesse was so much taller than she usually is in her portrait," Real-Petra mumbled, giving the blank portrait an appraising look.

This got a half-hearted shove from Jesse, but the girl was still smirking a bit at the joking insult.

" _Oh yeah. That would explain how the White Pumpkin got the portraits done so fast..._ " Real-Petra started counting off time. " _So, you mentioned that the White Pumpkin was in the window-?_ "

" _Yeah, and then it took about five minutes to run around to get to the back of the house."_

" _And three minutes to climb into the house,_ " Petra added.

" _Right, so then we talked to Sparklez and TorqueDawg,_ " Jesse continued, frowning, " _for... about five minutes?_ "

" _Right- and then the trap killed TorqueDawg, taking up another four minutes while we tried to figure out what had happened._ "

" _And then the portraits appeared sometime after that, but I guess we can assume that it was when TorqueDawg's X'ed out por-_ " Jesse suddenly paused, looking up, eyes widening in realization.

Right at that point, Aiden glanced at Cassie, a thought suddenly having come to him.

Cassie noticed the look, her heart beating even more quickly as her stomach seemed to suddenly vanish from inside her body.

Well _crap._

"Wait- did Jesse figure something out?" Stacy asked, eyes widening as she leaned forward.

There was suddenly 100% attention being paid to the screen. Even Cassie was leaning forward a bit, eyes fixated on the screen.

" _So... wow, the White Pumpkin got your four portraits done in about 20 minutes._ " Stampy whistled a bit, sounding slightly impressed against his will. " _That's pretty quick. About five minutes per portrait._ "

" _Well, don't forget, they had to put it up, too,_ " Petra added. " _That probably takes out five minutes._ "

Stampy crossed his arms, frowning thoughtfully. " _Maybe there was a machine of some sort that they had to draw it?_ "

"Yes, that seems plausible," Ivor murmured.

" _But what does it all mean?_ " Petra mused thoughtfully. " _The cats, the- the crossed-out portraits..._ "

" _Yeah, the_ portraits, _"_ and Jesse abruptly stood up from where she'd been frozen in place for a few minutes, turning to face the two with wide eyes. " _There was one person who didn't have a crossed out portrait. Someone who was alone with the portraits for a time. Someone who's a_ known cat person..."

Cassie stiffened, her breath catching a little.

Oh no.

" _I think the White Pumpkin..._ " Jesse looked from Stampy to Petra, her eyes wide in shock, " _is Cassie Rose!_ "

"Wait- _what_?!"

Several heads snapped around to stare at the real Cassie, who'd nearly turned _white_ in shock.

"Cassie- is this true?" Lizzie asked, frowning at the redhead and pensively edging away.

"I- no- it's- I think Jesse's mistaken-!" Cassie spluttered, face growing progressively paler as her eyes darted around. She looked like a mouse that had been trapped in a corner by the biggest, hungriest cat that ever lived.

"Oh." Jesse blinked at the screen, drawing some attention. "I guess my hunch from earlier might've been correct, then."

It took Lukas a few seconds to realize what she'd meant, when his eyes widened. "Wait- when we were trying to figure out who we thought the White Pumpkin was, and you- you pointed at Cassie... that was actually a hunch?"

The petite girl simply nodded a bit.

There was a long silence, before Axel said, in an attempt to lighten the mood a bit, "'Call it a hunch,' Jesse says. 'Jesse doesn't have prophetic abilities,' Petra says..."

A few people chuckled a bit at this, but most were staring at Cassie uncomfortably, the red-haired girl still staring at the screen with an almost _snow-white_ face, her hands trembling in her lap. Winslow was meowing plaintively, but Cassie wasn't seeing them. That was, she was staring at the screen, but she wasn't seeing it.

"Cassie, it's not true... right?" Lizzie frowned at Cassie. "You're not... you didn't murder TorqueDawg, right? And you didn't set up that trap for Sparklez..." She trailed off. "... right?"

"Hey- stop putting so much pressure on her."

Everyone's eyes snapped to Aiden.

Aiden shifted closer to Cassie, putting a hand on her knee. "Look, if she's a murderer, she's a murderer," he said rather bluntly, making Cassie flinch a bit at how candid he was. "But we're not _sure_ about that yet. If you keep putting so much pressure on her, she might confess to something she didn't even do."

Everyone exchanged anxious looks. "But..." Stacy mumbled.

"I'm not even _entirely_ sure that I'm right, to be honest. I just said that the hunch _might_ be correct," Jesse added. "For all I know, it's actually someone else and that's just the way the evidence is leaning."

"... true," Isa mumbled.

Onscreen, Stampy's mouth dropped open in shock, and Petra had a look at the cats all over the floor. " _Oh._ Oh _yeah!_ " And her eyes lit up. Literally, her eyes started glowing as her brain started puzzling it out. " _How didn't we notice that before..?_ " Her head snapped back around to stare at the redhead, eyes starting to spark. " _We_ have _to go back and tell the others!_ "

Jesse's red eye started glowing, the spider hybrid's teeth showing slightly as she smiled a bit. " _Well. Time to close up this murder mystery once and for all,_ " she said, all of her arms crossing.

The screen blacked out.

"That's..." Hadrian and Mevia glanced at each other, before at Cassie.

They remembered her from... well, a LONG time ago. Especially when her aunt had still been around. She'd been cheerful... sweet... innocent, really.

And now it looked like she might be the culprit of _murder_.

What exactly had happened to her...?

" _I'll go round everyone up!_ " Stampy exclaimed as he dashed out of the tunnel, before racing out of the room as the screen faded in. Jesse and Petra simply trotted out of the tunnel, watching him go track down Cassie and the others.

" _What's going on?_ " Stacy asked, looking bewildered as Lizzie, Dan, and the brown-haired girl all came over to Jesse and Petra, looking a bit startled by this sudden turn of events.

" _We know who the White Pumpkin is!_ " Jesse blurted, in a bit of a rush.

" _Really?_ " Stacy blinked at that. " _Who?_ "

" _Yeah-_ " and Jesse started a bit as she turned, the screen doing a swish pan to show Cassie walking into the room, a blankly curious look on her face.

Jesse regarded Cassie with a rather long, even stare. Cassie returned it, eyes narrowing slightly as she noticed the now-missing portrait from the wall.

Suddenly, Jesse stiffened, and the screen zoomed in on her eye again.

"Ooh- another flashback!" Dan leaned forward, interest dancing in his eyes.

The screen zoomed back out to show a sliver of light entering a dark room, little-Jesse sitting up with a little yawn.

" _Auntie, are these the hybrids you told me about?_ " whispered a soft, little-girl voice that made Harper, Hadrian, Mevia, Soren, Isa, and Otto all suddenly straighten up in their seats a bit at.

They remembered that voice.

" _Yes, dear._ "

Jesse looked up to see a tall woman who looked a LOT like Cassie edge into the room, gray eyes looking almost translucent in the dark room. Behind her, a tiny little girl followed her inside, looking rather like she and Jesse might be around the same age- both Jesse AND Jace. She looked like the scientist's younger doppelganger... except her eyes were a sparkling green instead of that gleaming gray.

Real-Jesse's eyes automatically went to Cassie, eyes widening.

Oh.

 _Oh._

Jesse tilted her head curiously at the little girl, as if it was some sort of novelty to see someone as small as her without extra limbs or furry ear, as the other woman continued in a whisper, " _Er, the one staring at us right now is Jesse. But, ah, don't_ tell _anyone, that's just their birth names- I'm not supposed to use it, but they respond to it, so I don't exactly see the harm in using it._ "

Harper blinked.

Hadn't Ivor named Jesse in that world?

So, so then...?

The little-girl-who-looked-a-lot-like Cassie edged closer to Jesse, who just stared at her unabashedly. " _What's your name?_ " she asked... or, well, that's what the subtitles said she asked. What came out was a slightly strangled hissing sound.

The little girl shrank back a bit in shock. " _Auntie, she hissed at me!_ " she whispered.

" _The spider DNA is still getting used to the new body. Jesse's going to be speaking in Spider for a while,_ " the woman told Cassie calmly, reaching out and giving Jesse a pat, before holding out a cracker as well.

Jesse took the cracker after a few seconds of hesitation and started nibbling on it, the little girl watching Jesse before turning to her aunt. " _Aunt Cassie, do you think she'll play with me if I ask?_ "

The woman shrugged, a slightly amused smile coming over her face. " _Er, yes, I suppose so, dear. Ah, but we should probably get back to the others, they're probably missing us right about now._ "

" _I don't like Mister... Mister... uh... Mister Purple Suit._ "

Several audience members just snorted at that, unable to keep it in. Even Cassie smiled faintly, still oddly pale right about now.

Hadrian couldn't help but look down at his purple suit.

Onscreen, Jesse giggled a little at the odd nickname, and the little girl looked very pleased that she'd just made Jesse laugh. " _He just keeps calling us 'the Cassies'._ "

" _Ah, he does that to everyone,_ " the woman said, stifling some giggles now. " _He's probably going to start calling you 'Rosebud' if I let him find out your middle name. So that's our secret, okay?_ "

Several people's heads snapped to stare at Cassie.

Little Cassie Rose nodded vigorously, beaming up at her aunt. " _Okay, Auntie!_ "

" _Now say bye to Jesse._ "

" _Bye Jesse!_ "

And even though the little girl didn't look back at Jesse once, Jesse waved her arm furiously until the door clicked shut again.

" _Jesse?_ " Jace sat up right about now, blinking sleepily and a bit fuzzily at what had just happened. " _Wuzzgoinon?_ "

Jesse blinked at the wolf hybrid, whose ears were all fuzzy and whose hair was sticking up in about a billion different directions. " _Uh, nothing,_ " she hissed, coming out in a very hissy-sounding English, " _go back to sleep._ "

Jace squinted at her, before grabbing her arm and pulling back into the blankets, burying his head in her neck in a tight hug. " _'Kay._ "

Jace and Jesse exchanged sideways glances, sadder looks coming over their faces.

That was...

That looked very nice.

Real-Cassie's fists tightened.

Jesse and her...

Might've been friends, back in that world.

It was too bad that after what she'd just done, there was just no way that it could happen here.

Onscreen, Jesse shivered violently as the screen zoomed back out, before she looked up and stared at Cassie. An image of the little girl from before flashed over the current one of Cassie, the screen glitching slightly, before going back to Cassie- although long enough for the audience to see that if they weren't the same person, they sure looked it. The hair was the same shade of red, the eyes were the same color- heck, if you compared the facial structure it was scarily similar.

" _Couldn't find Cassie, but- oh!_ " Stampy jumped in surprise as he re-entered the room, Lukas and Ivor coming up behind him.

" _So, what's going on?_ " Cassie repeated, a bit harder than before.

Jesse regarded Cassie for a moment, her expression changing to one of slight confusion.

"I don't think Cassie recognizes Jesse," Gabriel whispered to Soren, who happened to be the nearest to him right now. "Judging from the reaction..."

Soren thought about it, glancing at the screen, before whispering back. "It looks like it's been 12 or 13 years since they knew each other... so I'm not entirely surprised by that."

" _I, ah... I have reason to believe that I know who the White Pumpkin is,_ " Jesse said at last, turning back so that she was looking at everyone in the room again, and not just staring at Cassie curiously.

Lukas's eyes widened. " _You do?!_ " he exclaimed, sounding a little startled. Definitely somewhat excited.

Jesse glanced at Lukas, and gave him a little nod as Winslow padded into the room, sitting on the floor and giving Cassie a funny sort of look.

" _So? Who is it?_ " Stacy asked, looking extremely curious.

Jesse took in a deep breath, all four of her lower arms dropping to her sides rather limply. " _The White Pumpkin..._ " she said, slowly, trailing off a bit.

And then she raised her right arm, drew it back, and leveled her finger in a dead point right at the culprit.

" _Is Cassie Rose!_ "

Cassie's hands curled into even tighter fists in her lap, nails digging into her palms so hard that they might just be drawing blood now. Her eyes hardened as she stared at the screen intently.

Here we go.

* * *

 **A/N: GOD I'M SO HYPED UP FOR THIS AAAAAHHHH**

 **Welp. Phantasmagoria is going on a one week hiatus... because I'm going to be updating HCM like mad until it comes out.**

 **Let's see how far we can get in one week, hm?**

 **RQTC: When do you think shit will start going down in 'real life'?**

 **:3**

 **... GUYS.**

 **AT THE TIME OF WRITING THIS CHAPTER, WE HAVE EXACTLY 2000 REVIEWS.**

 **2.**

 **THOUSAND.**

 **REVIEWS.**

 **I LOVE YOU ALL SO MUCH! Seriously, _thank you_. You have no idea how much this means to me. I'll have a gift coming out... soon :3 **

**Sorry for a shorter chapter, by the way, I just didn't know what I could possibly do for reactions this one.**

 **Responses to reviewers!**

 **S4SH4L4SH4theGaMeR101: :3**

 **sailor . mikuchan: Yay :3 / ? Uhh... Hybrid?**

 **LunarStarsMoons: (laughs) / Hahahaha xD / YAY!**

 **LittleAngelbun: (laughs) / Yay! / Yeah, HCM will be coming out with 'daily chapters'. Possibly more than just one a day, if I can manage it. The stuff for the countdown is on DeviantArt. :3**

 **Toni42: Yeah, Hevia doesn't make too much sense. / YEAAAAA**

 **RapidSammi: Aw, thanks :3 I think xD**

 **RavenBlaze4850: (laughs) / Ah, yes. xD / (blinks) Hahaha xD / I'll reveal my plans for the comic once I've actually started drawing it lol xD / Ah :3 / x3**

 **LegoGirl794: Yee :3**

 **Emily The Avenger: 2000!**

 **NoItsBecky: Oh, I am. I'm just a pre-college program for the summer lol xD / Yay!**

 **x.X. A.L. X.x**


	127. Proof and Plot Twists

" _What?!_ " Cassie almost _instantly_ protested, glaring at Jesse. " _No I'm not! Look at the facts! We caught Lukas with that White Pumpkin head_ right _after Dan and Stampy nearly got murdered! I think you're just lying to protect him!_ "

Lizzie looked over at Jesse, looking a bit apologetic. " _Well, Cassie's making a lot of sense, Jesse... do you have any evidence to back you up?_ " she asked, hesitantly.

Jesse crossed all of her arms as she breathed in deeply, before slowly letting it out and beginning to pace across the floor. " _Well, yes, actually. Something's been bothering me for quite a bit, now. Something that happened in the Great Hall right after TorqueDawg got hit by that trap._ "

" _What's that?_ " Cassie asked, rather snappishly. She was getting more and more defensive with each passing second.

" _Cassie Rose was already in the room. Nobody else was there. And TorqueDawg's picture..._ " Jesse turned around just enough for them to see her red eye, gleaming in the still-dim room, staring right at Cassie. " _Was somehow already_ crossed out."

"Oh- oh yeah!" Lizzie's eyes widened, letting out a little gasp. "That's right!"

" _Oh yeah- Jesse's right!_ " Onscreen-Lizzie realized, eyes widening in shock.

"I just said that."

Half of the audience snorted at that offhand comment.

Cassie stuttered for a second, before her eyes hardened and she regained her composure. " _That doesn't prove anything! Lukas is still_ way _guiltier looking!_ " she snapped, defensively.

"Very mature of you, Cassie," Em drawled, eyes still fixed on the screen. Real-Cassie shot her an annoyed look.

" _How about this then?_ " Jesse fired back immediately, " _when we were down in the basement, we found the White Pumpkin's secret lair. And inside, we found some rather_ interesting _items. Items for the White Pumpkin's evening... 'festivities'. And there was one rather important detail. The White Pumpkin had portraits. All ready to go, pre X'ed out, one for each of us..._ except _for Cassie._ "

Stacy gasped, hands going to her mouth.

" _Ooh! That's good,_ " Ivor said, sounding almost... _proud_ of Jesse in that moment. Jesse grinned back at him, and gave Lukas a little smile as well when she noticed the relieved and grateful smile spreading over his face.

" _You're doing great, Jesse,_ " Petra told the spider hybrid, sending her an almost _literally_ beaming grin, " _now, go in for the kill."_ She paused, before adding, " _Metaphorically._ "

Jesse looked straight at Cassie, eyes beginning to turn a vibrant shade of red. " _But it was the last piece of the puzzle that helped me figure out who we were all_ really _dealing with here._ " She leaned forward a bit. "Cats. _Dozens of calico cats. And they all looked just. Like. Winslow._ "

Winslow's ears perked up a bit at the sound of his name.

Cassie stepped in front of the cat, who completely curled up behind her as she scoffed slightly. " _An amusing story, Jesse. But if you saw all of these supposed cats just like mine, then what color_ is _Winslow?_ "

Jesse blinked at the question in slight surprise, and Cassie took the opportunity to press on. " _Shouldn't be a problem if you saw a_ hundred _of him._ "

The spider hybrid met Cassie's gaze directly, red eyes glowing slightly. " _Winslow,_ " she stated, calmly, " _is black, white, and orange._ "

Cassie stepped aside, glancing at Winslow... to reveal that he was indeed, black, white and orange.

"Oh my Notch." Lukas glanced over at Cassie, his stomach beginning to drop slightly in anxiety. "You're... you're the... you're the murderer?"

A blast of thunder on their end made all of the audience members jump out of their skin a bit, looking around frantically.

Cassie remained silent, staring rather blankly at the screen.

" _Cassie... is this all true?_ " Stacy asked the redhead, uncomfortably.

" _This whole scheme has been about getting a portal key, hasn't it?_ " Jesse asked, voice hardening as she spoke. " _Killing_ whoever _gets in your way just to get your hands on it!_ "

Cassie's eyes were wide as she glanced around, before looking right at Jesse... and then her expression went completely blank. She straightened up a bit, staring at Jesse evenly.

And slowly began applauding. " _How_ very _clever, Jesse,_ " she told the spider hybrid, coldly.

Real-Cassie felt something wet on her cheeks. She looked up to see if the roof was leaking or something, but there was nothing there- just darkness, as the glow from the screen wasn't enough to illuminate up that far.

It wasn't until she felt her throat closing up painfully that she realized she was crying.

She stopped applauding and turned away, strolling away slowly. " _Well. I guess that's it, then. You caught me._ " And she turned back around, green eyes filled with an almost _icy_ hatred. " _I am the murderer._ "

And a blast of thunder and lightning lit up the room, making several people jump a little bit in surprise.

"Oh Notch." Sparklez scooted away, staring at Cassie in near-horror. "You're... you..." He was stuttering and it was a wonder that he was even able to form words right now, he looked so simply _stunned_. "You're the White Pumpkin...?"

"... yes."

Cassie's affirmation was so quiet that it almost went unheard. But of course, it didn't.

Jesse's hands were clasped to her mouth in stunned surprise, while Lukas was steadily tightening his death hug on Jesse, Reuben letting out a little whine and shrinking back a bit. Petra and Jace's hands were intertwined, Petra squeezing it as tightly as she could and possibly cutting off Jace's circulation; but Jace was too shocked to care. Olivia was gasping for breath, while Axel simply looked stunned.

Ivor turned from where he was perched in his seat, eyes wide in shock as he regarded the girl with her head tilted forward and a shadow over her eyes. Soren was simply frowning, looking slightly confused now, while Ellegaard was death-hugging Magnus (who was also staring at Cassie in shock) and Gabriel was just mouthing words to himself silently, too shocked to actually say them aloud.

Maya's hand was at her mouth as she glanced over at Cassie, Gill's back pressing into the couch as he did his best to get away from Cassie. Aiden was just staring at Cassie blankly in surprise, looking as if he honestly didn't really know how to react. Isa was death-hugging Milo, who now had a frantically clucking Benedict in his lap and a Founder practically hanging off of him. Reginald was biting his nails anxiously as his gaze flickered from the screen to the red-haired girl sitting on the couch next to Aiden.

Stampy and Dan were practically wrapped around one another in a tight hug, while Lizzie and Stacy were exchanging shocked looks and Sparklez looked as if he might just _faint_ right now, he was honestly looking so incredibly stunned. Harper was hugging Ivor tightly, but also staring at Cassie in slight confusion at this point, while Em and Nell were exchanging shocked looks.

Slab's mouth was hanging open, while the other two gladiators already had their weapons out and at the ready in case she tried to attack someone. Hadrian glanced at Cassie, frowning a bit at the red-haired murderer. Mevia was also frowning a little in confusion, and Otto simply looked bewildered by this turn of events. They... _remembered_ Cassie. She hadn't been this way before.

What _had_ happened to Cassie?

" _I just don't believe this,_ " Stacy exclaimed, frowning.

" _I know, I was shocked too,_ " Stampy told her, eyes widening a little bit as he looked over at the brown-haired girl.

"Same here," Em muttered under her breath.

" _I'm relieved... but also surprised,_ " Lukas murmured, his tail twitching a bit as he absorbed this new information about the identity of the murderer.

Ivor hummed thoughtfully, tilting his head. " _Always the quiet ones._ "

Jesse frowned, looking a little bemused now. " _But... what did any of us ever do to you?_ " she asked the red-haired girl at last, simply looking confused about the matter.

" _Directly? Nothing,_ " Cassie replied, almost _casually_ , shrugging her shoulders slightly, before her gaze hardened and she stepped closer to Jesse. " _But you_ idiots _had the one thing that I most desperately needed. I've been stuck, in this stupid world, with it's_ stupid _two moons, for YEARS. Trapped!_ " She started walking around, glaring into everyone's eyes as she circled around them. " _With a portal_ RIGHT UNDER MY NOSE, _but no key to open it! That is..._ " And she slowly turned around, facing them all. " _Until I_ finally _heard that this world's portal key had been found._ "

She crossed her arms, staring coldly at all of them, as the ones that she might've once called friends- and the new adventurers- glared at the red-haired girl angrily. " _I knew it was one of you... so I tried my best to earn your friendship. Figure out who had it._ "

" _How could you, Cassie?!_ " Lizzie burst out, glaring at the redhead intensely.

Real-Cassie felt a tear sliding down her cheek now. Winslow mewed up at his owner, giving something akin to a frown as he regarded her. Aiden glanced at her too, before sighing and putting an arm around her in an attempt to comfort her.

A moment later, she curled up into herself, leaning into the slightly-taller boy, feeling her shoulders start to shake as she buried her head in her arms.

It had been... almost nice, really.

To forget why she'd been so angry, for once.

To stop obsessing over getting out of that world with two moons.

To have people that she actually liked.

To have people that liked _her_.

Why was it that when she had something... even if for a moment... it just escaped her reach again?

Jesse simply stared at Cassie for a moment, a slightly sadder look coming over her face as she regarded the redhead.

Ivor glared at Cassie onscreen, making a noise in the back of his throat. " _You're despicable,_ " he told her, coldly.

Lukas nodded, gesturing at him a bit. " _And he knows despicable._ "

"Hey!" Real-Ivor exclaimed, gathering a few giggles from a still-rather-nervous audience.

" _We need to do something with you, 'Cassie Rose',_ " Stacy said, the last two words becoming almost... mocking, in a way. Angry.

" _I vote we build an obsidian prison, and surround it with lava!_ " Stampy exclaimed, stepping forward and glaring at Cassie-

" _No no no no no I won't let you do that, I can't! No!_ " Cassie immediately started backing away, shaking badly as she looked around them, eyes darting around as if she'd been trapped in a corner, before nearly _snarling_ at Jesse. " _This is YOUR_ _fault!_ You _did this to me!_ "

"Oh..." Real-Jesse looked a little bewildered, before her expression changed to a sadder one, and she slowly started looking back down at her lap. "I'm... sorry..."

"Hey- what did Jesse even _do?!_ " Jace exclaimed, glaring at Real-Cassie.

"Yeah, YOU were the one who murdered people!" Lukas exclaimed, tightening his arm around Jesse in his tight hug.

"Why is Jesse even apologizing?" Petra mumbled under her breath.

Ivor glanced over at Cassie, his innards twisting as he remembered something.

* * *

 _Onscreen, the group stared at the portal in varying levels of horror, Jesse slowly catching her breath and looking at Ivor._

 _He caught her eye and glowered at her. "_ You ruined _everything," he accused her._

 _Jesse's fists tightened, and she stared at the ground._

 _"Oh, crud," Jesse sighed, leaning forward onto one elbow. "Looks like I'm about to start blaming myself for everything."_

 _"Do you do that?" Jace asked her._

 _Jesse let out a short bark of laughter. "Yeah. When things go really wrong, I manage to convince myself that I'm the reason everything got so messed up. I guess that's 'cause of the way I was raised."_

* * *

Ivor's lips tightened, and he returned his attention to the screen.

Onscreen, the whole group started moving towards Cassie, Winslow meowing and running away, as Cassie whipped out a diamond axe, glaring at them all. The spider hybrid kept walking and drew her sword, holding it out more defensively than anything else.

" _I'll fight all of you!_ " Cassie nearly _snarled_ , " _each and every_ one _of you! I'll-_ " She suddenly let out a shout as the floor dropped out beneath her, the screen switching to show Jesse, Lizzie, and Stacy jerking back in surprise, before sand suddenly plummeted from the ceiling and slammed into the floor.

"Oh _sh!t!_ " Petra exclaimed, in shock.

Stampy gasped, running towards the mountain of sand. " _Another trap! C'mon, we need to dig her out!_ " he exclaimed, beginning to punch through the sand blocks as they heard Cassie's muffled shrieks beneath the sand.

Real-Cassie looked up from where she'd been curling into a ball, blinking in surprise. Her face was still mostly hidden, but you could see her overly bright, shiny green eyes, brimming over with tears.

Lizzie and Dan joined in quickly, but Stacy scoffed and turned away. " _After everyone she's hurt?_ " she huffed, " _she can dig herself out._ "

" _She did terrible things, but no one deserves_ this!" Lizzie exclaimed, giving Stacy a look, before returning to punching through the sand blocks.

Jesse stood there for a moment, looking from Stacy to Cassie, before rushing over and punching through the sand blocks herself. She punched through one, then another, and then punched one that was sitting in the floor- and stopped, eyes widening.

The screen panned down to show an arrow and a lever floating up through the sand.

"Oh-!" Sparklez blinked in surprise, eyes widening.

Stampy paused in his digging onscreen, eyes widening. " _Wait- look,_ " he exclaimed, standing up. The screen switched to show Lizzie, Stampy, Jesse, and Lukas all standing around the part of the floor that had caved in, an arrow, the lever, an Ender Pearl, a pufferfish, and a piece of redstone was floating in.

"She's... dead," Gabriel said, blinking in surprise. None of them seemed to really know what to say about that.

Jesse squinted at the screen for a minute or so, before shaking her head. "No. She's not."

Several sets of eyes turned to stare at Jesse. "But- Jesse, her inventory-" Petra began, hesitantly.

"But she was holding an axe just now; we saw it. If she had the axe just now... where is it? _"_

Everyone blinked, and returned to looking at the screen- and Ellegaard put one hand to her temple in realization. "Oh- yes." She frowned. "How did I not notice that before?"

" _I can't believe it,_ " Stampy said, after a second's pause, staring at the pit with her items floating around, " _she's... gone._ "

" _What a way to go,_ " Ivor mumbled.

" _Yeah, I guess in all the chaos... she forgot where her own traps were. Wow,_ " Petra mumbled, tilting her head as she stared into the pit.

"But... her inventory isn't fully there...? Jesse just pointed that out, but..."

Ivor cut Harper off. "Yes, but I imagine that in all this chaos, it was a bit easy to forget that. Especially with so many things beginning to happen in such a short amount of time."

Onscreen, Jesse frowned a bit. " _... I feel kinda bad for Cassie. She did some awful things, but... no one deserves to be trapped away from home like that,"_ she said, at last.

Real-Cassie could feel her throat closing up a little bit, and her breath was catching as she did her best to inhale properly.

She wasn't doing the best job.

Stampy sighed. " _If only she had just asked us for_ help _... we could've avoided this whole thing._ "

"You wouldn't even tell _Jesse_ when you had the flint and steel. Why would you have told me?!" Cassie snapped, making all of them shift back in surprise at the venom in her voice.

"Well, in my case, none of you guys actually KNOW me that much. They knew you. Besides, I was an outsider who they were rather suspicious of. You were a friend. And friends help friends," Jesse reasoned.

Cassie scowled. "That's not what I've learned," she muttered, in a low enough voice that none of them could actually catch it. "I can't trust anyone here."

Her eyes flickered to Hadrian and Mevia, before she looked away.

Onscreen, Jesse blinked as she noticed something, and turned around. " _Hey... it's morning,_ " she said softly, blinking a bit, before approaching the window and hopping up onto the sill to have a look, Lukas following her.

The screen switched to show zombies keeling over and dying in the morning sunlight, flames dancing over a lot of said zombies.

Jesse and Lukas turned back around, walking towards the others with slightly bemused looks on their faces. Stampy turned around as well, looking a little bewildered now. " _I... I guess that's it, then,_ " he said after a few moments of stunned shock.

Stacy chuckled a bit, smiling. " _Yeah, we're free!_ "

" _And we're alive!_ " Ivor exclaimed, eyes widening slightly. " _Let's, er, let's not waste it standing around. There could still be traps EVERYWHERE in here!_ " And he moved to leave.

"Very comforting, Ivor," Magnus muttered sarcastically.

"Hey, but it's true!"

Onscreen, the others followed him, the screen panning down to show Cassie's things still floating around in the pit.

Real-Cassie could feel her stomach clenching into a tight little knot, her breathing becoming quicker and quicker.

"We're nowhere near finished yet, are we?" Sparklez mumbled, a rather fearful shadow falling over his eyes as he stared at the screen.

There was a deathly silence in the room, before Jesse simply shook her head a little bit.

"No. We're not."

* * *

 **A/N: Expect a LOT of updates in short amounts of times for this next week, guys. And I mean LOTS.**

 **To those of you who read Hybrid, I _did_ change this part of the story a BIT more drastically than before... but you're going to have to see how. (smiles)**

 **Things are going to go down very, VERY soon.**

 **RQTC: When was Hybrid published? (Without looking at the story stats.)**

 **LunarStarsMoons: THANKS FAM / INDEED! / Right? x3 / Hmmmmm... something along those lines.**

 **Emily The Avenger: (screams with you)**

 **RapidSammi: Nope; no one's killing Cassie. She's a MURDERER, and she's smart. They don't wanna try, because she could easily outsmart them.**

 **InsaneAcrobat: No xD / (laughs) / Ahh, gotcha. / I see. (nods) / I'm assuming you haven't read the original Hybrid yet? If so, don't read it; it'll be more fun without reading it :3 / No problem fam!**

 **sailor . mikuchan: (laughs)**

 **Toni42: Nope~ :3 / I loved writing it!**

 **RavenBlaze4850: (laughs) / Hehehe xD / Very true. :3 / Ehhh. / (winks)**

 **giriri: Indeed. / (laughs) / ?**

 **PoptartCrumbs: Yeeeeaaaaaaa boi xD or gurl xD I'm sorry, terrible spelling is on purpose xD**

 **x.X. A.L. X.x**


	128. Goodbyes and Surprises

The screen switched to show the mansion silhouetted against the sky filled with sunrise-illuminated clouds, before panning down to show zombies keeling over and the main, iron doors flying open.

It then switched again to show Jesse, Ivor, Lukas, and the others walking out onto the steps, Ivor letting out a happy sigh. " _Ah... I've never been so happy to smell rotting flesh!_ " he exclaimed, the screen zooming out again to show more zombies falling forward and dying, their dying poofs and moans accompanying the sound fire crackling.

"That's a statement I never thought I'd hear from Ivor," Gabriel grinned.

"That's a statement I never thought I'd hear from _anybody_ ," Soren replied, but he too was smiling rather broadly.

Ivor was too busy sitting back a little bit and taking a little breather to really snap back at them, though he did give them a half-hearted, irritated look before returning his attention to the screen.

Onscreen, Lukas visibly gagged, clamping his hands over his nose tightly. " _Speak for yourself..._ " he muttered, sounding rather nasal now as he continued to make little gagging sounds.

"Oh yeah..." Jace reached over and patted a wincing Lukas, "I forgot how strong his sense of smell is in that world."

"Yeah, that does NOT look like fun."

"No, really?"

" _Yeah, that is..._ " Jesse winced at that, pinching her own nose shut as well. "Yikes _, that is pretty gross._ "

They all turned back to look as Lizzie said, sounding rather sad as she approached them with Stacy and Stampy flanking her sides, " _I just feel bad that Sparklez isn't here to smell it._ "

"Yeah, we'll miss you a lot, Jordan," Lizzie said sadly, reaching out and squeezing the boy's shoulder slightly. Sparklez gave Lizzie a sad little smile.

"It's okay, Lizzie. I'm just glad that no one else got hurt after I did."

"I don't think that would've been the case if Jesse hadn't been there," Dan said, shooting Jesse a grateful look.

"Yes, she really saved us back there," Stampy agreed, giving Jesse a smile that she cheerfully returned.

"Who's Jordan?" Mevia wondered, looking over at the group of YouTubers blankly.

Sparklez stared at Mevia blankly for a few seconds, before snapping his fingers in realization. "Oh- that's my real name. I just usually go by Sparklez 'cause that's how most people know me."

"Why 'Captain Sparklez' then?" Soren wondered.

"Well, who'd forget 'Captain Sparklez'?" Sparklez pointed out.

"Fair point."

" _... and TorqueDawg and Cassie, I guess,_ " Lizzie added, a bit reluctantly.

Real-Cassie winced a bit, but said nothing as she rubbed her arm rather awkwardly.

Onscreen, Stampy frowned, looking rather sad now. " _Aw, that's a good point..._ " he said softly, Stacy squeezing her eyes shut and blinking tears out of her eyes as she looked down at her feet. Dan looked away and rubbed his arm awkwardly, a sadder look coming over his face.

" _Yeahh, sorry to be a downer,_ " Lizzie said, softly. " _Just can't stop thinking about it._ "

" _I'm sorry,_ " Jesse said simply, " _I tried my hardest, but... there was nothing we could do._ "

Stampy waved his hands quickly in surrender. " _Oh, we all know that, Jesse. It's not your fault._ "

Dan perked up a bit, putting his hands on his hips. " _Yeah, lucky for us that portal brought you here,_ " he said with a nod.

" _Speaking of which,_ " Ivor said calmly, coming up behind Jesse and making her look over at him with a mild look, " _I have no idea how to begin finding our exit portal._ "

Jesse's face turned into a blank, thoughtful one, and she started walking away a bit, crossing her arms thoughtfully, as Stampy said with his hands on his hips, thoughtfully, " _Well, Cassie said it was 'right under her nose', right?_ "

" _That's true,_ " Jesse hummed, looking around the mansion, " _maybe it's nearby..._ " She turned around... and then blinked in surprise.

The screen switched to show, in the distance, near the forest, the portal.

"Oh." Otto blinked, a frown creasing his face. "That's... a little too easy, is it not?"

"Yeah... is the portal booby trapped?" Jesse asked, looking over at Cassie.

Cassie was silent for a moment, before realizing there wasn't really much point at this point. "Yes... that, and it's not actually the real portal, either," she said at last.

"Oh- you can create fake portals?" Harper blinked over at Cassie.

"Yeah; you just have to have the 'wrong' material but have it look really similar and the portal won't work- since besides the Nether and the End, you can't have portals directly to other worlds- you can only use it to head back to the portal network instead," Cassie responded, looking over at Harper and wiping her face quickly. She thought about it for a second and then added, "Or, well, just blatantly wrong material. Either way works."

Harper fell quiet, face going slightly blank. "... huh."

Ivor glanced at her, but she didn't expand on it.

The screen switched to show, in sharper relief, the golden portal that looked a bit like a skull with two eyes and a big mouth over a bridge with some Sea Lantern lamplights lighting it up, along with a couple of torches.

" _Hey!_ " Jesse exclaimed with a little laugh as she descended the stairs, staring at it, " _whaddaya know, there it is!_ "

" _A fabulous coincidence!_ " Ivor exclaimed, grinning a bit in relief.

"They don't think it's suspicious at _all?_ " Hadrian mumbled, raising his eyebrow at the group onscreen.

"In our defense, we watched two people get murdered and a third one 'die' right in front of our eyes. We're probably a little wound up and just trying to get the heck out of there," Lukas responded, eyes still fixed on the screen.

"... good point."

" _So..._ " Stacy, Lizzie, Dan, and Stampy strolled away a few steps so that they were all standing in a small group. " _I guess this is goodbye, then, huh._ "

"Oh... yeah." Stampy gave the group on the floor a cheerful grin. "I bet we're sure gonna miss you guys!"

"Yeah, it was... well, not _fun_ , but-" Jesse grinned as Lizzie rubbed her head awkwardly. "It was definitely nice to meet you!"

"Yeah, totally," Petra said, giving them a grin.

" _It's... it's not really a goodbye,_ " Jesse said, after a moment, tilting her head to the side, " _it's more like a... see you later._ "

The YouTubers all grinned as they remembered that line from the fourth episode.

Lukas chuckled and nodded at the statement. " _Yeah. Just let us know if you ever accidentally find yourselves in OUR world, haha._ "

" _Well, I mean, that's a nice offer and all..._ " Dan trailed off, wincing a bit awkwardly, as Lizzie picked up a second later, " _but I don't think we'll be portal-HOPPING without a portal_ key _._ " Behind them, Stampy's smile dropped off of his face, and he anxiously started tapping his lip.

" _Oh, well... I think Stampy's got you covered there,_ " Jesse said, giving Stampy a coaxing look.

Lizzie and Dan both looked a little bewildered at that. " _What do you mean?_ " Dan asked, turning to stare at Stampy in bewilderment.

Stampy fidgeted for a few seconds longer, before reaching into his pockets and pulling out the flint and steel anxiously.

Dan and Lizzie's eyes widened, and they both looked at each other in shock, before Lizzie whipped around to glare at Stampy, throwing her hands into the air. "You _stole the portal key from Dan?!_ " she exclaimed.

" _You had it the whole time?!_ " Dan nearly cut her off, looking extremely upset about this.

Stampy winced as he moved away a bit. " _It was just meant to be a prank, a harmless prank, and I am so sorry, so very very sorry,_ " he apologized profusely.

"Awww, it's okay Stamp," Dan said, pulling Stampy closer to him in a one-armed hug. Only, he misjudged the distance, and as he tugged Stampy over Stampy lost his balance somewhat and Dan's lips made contact with Stampy's cheek in a loud, somewhat sloppy kiss.

Lizzie's eyes lit up as she exchanged a grin with Stacy, and Sparklez grinned, his teeth actually showing in the grin, as Stampy attempted to launch himself backwards babbling out an endless series of apologies. "I- I am so sorry, so sorry, so very, very, very, VERY sorry-!" he spluttered, cheeks flushing a hot red. Not that he was the only one; Dan's pink face was only rivaled by his hair right now.

Nell was squealing under her breath, hands clasped to her mouth, while Jesse and Lukas were grinning broadly at them. "Aw, what are you sorry for? That was cute," Jesse said mildly.

Their faces- Dan and Stampy's- went even redder.

" _Yeah, come on, it's_ Stampy _,_ " Stacy replied, patting Lizzie on the back, " _you know he would never actually try to_ hurt _anyone._ "

" _Aw, c'mon, lay off Stampy,_ " Jesse said mildly, giving a little shrug, " _like he said, it was just a prank._ "

" _A prank that went pretty badly, if you ask me,_ " Dan grumbled, giving his Stampy a slightly annoyed look (Stampy shrank back a bit from the glare).

Lizzie let out a long sigh, tilting her head to one side tiredly. " _Besides... after all this drama, I might be done with flint and steel and portals, anyway._ "

" _Well, like Lukas said,_ " Petra said lightly, giving them a big grin, " _if you ever change your mind, you're totally welcome in our world._ "

" _Yeah!_ " Jesse said cheerfully to that, shrugging a bit, " _you can share the flint and steel- make, like, your own Order of the Stone or whatever!_ "

"There's going to be quite a lot of Order of the Stones running around by the time this is over, huh?" Magnus mumbled to Ellegaard. The redstone engineer just couldn't help but laugh at that.

Dan tilted his head thoughtfully, before giving a little nod. " _Noted._ "

" _Yeah, I guess I could live with that,_ " Lizzie said, crossing her arms and giving a cheerful little nod at that.

" _Yes, that's a wonderful idea!_ " Stampy agreed to the idea, rather eagerly.

There was a short pause, where the two groups of four were just looking at each other somewhat awkwradly, before Stacy said, " _Uh, well... I'm not great at goodbyes, so... I'm actually going to just start walking home?_ " She started backing away, before turning around and lifting her arm in a friendly wave. " _Thanks for everything!_ "

The group watched her go, before Lizzie looked back at them and gave them a cheerful smile. " _Me too. Bye you guys!_ " She lifted her own arm in a wave, grinning at them, before following Stacy away.

" _Yeah, me too,_ " Dan agreed, turning and following Lizzie with a cheerful parting wave, " _travel safe you guys!_ "

Stacy watched them go, before slipping the flint and steel back into his pocket and flailing his arm in a wave. " _Byeeeeeee!_ " he told them in a sing-songy way, before running off behind them, flailing his arms.

Several members of the audience chuckled a bit at that.

"I'm sure we'll miss you guys," Jesse told them cheerfully, making all of the YouTubers grin at her. "You've been so wonderful to... well, do stuff with."

"No problem," Sparklez said, adjusting his glasses slightly with a smile.

The onscreen group waved goodbye, Ivor chuckling and shaking his head slightly. " _What a strange, strange bunch of individuals,_ " he said, but he said in a mild voice- perhaps even a little fond, before they all started walking towards the portal.

" _Cassie Whatshername was talking about being trapped here... from another world,_ " Ivor said, as they continued walking towards the portal. " _What if_ she _was one of the Old Builders?_ "

A few groans from a few of the occupants in the room, and a few more subtle winces.

" _Portal keys, other worlds... it all add ups, I guess,_ " Petra murmured, thoughtfully.

" _That's too bad if it_ is _true..._ " Jesse sighed, rubbing her head slightly, " _seeing as she turned out to be, y'know, the White Pumpkin and all._ "

" _Yes..._ " Ivor's face fell a little bit at that as well as he realized the truth in that statement. " _Hadn't thought about that._ "

Petra finally sighed a bit herself as they reached the portal. " _I just can't believe that we finally met someone who_ might _be an Old Builder... and she's a pumpkin-wearing serial killer. Typical._ "

Real-Jesse got a small fit of the giggles.

Isa frowned a bit at that. What about her?

" _Well, here we are,_ " Ivor said, putting his hands on his hips almost cheerfully. " _Would you care to do the honors, Jesse?_ "

Jesse grinned back, the spider hybrid's lower arms reaching into her pockets and pulling out the flint and steel, the blue glow illuminating her face slightly.

"Here we go," Aiden muttered, Cassie looking over at him. To her surprise, though, he didn't look foreboding or ominous- he actually looked a bit...

Interested.

Huh.

She gave him a weak little smile, experimentally.

He returned it.

Jesse clicked the flint and steel together, the column of blue fire shooting into the air... before dying back down, Jesse simply looking at the portal with confusion now. " _... huh?_ " she said, after a moment of surprise.

She turned back around a second later, flint and steel still in her hands, eyes narrowing in a suspicious way. " _That's... weird..._ "

The screen suddenly switched to show the top of the portal... which Winslow poked his head over with a meow. Jesse's eyes widened, and she looked around and up. Winslow was regarding them, still meowing away. " _Winslow?_ " Jesse asked, sounding somewhat bewildered.

" _That's strange..._ " the ground suddenly started rumbling as the shot switched to show the group from Winslow's perspective, and the blocks beneath them suddenly dropped out, all of them letting out shocked yells as they dropped down- and the flint and steel flew out of Jesse's hands, the screen slowing down, the spider hybrid's eyes wide as she dropped down the chute.

"Oh _crap!_ " Axel yelled, leaning forward so much he nearly clonked Olivia's head on the coffee table.

The screen sped out as it slowly zoomed out from the portal, the flint and steel dropping into the hole after them. Winslow let out another meow, getting up, before mewing and hopping down the hole after them.

The screen blacked out.

Aiden suddenly felt chills run up his back, and it had absolutely nothing to do with what was about to happen.

Well, no, it _did_ have something to do with what was about to happen, but it wasn't the main reason. Not by a long shot.

He could feel something grabbing his ankle.

* * *

 **A/N: Very, VERY short chapter. You can tell that this wasn't in the original Hybrid. Sorry. There's just not much I can really do for reactions.**

 **So shit's gonna go down next chapter, but it's gonna be happening both IN REAL LIFE and onscreen.**

 **It's gonna be a fun chapter~**

 **Answer to the previous question was September 3rd. I hope you didn't cheat and look at the story stats BEFORE YOU GUESSED, seeing as I specifically asked you not to. :3**

 **RQTC: What do you think is holding Aiden's ankle?**

 **LunarStarsMoons: Uh, sure :3 / Nope, but close :3**

 **Mason: (laughs) / (laUGHS) / ... well, correct. xD / RIGHT?!**

 **giriri: Did you cheat and look at the story stats before guessing, or did you memorize the dates? Because considering _I_ don't remember... xD**

 **sailor . mikuchan: No spoilers.**

 **S4SH4L4SH4theGaMer101: x3 True. / (laughs)**

 **RapidSammi: Sure thing! Actually, I can do better than that. xD / (grins~) / (nods) / I see.**

 **LegoGirl794: That has nothing to do with the chapter, but thank you! I wish the same to you!**

 **NoItsBecky: Correct on the second one! / No spoilers x3 / Yep! / ... trust me I have no idea xD**

 **x.X. A.L. X.x**


	129. Chaos and We Need to Talk

Aiden's breath was frozen in his lungs. He couldn't move, couldn't blink, couldn't breathe. All that he could feel was his heart thudding away in his chest, and that... _thing_ wrapped around his ankle, and he didn't _dare_ look down from the currently-black screen to see what the heck this was supposed to be. They weren't 'inky', like Jesse had described... but then again they definitely felt like hands. He had to wonder for a second if this was some sort of prank.

Screaming came on onscreen, but for a moment they wondered if it was some sort of flashback or something- the screen was completely blank.

Then, a slightly glowing Petra, a glowing red eye, a slightly glowing pair of BLUE eyes, and another set of eyes appeared onscreen, all of them plummeting down before giving a loud collective "OOF!" as they crashed into the ground... wherever the ground was. A moment later, the four of them stood up, Petra looking around in bewilderment.

" _What... happened?_ " Ivor asked, sounding disoriented.

" _I can't see a thing..._ " Petra muttered, squinting around and peering around, " _it's pitch black in here..._ "

Suddenly, lights flickered on to show that they were in... somewhere, with obsidian walls and glowing redstone torches barely illuminating them. The screen looked up, as more and more lights thudded on to reveal that they'd fallen into a huge cavern, with criss-crossing bridges above them and a ceiling that was so far up that the torchlight didn't reach it.

" _Well that's..._ " Lukas looked back down, ears twitching in a slightly disturbed way, " _ominous..._ "

Ivor was looking around, frowning. " _Do you hear that...?_ " he asked, in a hushed voice- and now that the audience was listening closer, they could hear these odd squeaking noises.

Aiden finally was able to get the courage to slowly- _slowly_ \- tilt his head down...

And abruptly screamed.

Everyone's head snapped to face the dark-haired boy as he scrambled back, frantically trying to get away-

From a pair of shadowy, grabbing hands in the floor.

"What the _f*ck?!_ " Cassie screamed, eyes widening as she scrambled onto the couch, avoiding the shadow hands, that were grabbing at them.

They were not deterred by Aiden getting out of reach though, and reared out of the floor, lunging and reaching for him-

Aiden flinched back with a yell, lost his balance, and let out a shout as he tumbled backwards over the back of the couch-

And landed on something small and chilly and oddly bouncy.

"Excuse me, good sir," said the highest, most squeakiest voice any of the audience members had heard in their life, "but would you kindly get your ass off of my face?"

Aiden shrieked again and launched himself backwards again, several sets of eyes following him...

To see the stereotypical sort of 'bedsheet' ghost floating in place where Aiden had just fallen, albeit on a much smaller scale and looking very, very cute.

Onscreen, Jesse frowned and approached the the edge of the bridge... and another set of lights abruptly flickered on, showing that there were _hundreds_ of spider-like bodies, except without the legs, scrambling around in the pit below, squeaking away.

" _Endermites!_ " Ivor shouted in alarm.

" _And there it is, Jesse!_ " Cassie's voice rang out, several people whirling around to look back at the screen, to see that on a ledge some distance above the little bridge that they'd landed on, Cassie Rose was standing there and looking down at them. " _You're trapped! Stuck!_ " She let out a chilling laugh, before looking back down at Jesse with wide eyes. " _Just like_ I've _been in this_ rotten _world!_ "

Jesse simply blinked up at Cassie, looking a bit bewildered. " _Nothing to say for yourself, huh? I can respect that._ " The redhead let out a soft, chilling chuckle.

Cassie would've reacted, but she was now staring at the little ghost with wide eyes. "... what the huh?"

"Apologies for the sudden intrusion. You're currently in quite a lot of danger. Duck."

Cassie wrinkled her nose at the ghost in confusion, tilting her head. "... did... you just call me 'duck'?"

"No- I meant actually. Duck."

Cassie suddenly became aware- somehow- of something hurtling at her head. She threw herself sideways; just in time to avoid the vase that came spinning _just_ over her head and smashed into the wall, shattering into about twenty pieces.

"What the hell?!" Cassie shouted, shakily. "Is this thing trying to _kill_ me?!"

"That's an accurate statement, yes."

Harper suddenly stiffened, her hands tightening on Ivor's sleeve- enough that it made Ivor grunt a bit in pain and look over at the white-haired woman. Harper had turned oddly pale at the sight of the black-haired woman... man... um... being standing behind the couch, resting one hand on the back of the couch and watching the scene with a rather dispassionate look.

With a rather large scythe strapped to their back.

" _I don't know how much time you've spent with Endermites,_ " Cassie chuckled onscreen, most of the audience frantically trying to figure out where to put their attention, " _but the poor things are_ eternally _hungry. I would throw the flint and steel up_ here... _"_ Jesse started patting her pockets, before her eyes widened in shock. " _Before I drop you down to find out how sharp their teeth are._ "

" _Uh, guys? I just realized- I dropped the flint and steel when we fell,_ " Jesse whispered, Lukas starting a bit at that realization. " _I have no idea where it went._ "

" _Uhh, tick tock tick tock, Jesse? What's it gonna be?_ " Cassie called, making them all look back up at the red-haired girl, " _the flint and steel? Or your LIVES?_ "

"I'm sure I'd give the flint and steel if I _actually had it-_ " Jesse was cut off as Lukas abruptly threw himself backwards, back slamming into the floor with a grunt. Over their heads, a rather large glass ornament from the hallway came soaring over her nose and smashed into the coffee table, making Reuben squeal in alarm and Jace jerk back a bit.

" _Just give me the flint and steel,_ " Cassie said in a steely voice, " _And I'll let you go free._ "

"Facemeat doesn't trust the red girl!" Facemeat grumbled, before abruptly throwing his arm to block his face as a book came shooting off of the shelf and slammed into his arm.

" _I don't believe her,_ " Ivor whispered into Lukas's ear, making the three hybrids all look at him- Lukas with wide eyes and perked up ears, Petra in a glare, and Jesse in a worried look.

Cassie continued, mildly, " _Just because_ I _hate this place doesn't mean it's so bad. I'm sure you're_ way _dumber than I am- you'll probably acclimate and learn to love it._ "

"Wow. Thanks," Real-Jesse deadpanned from where she was now lying on Lukas's chest, the blonde groaning- he'd just smacked his head into the wood floor rather painfully.

"Accli- _what_?!" Gill exclaimed.

"This is nuts!" Petra shouted over the _pure bloody chaos_ that was starting up right about now.

"W-who are you? I- I saw you upstairs earlier, in the upstairs hallway!" Harper shouted to the figure, who, now that the audience was paying a tiny bit more attention to, was wearing mostly gray clothing, simply turned to look at Harper.

"My apologies. I'm Gray. This is Smokey." Gray indicated themself, then the tiny stereotypical bedsheet ghost still hovering near Aiden. "I'm here for the night because a friend called in a favor."

"Look, Mister... Mrs... Mister... Mrs..." Aiden trailed off, his face going blank, before frowning a bit at the reaper. "Uh, sorry- are- are you a female, or a male, or...?"

Gray turned to look at Aiden, who was just blinking up at them in bemusement. "I am a supernatural being that reaps the souls of the dead," they replied, simply.

"... wait, so you're a reaper?" Soren asked, the cogs clicking together in his head and backing himself away from the reaper a bit, eyes widening.

"Yes," they replied simply.

There was a sharp intake of breath, and several people backed away from the reaper.

Said reaper gave their eyes a slight roll in irritation at the reactions. "Oh, calm down. I'm not here to reap your souls or anything like that- like I said, a friend called in a favor." Casually, Gray let the scythe slide off of their shoulders, twirled it, and slammed it into the floor near Aiden's head, shattering a rather large glass object that had been hurtling at his head without him noticing.

"Oh- th-thank you," Aiden managed. He would've said more, but his tongue was completely tied, and he wasn't sure if he was feeling more like passing out or running away screaming.

"No problem," Gray replied.

Onscreen, Jesse tilted her head. " _Hey, I'm- I'm sure we can work something out!_ " she called up, " _how about we share?_ " And she gave a slightly nervous smile.

" _For Notch's sake, Jesse- not everyone is as_ nice _as you are!_ " the narrator snapped at the spider hybrid. Gray glanced at the screen for some reason before returning their gaze to the rest of the group.

"Well, if you haven't gotten it by now, you're in a bit of danger unfortunately."

"No, you think?!" Ivor snapped, before suddenly grabbing Harper and yanking her forward so that she slammed into his chest, the sound of cloth being ripped open with a knife sounding behind her. The woman let out a pained gasp as she felt something sharp and cold and metal scrape into her leg, as well as hot blood beginning to trickle down her leg.

"Sh*t, sh*t, sh*t, sh*t," Cassie chanted, whipping out her axe and holding it out defensively.

"Wait, you have an _axe_ on you?!" Lizzie goggled at the redhead.

"Why is that weird?! Doesn't Petra have a pickaxe on her?!" Cassie snapped back, swinging the thing like a baseball bat (Aiden ducked back down) and smashed a large object to pieces. It might've been a vase, but it was _definitely_ glass.

" _Share?_ Share?! _"_ Cassie spit at Jesse onscreen, making the audience swivel back to that, though it was a little hard with the muffled swears Harper was now muttering and the shattering glass in the background. " _What, you wanna walk through some portal happily holding hands and stab me in the back later?!_ "

Real-Jesse frowned a bit at that, glancing at a fighting Cassie.

That sounded a bit like a rather... paranoid way to live, honestly.

Onscreen, Jesse simply blinked a bit, looking a bit bewildered at that unnecessarily confrontational comment. " _Wha- no, I was... being serious..._ " she said, very quietly, before being (inadvertently) interrupted again by the redhead.

" _Nope, this is taking too long,_ " and this made all four of their eyes widen. The screen switched to show Cassie reaching into her pocket, green eyes cold and deadly serious. " _I'll just let the Endermites_ eat _you and fish it out of your inventory._ " The White Pumpkin head came out, and she swiveled it slightly, raised it into the air... and let it thud down on her head, a pair of glowing yellow orbs appearing in the eyeholes. " _It'll be the best fishing trip ever!_ "

The screen switched to rapidly zoom in on the group on the makeshift 'bridge', all of them letting out a shocked yell at the sudden voice change.

"How did you even pull that _off?!_ " Ellegaard shouted to Cassie, proceeding to be tackled off of the couch by Magnus a second later as a book the size and weight of a solid block of iron went shooting through the spot where Ellegaard's head had just been.

"Voice changer!" Cassie shouted back, swinging the axe up at the last minute and barely getting her head cut off altogether by one of the sharp shadow-knives, although she still had to dive back and retained a nasty scratch to the cheek. The backwards lunge managed to knock her to an unsteady position, and she wobbled uncertainly-

"Gotcha!" Aiden popped up like some sort of giant Jack-in the-box right behind her and caught her, keeping her from falling flat on her back. Cassie let out a relieved sigh and uttered a weak little 'thanks', before spinning around and shoving him back to the floor, bringing the axe up and slicing through a huge shadowy hand that had just lunged at them.

" _Duck!_ " Em barked at Cassie, and Cassie did so, throwing herself backwards and landing on something slightly soft. Em drew her fist back and slammed it straight into another shadow hand, knocking it away and making the shadows shrink back a little-

Another one grabbed Em's back, and the huge girl yelped as she frantically started swatting at it.

"Got it!" And Nell's foot slammed into the shadowy hand, blasting it clear off Em's back and sending a little wave of wind up- enough to ruffle Em's hair a bit.

"... that was pretty cool," Axel said, after a few seconds.

Olivia shot him a slightly joking and mostly irritated glare. " _That's_ all you can think of to say?"

"Well, Nell is a little-" Otto ducked under a hand that came shooting over the back of the couch and nearly grabbing him, "eccentric... but she has _certainly_ proved herself in the games."

"Would all of you please _pay attention?!_ " The tiny ghost snapped, still in that high-pitched, definitely _squeaky_ voice.

" _Winslow, my pet!_ " Cassie R- ... no, the _White Pumpkin_ said, sounding almost _delighted_ , " _activate the trap!_ "

The screen cut to Winslow... who was merely purring and grooming himself.

"I _love_ this cat!" Sparklez exclaimed. He then scowled at the shadowy hands starting to grab at the couch, standing up on the seat in an effort to avoid them. "Though, I must say, I _don't_ love the shadow hands."

Onscreen, the White Pumpkin facepalmed. " _Want something done right ya hafta-_ " he- _she_ \- grumbled, walking forward, and turning to face the group down in the pit. " _Prepare for your_ DEATH!"

And Cassie/The White Pumpkin let out a vicious laugh, all of the people down in the pit letting out alarmed yells as the ground abruptly began to retract, a chasm growing and growing between the two sides of the bridge- with Jesse on one side and the other three on the other.

" _Areyoufreakingserious-?!_ " Dan dove off the couch, accidentally squashing Stampy in the process and making the other boy squeak. "You can't be serious; Jesse's getting separated _again-?!_ "

" _Guys!"_ Jesse shouted to them, all of them letting out an alarmed shout as the bridge kept retracting into the wall and made them all stumble.

" _Come on, Winslow!_ " the White Pumpkin told the cat, and they strolled off towards the left side of the screen.

Ivor fled to the doors and started banging on it, Petra joining in, while Lukas's eyes were darting everywhere as he backed away from the edge, tail and ears flicking about in a fury.

The spider hybrid raced towards the doors on her end and slammed her fist into them, letting out a frustrated grunt when they didn't even rattle a bit. " _Stupid door!_ " she snapped. (Of course, THAT didn't open the doors _either_...)

" _Augh, it's no use!_ " Ivor growled in frustration, Lukas and Petra attempting to slam their swords through the door with limited success, " _without a lever or a button we'll never get these iron doors open!_ "

"Sorry about all this, actually- I was _fairly certain_ that this issue was over and done with, what with all the _excitement_ recently at the Phantasmagoria... but apparently there's still some residue lying all over the place," 'Gray' said, frowning a bit at the shadowy hands flying about everywhere on the floor.

"What are you _talking_ about?!" Ivor snapped, as he frantically dug through the potions sitting on his lap for a healing potion- Harper's cut was starting to turn a little black around the edges, and it hadn't stopped bleeding yet. He wasn't _too_ concerned about the bleeding- it had been a pretty deep cut, after all- but he was definitely worried about something turning black around the edges.

"Long story. Basically, there were ghosts, an assassin, and a lot of weird history involved at a hotel, and a whole 200- or, no, was it three hundred? No, two hundred year old mystery was solved."

"That doesn't _explain_ anything!" Mevia snapped, fending off a set of hands that were attempting to grab ahold of her.

Gray thought about that for a second. "... oh yeah. It doesn't, does it? Never mind then."

Lukas let out a sudden yell, and Jesse whirled around just in time to see the hands ensnaring Lukas and yanking him out of the cocoon of blankets.

" _Hey-_!" she yelled, indignantly, just in time to hear an alarmed squeal, and turn back around in time to see a set of shadowy hands ripping Reuben from the blankets in a violent tug.

Jace glanced at Jesse, and a sudden mental conversation was exchanged between the two in a matter of seconds.

Jace: _I'll get Reuben, you get Lukas?_

Jesse: _Okay. I'll back you up as soon as I can._

Jace: _Definitely. Thanks._

Jesse: _No problem._

And then they were off, Jesse rolling out of her blankets and then lunging right at the shadow hands-

Her hands phased straight through.

Jesse staggered forward and fell straight through them, landing on the floor again with a little yelp of pain. Lukas was still thrashing around in the hands, clawing at them desperately as he tried to get free, but somehow failing.

Jesse leaped back to her feet, but she was feeling a downright _terrified_ feeling worming around in her stomach.

How was she supposed to save Lukas if she couldn't even get to the thing that was holding him hostage?

"Do you need help?"

Jesse whipped around to see-

Ariza, standing there with her arms crossed and her head tilted slightly to one side.

" _Hang on, guys!_ " Onscreen-Jesse shouted, looking up from where she was standing. " _I'm gonna get to Cassie- err, the White Pumpkin- err- oh, you know what I mean! Petra!"_ The Blaze hybrid looked over instantly the moment she heard her name being called. " _Can you blast the doors open?_ "

Petra stared blankly at her for a moment, before her eyes lit up- almost literally. " _Yeah- but I need some more time, or else Ivor and Lukas are gonna drop down!_ " and she leaped into the air, hovering into the air.

" _On it!_ " And the spider hybrid pulled out an Ender Pearl and drew her arm back. She focused on the ledge, high above the ground, and chucked it with a loud shout.

The Ender Pearl soared upwards, hit the side of the ledge-

And Jesse suddenly appeared, letting out a loud yell as all of her hands scrabbled to find purchase on the ledge. " _Gah!_ " she yelped, looking back down at the disappearing bridge below her, a slightly concerned look coming over her face.

Soren winced and made to cover his eyes.

" _That is... disorienting._ "

"You have _no_ idea!" Cassie shouted. With that said, she quickly crawled onto the ledge and bolted to the lever, unfurling to her feet as she reached it and switching it back to the other side to turn it off.

" _Uhh, it just started goin' faster!_ " Lukas called up to her, voice rising a bit in pitch.

"Wait- did you seriously-?!" Harper flinched mid-question as Ivor dumped a potion of healing on her leg wound, soaking the sofa, Harper's pant leg, and honestly his own knee, but that wasn't really important right about now.

"Yes, your point being?!" Cassie snapped back.

Jesse might've responded, but she was a little busy staring at Ariza in shock. The first time she could actually interact with the girl had been entering an old memory. But she hadn't done that this time, hadn't she? "... you can-"

"Do you need help?" Ariza repeated, a bit more insistently this time.

Jesse glanced over at Lukas, who was starting to move more sluggishly.

She decided right then and there that any question she had could wait until later.

"Yes."

Ariza flicked her finger up, and Jesse flinched, expecting some dramatic explosion or something.

What happened instead was a small, glinting item shooting up into the air, Jesse automatically reaching out and catching it. It was small, save for the slim chain that it was connected to- a small circular iron disk with a slightly glinting green stone pressed into the center. It looked very simple, but when Jesse touched the iron surrounding the gem (she could only assume it was a gem), she could feel something embossed into the metal.

"What is it?"

"Just put it on and go at the shadows again," Ariza replied in a... well, not exactly _cryptic..._ unhelpful way, putting a small notebook away. It was then that Jess noticed that the pen that usually was clipped into her breast pocket was out, and glowing slightly.

"But what is it-?"

"I can't stay long right now, I've got to deal with- a thing. In the past." Ariza was about to step back when she glanced back up again. "Oh yeah. I'm going to need that back later."

"But what- ah, and you're gone," Jesse sighed, not entirely sure whether to feel irritated or not at the fact that Ariza had just vanished.

Well, she had the thing, might as well put it on.

She moved quickly- Lukas was in danger, after all- and threw the chain over her head. The moment the chain was over her head altogether, she suddenly felt something snaking along her neck.

"...?!"

Wait- _Lukas was still in danger_. Fight now, worry about this later.

She charged straight back at Lukas again.

" _She booby-trapped her BOOBY TRAPS?!"_ Onscreen-Jesse exclaimed, panting a little bit- she was starting to hyperventilate. " _That is so- paranoid!_ " With that, her sword came scraping out of the sheathe, and a loud crunching sound came through the room as she smashed the lever out of the way, the noise lost among the _complete bloody chaos going on in the room right now._ A barely detectable mechanical groaning sounded, and Jesse went running back towards the edge- only to skid to a stop at the gravelly voice that rang out over sheer bloody chaos.

" _What? You thought you could do it? Just like that?_ " The spider hybrid was looking around frantically for the source of the voice- only to gasp and abruptly look up, the camera doing an abrupt swish pan to show the White Pumpkin leaping down from a higher area, axe raised high above their head. " _Trying to_ trap me in your web? _"_

Jesse leaped out of the way just in time, the White Pumpkin landing right where she'd been a few seconds previously. " _Gimme the key, Jesse!_ "

Jesse did a crab walk just in time, the axe sweeping over her face and missing by near inches, before slamming the flat of the sword into the White Pumpkin's chest and sending them flying off the area. The axe toppled out of sight, and the White Pumpkin also blinked out of sight. Jesse didn't stand around waiting, though- she ran over to the edge. " _Guys? GUYS?!_ " she yelled down.

" _Hey, Jesse!_ "

The spider hybrid peered more carefully to see Petra hovering a few feet away from the doors, Lukas and Ivor pretty much doing a balancing act to keep themselves on a tiny edge of land. " _Guys!"_ she stage-whispered down to them, " _I'm so glad you're alive, thank goodness!_ "

" _Yep- and-_ " Petra slung her arm back and around in a violent throw, a fireball spitting out of her palm. Lukas flattened himself to the floor, while Ivor simply ducked down. The fireball slammed into an already-collapsing iron door, and the whole thing crashed down with a metallic thud. "- _door's open, too._ "

" _Okay, you guys get to safety- I need to find that flint and steel,_ and _talk to Cassie for a second- even if just a minute._ " And Jesse bolted in the other direction again, going up a few stairs- and then skidding to a stop as a set of feet came into the foreground.

"What would you even-?!" Hadrian began.

Isa let out a frustrated growl. "Hadrian, talk later- stay safe right now!" And she yanked Milo forward, knocking the both of them to the floor in a heap.

Jesse was fully expecting to phase through the shadow hands again, even as she desperately ran full-speed at a steadily-going-limp Lukas. Just in case, she turned her body at the last second.

A strange, almost electrical noise rang out, the shadowy hands making an odd hissing sound and contorting in on themselves. Jesse managed to catch herself as the hands abruptly curled in on themselves and vanished altogether, and drop an unresisting Lukas to the ground, just as Jace shouted, "Got him!" He held up an unharmed Reuben, just as Jesse stepped in front of Lukas, having no idea what she was doing but not letting that little fact stop her.

"Don't you try to hurt anyone!" the petite girl shouted, fists curling. "Don't you _dare_ even try!"

Another shadowy hand shot at Jesse, and the girl whirled around and grabbed it defensively. Her hands phased through it, but the moment she 'touched' it the hand suddenly let out a strange, hissy scream and vanished in a whipcrack of black smoke, which whizzed past Jesse. Gray held up the scythe that was still in their hand, the smoke seeming to get absorbed by the blade as they made contact.

None of their eyes were focused on that, though- they were all staring at the petite girl who was standing over a _still not moving_ Lukas, and the shadowy hands that almost seemed to be... frozen in place.

"Hey, Dian."

Eyes now went straight to Gray, who was simply holding the scythe out at arms length. "Get in yourself, or get thrown in. Your choice," they said, in a rather bland tone of voice.

If you were listening, though, there was a _definite_ undertone of steel to the reaper's voice- one that made chills shoot up of people's spines.

There was another heartbeat of pure silence.

Slowly, the shadows in the room slowly leaked towards Gray, over whose face a tiny smile appeared- the first one since this whole affair had started. "Ah, there we go."

" _You're not a fast learner, are you?_ " the White Pumpkin leered onscreen, all eyes now swiveling back around to stare at the screen. Cassie/the White Pumpkin let out a loud yell and charged at Jesse, the spider hybrid simply dropping to all eights and leaping over onto a different section of ground, away from the White Pumpkin, Jesse whirling around.

The screen switched to show a loud, strange, _clang_ ing noise as the White Pumpkin landed on another stretch of land, slowly getting up. " _I grow tired of this game, Jesse,_ " Cassie snarled.

Jesse frowned at Cassie, before her eyes darted sideways and widened. The screen zoomed out to show that on a bridge, a bit of a distance away... was the flint and steel.

"Oh- it's there!" Stampy shouted, pointing at the screen from where he was still squashed to the floor.

" _The key! You didn't have it either?!_ " the White Pumpkin turned to glare at Jesse, before reaching into her pocket. " _Well now- it's MINE._ "

" _NOPE!_ " Jesse snapped back, pulling out an Ender Pearl and reaching backwards, before throwing it-

And getting shoved to the side by the White Pumpkin teleporting into place there, the Ender Pearl flying far off the mark and slamming into a wall that was relatively out of the way. " _No!_ " she groaned as the White Pumpkin let out a wicked laugh.

Jesse skidded onto the ledge that the wall had slammed into, whipping around to see the White Pumpkin charging towards the bridge with the flint and steel on it.

" _No._ " Jesse reached into her pocket, pulling out another Ender Pearl. "We _are going_ home."

"And you don't think _I_ don't want to?" Cassie asked, bitterly, stepping out of the way of a creeping shadow.

"No, I'm not saying that all. But if you'd just asked for help when you needed it, this whole thing could've been avoided," Jesse replied simply. Now that she was assured that the shadows weren't about to kill people, she returned her attention to what was really important.

She dropped to her knees next to Lukas, quickly shaking the blonde's shoulders gently. "Lukas. _Lukas._ Wake up right now," she ordered him gently.

The blonde didn't move. "Lukas, c'mon, wake up." When this didn't get any response either, Jesse swallowed, feeling a lump coming into her throat. "Lukas, come _on._ "

"Touch his throat."

Jesse nearly _jumped_ out of her skin at the sound of that high-pitched voice right in her ear, and turned to see that Smokey was pretty much up in her face.

"E-excuse me?"

"Touch his throat, there's something in there." When Jesse didn't immediately do that, Smokey simply let out a little sigh. "Look, do you want your friend to die or not? I am presuming it's the latter, and if so, you need to touch your friend's throat. _"_

Jesse turned back to Lukas, frowning a bit, before reaching out and brushing her finger against Lukas's Adam's apple.

The blonde suddenly choked, Jesse starting and falling back a bit as the blonde quaked violently, his hands clenching into tight fists, before he let out an almost _gurgling_ cough and turned over onto his side.

A drop of black dropped from his throat.

Slightly encouraged by this, Jesse patted him on the back comfortingly. "Well, better out than i-"

Lukas suddenly rolled over and _vomited_ out a huge river of black stuff, making Jesse squeal in surprise and start back, several of the other audience members letting out alarmed yells as the shadows fled back to the scythe.

" _Ugh..._ Jesse?" Lukas sat back up, looking a little disoriented. "What... what just happened...? I was... fighting the hands... and then... cold... black... _oh I might be sick_ " and he put his head back down, Jesse bending down and patting him on the back gently. Thankfully, this time he didn't do anything quite as violent.

"Apologies for a rather disconcerting experience... uh, Luke, right?"

"Lukas."

The reaper simply blinked at them a moment now, looking slightly bewildered for a few seconds. "... I see. Anyhow, the shadows wouldn't have gone if the 'main one' hadn't been able to get itself into a 'host'."

"Wait- are you saying you were waiting for Lukas to get possessed?!" Jesse exclaimed, leaping to her feet in an almost defensive way.

"Not quite _Lukas_ \- I was expecting Aiden, since that's who they went for initially. But until the shadow managed to get a host, we wouldn't have been able to get rid of them so completely," Gray replied, still in a rather blank, almost matter-of-fact manner. "Believe me, if there was an easier way I'd probably have gone that way; I don't like causing living people discomfort."

"Wait- if you don't like causing living people discomfort, then why didn't you try to protect us this whole time?!" Reginald demanded to know, eyes narrowing. "We were basically being attacked by glassware and books and shadows- doesn't that count as discomfort?!"

Gray rolled their eyes slightly about something. "There's a stupid rule for reapers that we're not allowed to get _too_ directly involved in something that doesn't involve the reaping of a soul. I don't know why it's a rule, but since I'm already breaking about half of the rules in the figurative rulebook, I thought I should try to stick to one at least."

"Yes, and I would've had to report Gray if they'd broken another rule."

"Technically the moment I break a rule you have to report me."

"Don't rub our deal in my face, you nincompoop."

"Wait, but-"

The second the last shadow entered the scythe, Gray twirled it and stuck it on their back. "Well, I think that's my job done for tonight. I'll leave you to watching the episodes."

Maya opened her mouth to ask Gray something, but the next moment they blinked, Gray was gone.

The sound of something being thrown attracted their attention, and they turned just in time to see the White Pumpkin running down the bridge towards the flint and steel, an Ender Pearl soaring in a perfect trajectory at them.

Everyone exchanged glances.

They all silently agreed to add this to their 'List of Things We Need to Discuss After Episode 6' list.

The screen switched to show Jesse shifting into a defensive position, before the Ender Pearl clinged off of the White Pumpkin mask-

And the spider hybrid body-slammed straight into Cassie, slamming them both to the ground with a crash.

Most of the audience winced a little at that.

" _No! You can't do this!_ " the White Pumpkin snarled, " _I've waited too long!"_

 _"Sorry, Cassie, but I'm not letting you have it either!_ " Jesse responded tersely- not necessarily _snapping_ , but not exactly sounding highly pleased either. And then she glanced up in surprise from where she was trapping Cassie in place.

The White Pumpkin blinked up as well, the two of them freezing in place, as near the flint and steel, a little figure appeared.

The screen switched to show Winslow perched near the flint and steel, looking at it in interest... before batting it towards the side.

"Oh no. Oh no no no," Petra said, wrapping her arms tightly around Reuben and Jace at the same time. "No no no you stupid cat don't just hit it over the edge!"

"Winslow's not stupid!" Cassie argued.

" _You_ don't get to talk," Petra snapped back, making Cassie flinch away a bit.

" _No! No no, Winslow. Don't touch that!_ " the White Pumpkin shouted desperately.

Instead of intimidating the cat into obedience or whatever the shouting was supposed to accomplish, Winslow simply kept batting the flint and steel closer and closer to the edge.

Lukas moved into place again, but this time he seemed a little tired- almost weak, really.

Jesse shifted him over so that he was sitting at her side, one arm wrapped around his midriff to keep him steady.

" _No no no! No Winslow! Bad kitty! Stop it!_ " the White Pumpkin nearly screamed at Winslow, and it honestly would've been a little funny if the situation hadn't been so dire and if they hadn't known who the White Pumpkin was, to see a serial killer screaming at a cat.

When it _still_ didn't work, the White Pumpkin attempted changing their tone. " _Uh- Winslow! Good boy! Sweet kitty! Bring that to Mama!_ "

Stacy suddenly let out a snort.

When everyone looked at her, she put up her hands defensively. "Hey, it's kinda funny hearing such a deep, male voice say 'bring that to Mama' and be dead serious about it."

Jesse got a fit of the giggles.

Lukas weakly rolled his eyes. "Oh, look, now you've got her giggling... haha..." he dissolved into a slightly loopy fit of the giggles himself.

Onscreen, Jesse bit her lip. " _Um, Winslow, do you think you could maybe..._ not...?" she trailed off a bit, weakly.

Several members of the audience just outright _laughed_ at that, lightening the black mood that had been settling over the viewers for the past several minutes.

Winslow looked up from the flint and steel. Smiled beatifically. (If cats could indeed smile beatifically.) And, with a smooth flick of the paw, knocked the flint and steel over the edge.

Jesse's giggles intensified.

Most of the audience was now torn between being dismayed at the fact that the flint and steel had just gone flying off into space, or just simply laughing their heads off at this little evil cat.

Most had chosen to go with the second option, including Cassie.

Real-Winslow looked incredibly pleased with himself.

" _NOOOO!_ " the White Pumpkin yelled, Jesse leaping to her feet and racing to where Winslow was, just in time to see the flint and steel hitting a ledge below, bouncing towards another bridge and about to fall.

" _Crud-!_ " Jesse turned to see Cassie reach up to throw an Ender Pearl towards the spot. The spider hybrid lunged and tackled Cassie- a second too late as the Ender Pearl went soaring right to the bridge.

"Oh _crap!_ " Olivia gasped, hands clapping to her mouth.

" _No!_ " Jesse shouted, as Cassie let out a maniacal cackle and vanished a second later.

The screen switched to show Cassie reaching up as the flint and steel finally bounced off of the ledge it had been on, plummeting straight into the White Pumpkin's hands. " _Ahh, there you are! After all this time, I'm FREE!_ " And the White Pumpkin threw their arms into the air almost excitedly.

Jesse suddenly dissolved into giggles, burying her face into Lukas's shoulder. The blonde was so out of it right now that he just kind of let out a low, loopy laugh. "I'm sorry, it's just- hahahaha the voice and the motions don't match up" and she went right on giggling.

" _Winslow? Where are you?_ " the White Pumpkin called as they walked towards a lever at the end of the bridge, " _we have to go!_ "

There was a meow, and the cat leaped down from a few blocks and padded over to the White Pumpkin, who was just holding the flint and steel loosely at their sides. " _What have I told you about wandering off?_ " she scolded, although it was honestly hard to tell if the White Pumpkin/Cassie was actually UPSET because- well- the voice was so messed up.

There was a loud _thud_ , and Jesse landed on the bridge. " _I think you should give that back, Cassie,_ " she said in a warning voice, eyes glowing bloodred as she straightened back up.

" _No, I'm afraid not,_ " the White Pumpkin said, and reached down-

And flicked a lever.

" _Another_ trap!?" Lizzie exclaimed.

There was a loud rumble, and the spider hybrid only glanced down for a moment before dropping to all eights and shooting forward like a bullet, as the blocks beneath her dropped into oblivion, leaping into the air and seeming to hover- just for a moment... and then slamming into the ground, straightening up and flicking out her sword with a metallic scream.

The White Pumpkin glanced back at her, before turning around to face the spider hybrid. " _I'll give you one thing- you are_ incredibly _tenacious!_ " she snarled.

Real-Jesse blinked a bit. "Oh. Thank you, I think."

"Tena-what-now?" Clutch asked. No one bothered giving her an answer.

The spider hybrid ran straight at Cassie- who flicked out the flint and steel and clicked them together, making a column of fire shoot up right in Jesse's face. The spider hybrid stumbled back several steps in an attempt to avoid it, ending up right back where she'd started- and then a wall of blue flames exploded into being, Cassie standing on the other side. " _That's Netherrack, Jesse! It stays on fire FOREVER!"_

Jesse regarded the wall of flames uneasily, as the White Pumpkin strolled over to a wall with another lever on it. " _Well, Winslow, that's the last of the obstacles. We're finally going home!_ " and she flicked the lever with a laugh to reveal-

The _real_ portal.

"What's with these portals and all of them being underground so far?" Magnus grumbled. "Seems kind of inconvenient if you ask me."

Ellegaard considered this point, before nodding a bit. "Actually... yes, I see your point there."

" _Come on, Winslow_ ," the White Pumpkin said to Winslow.

Jesse kept staring through the flames, an uncertain expression coming over her face, eyes going up... and then her eyes widened.

The screen panned up to show Petra holding her sword, standing on a ledge rather far up.

Jesse sheathed the sword, and turned slightly to see Lukas kneeling nearby, holding a water bucket in his hands as he narrowed his cyan eyes at Jesse.

The spider hybrid now looked at the White Pumpkin, who was talking to Winslow now. " _Winslow. Winslow, come on. Oh for the love of-_ " Cassie let out a sigh. " _You know I love you but you make me_ VERY _tired sometimes._ "

Real-Jesse started giggling again.

Onscreen, the spider hybrid looked up and held up a hand in a 'stop' motion.

Petra spread out her hands. _What's the problem?_

Jesse tapped her chest, before pointing in Cassie's direction slightly, glancing back up at Petra and Lukas.

Lukas's eyes narrowed a bit, before nodding. However, he still hefted the water bucket up in a preparatory way.

" _Hey- Cassie!_ " Jesse called to the White Pumpkin.

" _Yes, Jesse?_ "

" _I- I was actually wondering something,_ " the spider hybrid said, frowning through the wall of blue flames, " _you- you said you were trapped in this world, and- so... why didn't your aunt come get you?_ "

The White Pumpkin's eyes widened. "... _what?_ "

" _I- I was wondering-_ " Jesse began again, when Cassie suddenly reached up, making Jesse shift back a bit, before the redhead slowly pulled off the mask, staring at Jesse with confused green eyes.

" _Wait... you... you're..._ " the mask slipped from Cassie's hands, her eyes widening, voice back to normal. " _Hang on- hang on hang on hang on, you're-_ " Cassie stepped forward a little bit, hands tapping at her lip as her eyes continued widening. " _... you're the spider hybrid, aren't you? Same name, just- just different hair, and- and you're- you're older?_ "

"What, would being a spider hybrid freeze my age or something?" Real-Jesse asked, innocently.

Petra snorted.

" _Yeah, I'm... honestly, I'm a little surprised you remembered,_ " Jesse said honestly, blinking at Cassie. " _We were really little kids when we met last time, I thought you would've forgotten._ "

Cassie was quiet for a second, before letting out a hollow chuckle. " _How could I forget one of the reasons I wanted to get_ out _of this damn place so much...?_ "

Everyone blinked at that.

Cassie was silent for another moment, before stepping forward, slowly walking forwards, Jesse watching the White Pumpkin passively, yet a little anxiously.

Cassie reached into her pocket, slowly withdrawing a water bucket. She upended it on the fire, letting it die down.

Jesse continued watching, the whole room holding their breath in silence, as Cassie took out the flint and steel... and dropped it on the floor.

The spider hybrid slumped a bit in relief.

And then Cassie started walking by her.

Onscreen-Jesse wasn't the only one to blink in confusion at that.

Nor was she the only one to have her eyes widen in horror as Cassie's foot went over the edge.

Her hand snagged Cassie by the wrist, tugging the redhead back a bit. " _Whoa, what are you doing?_ " she asked, sounding confused.

"... _I tried to kill you._ "

Jesse blinked at that. Cassie was staring straight ahead, looking so _tired_ and so _sick_ of everything.

" _I tried to kill you- I tried to kill people- I_ succeeded _in killing people- I didn't even_ recognize you." Cassie let out a bark of laughter that was harsh and sarcastic and not at all amused. " _One of the reasons I wanted to get out of this damn place so much for, and I didn't even_ recognize _you._ "

" _I didn't remember, either, it's been such a long time-_ "

" _You... you don't need me, anyways. No one needs me now."_

" _I need you, you were one of my best friends, I don't just want to let you walk in and then walk back out again-!_ "

 _"Haha... no one would_ want _me anyways. Who'd want a murderer?_ " Cassie let out a weak little laugh that Real-Jesse immediately recognized.

It was the one Aiden had given her back in Sky City.

Real-Cassie was feeling her stomach curl in on itself.

She was right. Her onscreen-self was right.

After this whole incident, who the hell would want her around?

" _I might as well just stop being a waste of space. Just... forget about me, okay?_ " Cassie attempted to walk forward again.

Her eyes widened as Jesse suddenly jerked her back again, wrapping all of her arms around the redhead tightly in a hug. " _Jesse, what are you doing?_ " she asked, a bit tersely as she glanced back at Jesse.

" _I'm not just going to- to- to just let someone_ die _in front of me,_ " Jesse replied sharply.

" _Yeah, well I_ want _to-_ "

" _I'm not just going to let you commit suicide!_ "

" _Why do you even_ care _so much...? Just forget me,_ " Cassie responded, in a slightly cold, emotionally detached voice.

" _Last time I forgot, I forgot_ everything!" Jesse shouted, Cassie's eyes widening in shock. " _I forgot you, I forgot- I forgot my closest friends- hell, I forgot_ family! _You're- you're one of my oldest memories-!_ " The spider hybrid's breath caught. " _I don't_ want _to forget anymore!_ "

Cassie was turning slightly to stare at Jesse, who still had her arms wrapped around the other girl's midriff.

"... _I don't want to forget anyone ever again,_ " the spider hybrid said, in a voice so quiet that it was almost inaudible, blinking a bit. Tears were welling up in her eyes now, and a few escaped her eyes. " _... I'm not forgetting you again._ "

Cassie had squeezed her eyes shut, and she slowly sank to her knees, Jesse's arms still wrapped around her in a tight hug as the two girls sat there.

Petra, Lukas, and Ivor managed to make their way to the area, walking over to the duo. The screen switched back to show that somehow the two of them had managed to shift enough that they were hugging each other tightly.

After what felt like an eternity but was probably only ten seconds, Jesse sat back, wiping her face a little bit as Cassie let out a sniffle. Winslow strolled over to Cassie with a meow, butting his head into her lap, the red-haired girl letting a watery smile come over her face as the cat crawled into her lap, blinking several tears out of her eyes.

And _that_ was why she didn't notice the way Winslow looked straight at Lukas... and _winked._

Axel put his hands in the air. "I freaking love this cat."

Several agreeing calls from other members of the audience, Mevia surprisingly being one of said members.

Onscreen, Petra, Ivor, and Jesse looked over at Lukas, who looked innocently back at them before smirking slightly and giving his shoulders a nonchalant shrug.

"Holy crap I love you."

Jesse slapped a hand over her mouth a second later, eyes flickering to Lukas in alarm.

Rather than looking embarrassed though, Lukas was just smiling in a sleepy way. "Mmm... love ya too," he mumbled sleepily, running a hand through her hair.

Nell and Gill may or may not have squealed like a pair of fangirls.

Jesse turned back to the screen, a pleased smile twitching at her lips.

After another several seconds had passed, Jesse smiled a bit in a watery way at Cassie. It faded slightly a moment later, and the spider hybrid sat back on her heels. " _I think we need to talk._ "

The screen blacked back out.

* * *

 **A/N: I feel like Lukas right now, I am so freaking tired... you're welcome for staying up this late to post a chapter x3**

 **Wow! I didn't actually expect this to get so long xD Out of every chapter in this story... this is probably going to be the longest by FAR, with 8000-something words without A/N.**

 **Btw, if you didn't get the part where Lukas winked... well, in Hybrid, Winslow may or may not have been being lazy and annoying on PURPOSE. (That might be explained in two chapters or so.)**

 **The confusing 'crossover' with Phantasmagoria was intentional, yes. Guys, you have ONE MONTH to submit any characters you might have for Phantasmagoria background characters to me. Even if YOU don't want to, tell your friends to have a look at it. :3**

 **RQTC: On a scale of one to ten with ten being the most, how arrogant would you say I am?**

 **Sorry, I just suddenly wondered.**

 **giriri: No spoilers. / Nope. / You're going to have to tell me what the 'last idea' was, I'm not going to go back in and read it to see what you mean. / ? / ... ah.**

 **LunarStarsMoons: Yes, Cassie does indeed need a hug xD / (laughs) / Nope xD Just shadow hands.**

 **S4SH4L4SH4theGaMeR101: Nope xD / (laughs)**

 **Kaos Ruin: (laughs) That was the intention, so I'm glad I got that across, at least.**

 **LittleAngelbun: (laughs) True I guess.**

 **sailor . mikuchan: Nope. / Ah, I see. / No spoilers.**

 **Raven: Nope xD / Thank you!**

 **RapidSammi: Happy 4th of July to you as well! / Well, 'black hands', yes. xD / (cracks up)**

 **Infernius Flashfire: (laughs) / (nods)**

 **Toni42: Only just now getting good? xD**

 **TheRealRedGaming: ? That wouldn't make any sense.**

 **BendyStrawBerry: Yes, I can see. Hi! / ... more Professor Layton personally, but sure. / Yeah, and thank you! :3 I'm excited for Episode 7 as well.**

 **the indecisive bird: (laughs)**

 **Guest: Yep.. / Hehehe xD / Yep~ / (laughs) / Heehee / Nope. xD / I'm glad you're hyped!**

 **LegoGirl794: Ehhh, sort of?**

 **Emily The Avenger: You probably cried again a little this chapter haha xD / (squeals with you)**

 **BeliTheGhoti0304: Hahaha xD / (grins evilly) / Nope xD but not a bad guess. / Thank you! I'm surprised, to be honest xD**

 **InsaneAcrobat: Oh haha sorry xD / Aahhhh, I see. / I started reading but once I saw the ideas I stopped; I don't mean to be mean but every idea I have is already down for the story; so unless it's like a tiny detail I'm not considering it. Sorry!**

 **Savannah-the-Caracal: Why do people think that? They're not evil lol xD**

 **Welp, that's this chapter done! Next chapter will be much shorter, don't get used to this haha xD**

 **x.X. A.L. X.x**


	130. Option B: Adventure!

The screen came back on to show Jesse and Cassie sitting on the ledge a few yards away from the entrance to the room with the portal in it, staring at each other silently and a little awkwardly. Somewhere in the background, Lukas seemed to be conversing fluently with Winslow, his brow furrowing slightly as he kept chatting away to the cat. Petra was sitting even further back, and Ivor was just reading his book.

"... _so,_ " Cassie said at last.

Jesse just raised her eyebrow at the redhead. " _So what?_ " she asked, mildly.

" _So... what now?_ " the girl that was the White Pumpkin shifted slightly, not to mention awkwardly. " _Are... you gonna decide my punishment or something? Or... is this supposed to be some sort of therapy session...?_ "

Several audience members couldn't help snorting a bit at that comment.

Onscreen, Jesse just shook her head and smiled a bit. " _No, not unless you want me to pet you or hug you all day. I don't think I'd make a very good therapist,_ " she said, rather cheerfully for not being a good therapist.

"I beg to differ, you'd make a fantastic therapist," Petra told the black-haired girl with a grin.

"No I wouldn't."

"Yes you would, for three reasons. One, you make people feel really good when you're in the same room with them."

"Well, except for my dad-"

"Well he's an ass, so he doesn't count-" Several members of the audience laughed at that dismissive comment. "Two, you're really sweet and nice to everyone, and you seem to identify with them on a different level."

"You make me sound like some sort of New Age guru or something."

Now several members of the audience were nearly in _tears_ at that, they were laughing so hard at the innocent comment Jesse just made.

"Three, you see the best in everyone- or, try to at least," Petra finished, giving Jesse a joking glare as she finished up.

"... that doesn't make me a good therapist though."

"Yes it does child now hush-"

Onscreen, Cassie's face softened into a slight smile, and she tilted her head slightly at Jesse. " _So... what am I here for, then?_ " she asked, although her voice was nearly drowned out by all the giggling that was going on right now. Even a few of the adults were tittering, Harper putting her hand to her mouth in an attempt to keep herself from giggling.

" _Well, anyway,_ " and Jesse's smile faded, " _you didn't answer my question earlier._ "

Cassie blinked at the sudden change of demeanor Jesse had just experienced. " _Which would that be?_ "

" _Why didn't your aunt come get you? If... you were stuck here, surely she'd have a portal key somewhere?_ " Jesse asked, her face going even more serious than before.

Real-Cassie's amused smile faded.

Onscreen, Cassie's face went completely blank at the question, and she looked away a bit. "... _she died,_ " she said at last.

Hadrian, Mevia, Otto, and a few other people in the room started a bit at that.

Onscreen, Jesse blinked a bit.

Well, she probably hadn't been expecting _that_.

" _She... she wasn't exactly the_ healthiest _person,"_ Cassie continued, staring blankly into one of the corners of the room as if it were the most fascinating thing she'd ever seen. " _And... well..._ " She paused for a moment, before making a vague sound in the back of her throat. If you paid attention to her eyes though, you could see tears start welling up in her eyes.

"Oh... did that...?" Aiden asked, slowly, glancing over at the real redhead, who was just staring at the screen blankly.

"... yeah."

" _Oh..._ " the spider hybrid trailed off, a sad look coming over her face. "... _I'm... so sorry to hear that. I... I'm sad to say that I kinda know how you feel._ " She stared at the ground, her own expression becoming a little more distant. " _I lost someone a few months ago, and... well... I miss him every day._ "

Reuben snorted a bit from where he was now in Jace's lap, giving a little whine when the girl looked over at him and then a comforting, piggy smile.

She smiled back, faintly.

Lukas still looked slightly loopy, but he must've at least gotten that Jesse was sad, because he wrapped his arms around her and tightened his grip gently. "Don't be sad, Jess," he mumbled, slightly incoherently.

Cassie's gaze grew even sadder onscreen. " _... I... I stopped telling people about Aunt Cass, 'cause... well... it always sounds so insincere when people say 'I' sorry about your loss',_ " she said, after a few moments.

" _I kinda know what you mean._ " The spider hybrid closed her eyes and exhaled slowly and a little shakily, as if fighting off tears.

" _But... I'm sorry about your loss._ "

" _Me too._ "

The two of them sat there for a moment longer, both of them staring at the floor with tears in their eyes, before Jesse took a deep breath and mopped at her eyes a little bit. " _Well, I think I liked your aunt. She gave us crackers sometimes._ "

Cassie snorted a bit at that, although her eyes were still wet. " _She did always have crackers in her pockets... I'm sure she would've liked to hear that. I mean, not about the crackers-_ " Jesse smirked, and a few of the audience members just couldn't help but laugh a bit at that, even though the scene that was currently going on was more than a bit heart-wrenching, " _but- you liked her, I mean._ "

" _I'm glad to hear that she would've been glad._ " The two girls looked up at each other, a few moments passing as they regarded each other silently.

Then Cassie snorted a bit at that, and Jesse chuckled, and the two of them let out small laughs at that. It was... a little bittersweet, honestly.

Real-Cassie and Jesse exchanged looks at that.

Onscreen, Jesse's smile faded again, and she finally let out a low sigh. " _... okay, look, everyone in this room is expecting you to go through-_ some _sort of punishment,_ " she said at last, bluntly. (Both Real-Cassie and Onscreen winced at the comment.) " _And... frankly, I agree. It's not okay for someone to- I don't know- get away with murder, so- well, I've got two options for you. One, you can stay here, but you can't leave this world._ "

Cassie winced, fists tightening.

Honestly, for what she'd done, she'd been expecting worse, but...

It still hurt.

" _Ever. You can't leave the house either, you- literally would just have to sit in the house all day with your cats._ " Jesse paused, sounding a little pained, before meekly adding, " _Basically house arrest._ _But, um, you'd be free to do whatever you want with_ in _the house, of course._ "

Cassie's body was tensing up onscreen, and her gaze was becoming steadily more and more fearful. " _... what's the second option?_ " she asked, after a few moments. She tried to sound casual, but came out more as a tight and fearful mutter.

Aiden put an arm around Cassie instinctively. The redhead looked at him oddly, and he winced, getting ready to remove his arm-

She leaned into him.

He blinked in surprise as Cassie leaned up against him, tears beading up in her eyes a little bit.

She was scared.

She didn't want to be trapped here...

Alone...

Even with Winslow at her side...

After being trapped in this world for so long, her punishment being that _exact thing_...

Well, it hurt.

Onscreen, Jesse took a deep breath. " _The other option... is that you come with us._ "

Several members of the audience automatically looked over at Jesse, but Real-Jesse was simply smiling slightly. Real-Cassie's head snapped up, eyes widening. Onscreen, the redhead also blinked at Jesse, simply looking completely bewildered.

" _Ivor, Petra, Lukas and me. You come with us,_ " Jesse repeated, gesturing at herself and then her other friends.

Lukas glanced up upon hearing his name. " _Petra and Ivor aren't exactly stoked about the idea,_ " he called out, absently.

" _No. No, we're not,_ " Petra said rather flatly, glaring up at Cassie a bit and sparking a bit in- well, in anger.

Real-Cassie shifted away a bit, looking slightly frightened now.

" _How is that a punishment?_ " Cassie asked the spider hybrid blankly. " _I mean- I've been_ wanting _to get out, for- for a_ long _time now. How is you taking me_ with _you a punishment?_ "

"Yes, that's... a good question," Ivor mumbled, raising his eyebrow.

Jesse shrugged a bit, arching her eyebrow. " _Well, our lives out there aren't exactly a cakewalk. Besides, we can keep a better eye on you out there better than with you locked up in a mansion, and... well, you've got some useful skills._ "

Harper visibly shuddered, making several people look at her oddly.

" _Also, Lukas and Winslow get along pretty darn well,_ " Jesse added, glancing over at Lukas, who had gone back to chatting with Winslow rather animatedly, before looking down at her lap.

" _You'd... take me with you?_ " Cassie stared at Jesse with a blank expression.

But... there was a tiny spark of hope growing in her eyes.

Several members of the audience glanced at Real-Cassie, who was leaning forward a bit to stare at the screen. She looked... hopeful.

" _Yeah..._ " Jesse rubbed the back of her neck a bit, awkwardly. " _I mean... I'm not sure I_ trust _you all that much anymore. Or... yet, or however you want to put it, but... I_ do _trust you. Enough. Besides..._ " She looked back up at Cassie sheepishly. " _I don't like hating people. Do you?_ "

Cassie stared at Jesse for several long, slow moments, hope slowly beginning to come into her face. _Real_ hope. " _You... you'd take me with you?_ " she repeated, simply looking stunned now.

" _I mean..."_ Jesse shrugged again, looking away awkwardly and staying quiet for a few seconds. " _Petra and Ivor are willing. They're not happy about the fact that I'm even willing to suggest it, but... if you want to, they're willing to. And Lukas is fine either way. And... well, I mean... you know how_ I _feel about it, I, ah,_ " and she chuckled a bit. " _I just told you._ "

Several members of the audience smiled at that at that a bit, but were looking from the screen to the real-life counterparts sitting in front of them.

Real-Cassie was shaking her head slowly. "I..." She looked over at Jesse, the black-haired girl giving her a cheerful smile. "... I... thank you... I don't know what to say..."

Jesse shrugged a bit, giving her a smile as Lukas blinked a bit, loopily. "You don't have to say anything."

Onscreen, the spider hybrid sat there for another moment, before looking back at Cassie again. " _So? How about it? Which option do you want to take?_ " she asked, softly.

Cassie hesitated... before saying the option they'd all been almost certain that she'd take.

" _I'll come with you._ "

The spider hybrid nodded a little bit, a wolfish grin coming over her face. " _Well, that's settled then. And you'd better do your best to make up for what happened, or else I can't really guarantee your safety if Petra and you are left alone in the same room. Let's go, then."_ The spider hybrid hopped to her feet and cheerfully trotted out of the room.

Cassie blinked after Jesse, watching as Petra and Ivor got up to follow her, before glancing over at Lukas. " _I'm... starting to worry that my decision wasn't the best one,_ " she said, slowly. " _Why's that?_ "

Lukas considered the question for a few seconds. " _Good instincts?_ "

That probably didn't make Cassie feel any better, if the way Real-Cassie had just stiffened a bit was any indication.

Cassie and Lukas walked over, Lukas back on Cassie's shoulder, and Jesse smiled at the redhead cheerfully. " _Ready to go?_ " she asked, cheerfully.

" _I- sure._ " Cassie blinked a bit, looking almost shocked. " _I... just can't believe it. Fourteen or fifteen years of searching and waiting, and... I'm... leaving,_ " she said, after a few more seconds of surprise.

" _Yes... I'd imagine that's a little bit of a shock after so long,_ " Ivor said, not sounding exactly _sympathetic_... but definitely pretty mild.

" _Actually, I think you might get along with Olivia,_ " Jesse said, as they walked through the doorway towards the portal. " _Once- y'know, once you get past the whole 'murderer' thing and... all._ "

Olivia blinked at that, before tilting her head. "Well, actually... yeah, I could see that happening. We both like redstone."

"Both geniuses," Cassie joked, making Olivia grin.

Onscreen, Cassie simply blinked. " _Who's Olivia?_ "

" _A friend who likes redstone,_ " Lukas told the redhead simply.

" _Ah._ "

Petra tapped her lip, eyes becoming more thoughtful at the thought of that. " _Y'know... huh. You know, you've got a good point there, Jesse._ "

The spider hybrid came to a stop in front of the portal, a rather relieved smile coming over her face. " _Well... here we are._ " She pulled out the flint and steel that Cassie had returned to her, before kneeling down. Carefully, she clicked them together.

A pillar of blue flame exploded in the spot she'd just clicked them above, and suddenly the doorway was blazing a bright, beautiful green.

" _Good sign so far,_ " Ivor said mildly, tilting his head and giving a slight nod.

" _Yeah. No arrow traps or trick floors or anything,_ " Petra said, looking around and the floor, Lukas also looking.

Cassie frowned a bit at that. " _Okay, I'm not_ that _paranoid._ "

" _Yeah, I can't see even_ you _being that paranoid,_ " Petra said simply, ignoring the way Cassie winced a little bit at that.

" _Back to the hallway,_ " and Jesse stood back up, hands going on her hips.

" _Okay, who's going first?_ " Lukas asked, looking around at the rest of the group with his ears twitching.

Jesse turned around to face her friends, a huge grin coming over her face. " _Hey- we're all a team now. We all go together._ "

Cassie blinked at that, eyes widening a bit as she regarded Jesse.

The spider hybrid noticed the surprised look, and gave Cassie a bright smile in return, before turning back around to face the portal. " _You guys ready?_ " she asked, grinning back at them, before getting into a preparatory position. " _One..._ "

" _Two..._ " Lukas and Petra joined in this time.

" _Three!_ " Cassie and Ivor joined in, before the screen switched to show the portal head on. Jesse, Lukas, Petra, and Cassie (who was accompanied by Winslow) charged through the portal in a small cluster. Ivor ran towards the portal before suddenly coming to a stop and looking right at the audience, a wide grin on his face.

Soren blinked. "Can he... see us?" he mused.

"It might just be for dramatic effect," Mevia suggested. "Or- well- something along those lines."

" _Adventure!_ " he exclaimed, winking at them.

Then he turned around and charged straight through the portal.

The screen blacked out again.

Slowly, it came back in to show the portal hallway, and from the right walked in-

"Sparklez!?" Dan shouted, bolting straight up, overbalancing, and knocking him and Stampy to the floor. Sparklez would've tried to help them up, but he was too busy gaping openmouthed at the screen.

" _Alright! What's going on, dudes? It's me, CaptainSparklez,_ " Sparklez said, putting his hands on his hips. " _Next time on Minecraft: Hybrid Mode..._ " and he adopted a deeper voice as he started walking along the hallway. " _After defeating the dreaded White Pumpkin in a way that was really not expected-_ " and he went back to his regular voice, " _I mean, who'da thought that Jesse and Cassie were best friends as kids, right? - will Jesse and the others find their way back to the portal hallway? And will it lead them home? Or instead, are they destined for more perilous adventures?_ "

"Seeing your guys's luck so far, I'm more inclined towards the latter," Em said flatly. Upon hearing this, Jesse let out a laugh that slowly petered out.

"Haha! Haha... ha... ha..." Her smile turned into a frown. "Yeah, I think you're right."

Several people got the giggles at her reaction.

Sparklez came to a stop in front of a green portal, the screen switching back to his front as he shrugged, putting his hand on his hip. " _Well, I guess_ I'll _never know because I got_ pounded _into the ground by a ton of sand._ " He walked forward a little, smiling mildly. " _I guess you saw that, right? I'm in the middle of an a-MAZing speech, and boom!_ " He suddenly disappeared towards the ground. The screen switched to show Sparklez posing in a very casual pose on the floor, one arm keeping his head up and the other gesturing at his body. " _I've suddenly become part of the floor._ "

Several people just _couldn't help_ but snort at that.

" _I mean, dude, you saw that, right?_ " Sparklez stood back up, putting his hands on his hips. " _How much worse can it get? First, they choose NOT to invite me on their adventure, and the next thing I know-_ " He crossed his arm. " _I'm part of the floor!_ "

After a moment, he shrugged and uncrossed his arms, giving them a cheerful smile. " _Anyway, one thing's for certain- even without me, this is going to be an amazing adventure!_ " and he turned around, the screen slowly zooming out as he walked away down the portal hallway before fading to black.

A few moments passed, and the screen came back on to the title screen.

"That's it, then?" Otto blinked. "That's this episode?"

"I... I guess so," Petra said, blinking a bit.

"Yeah... now, I'd love to discuss everything that we just saw, but, um, I think Lukas needs sleep right now," and as Jesse looked at him, Lukas was laughing loopily at something.

"Haha... Jesse... you're pretty..." he said, in a sleepy way.

Jesse raised an eyebrow and gestured at him, as if to say: _See?_

"Yeah. It's-" Soren yawned, tears springing into his eyes as he did so. "It's pretty late. Let's have a meeting tomorrow morning, shall we?"

"Sounds good to me," Jace yawned himself, stretching a little bit as Jesse managed to heave an unresisting Lukas to his feet and start leading him towards the hallway.

Petra waited until Jesse had left the room, before clearing her throat and attracting the attention of several people who'd been about to leave. "Hey, Isa, Reginald, Gabriel... can I talk to you guys for a minute?"

The three of them exchanged bemused looks, before getting up and following Petra out of the room as well.

* * *

 **A/N: Oooh, what did Petra want to talk to them about? 0-0**

 **Haha, anyway, that wraps up Episode 6! Expect some fluffy fillers for the next two chapters! :3**

 **Also... please submit characters to Phantasmagoria's website, my DeviantArt (comment on the actual contest post, don't note it to me), Quotev messages, or FFN PMs; I need 40 background characters and I'm not in the mood to design them all.**

 **RQTC: Who's ready for a huge binge-uploading of chapters in the next few days?**

 **Responses!**

 **TheRealRedGaming: (laughs)**

 **MissyMattingly: Don't worry, just read it again slowly if you need to. Or, if you're still confused, PM me or just ask again xD**

 **LunarStarsMoons: (laughs) Ahh, it's fine. x3 / Yeah well it was midnight over here xD / x3 / (laughs)**

 **LittleAngelbun: Cool! / Yeah, it hurt a lot... he's gonna be sleeping for a while. Kind of both. Imagine being drunk after having stayed up for two days and you've kinda got Lukas right about now. / Yes, they need to sleep xD / Nah, it's fine xD**

 **RapidSammi: (laughs) / Well, Lukas was kinda loopy so xD / Yeahhh :3 / Ahhh, that sucks. / (laughs)**

 **Guest: Oh, hi! I remember you. x3**

 **Infernius Flashfire: Yep! xD**

 **RavenBlaze4850: Ahhh, gotcha xD / Hehehe xD / (beams) / Yeah, true. / I've never had shepherd's pie, but okay xD**

 **giriri: For which chapter? / I see. / (blinks) Um, thanks.**

 **Emily The Avenger: (laughs) It's fine~**

 **Jack: HI! / Oh :3 That's good to hear. / Oh- (laughs) That's a coincidence! / Yes, yes you do xD**

 **Toni42: We're dead?**

 **sailor . mikuchan: Heheh xD / (grins) / Yeah, I'll be updating as fast as possible for the next few days.**

 **PoptartCrumbs: Ah, cool! :3 I'm glad you liked it! / Yeah, I like it too x3 / Ahh, gotcha.**

 **Savannah-the-Caracal: (blinks) I don't think they're creepy. Even from the POV of the characters. What makes you say that? / Ah, I see :3**

 **x.X. A.L. X.x**


	131. Quiet Shouting Session and Calming Down

Sleeping in the same bed with someone else was actually nicer than Jesse had been expecting.

Well, 'sleeping'. That implied that she'd actually been sleeping and not just lying there in some sort of stupor.

Jesse shifted back into a sitting position, looking over at a completely conked-out Lukas. The moment she'd dumped him on the bed earlier (he was quite a bit heavier than he looked, alright?), he'd simply passed out with a loopy "Night, love ya" and gone straight to sleep, still fully clothed and with his shoes on. (She'd had to pull them off and put them at the foot of the bed.) She'd then quickly changed into her own pajamas and crawled into the bed as well...

And then lay there with her eyes shut for a few hours.

She _might_ have dozed off a bit, but it wasn't really sleeping... more like going into a sort of hypnotic state where she was just lying there in some sort of half-asleep stupor.

She finally gave up on 'sleeping' for now and decided to head down to the kitchen. With her luck, Ivor would also be up and brewing himself some sort of calming potion.

She eked the door open slightly, slipped into the hallway-

\- and promptly ran straight into someone. She staggered a bit, trying to regain her balance, and a hair of hands quickly clamped onto her shoulders, keeping her from falling over backwards.

"Oh, crap, I'm sorry, are you-" Aiden's voice abruptly cut off, the taller brown-haired boy freezing in place from where his hands were still on Jesse's shoulders, the black-haired girl simply blinking up at him with slightly wide eyes.

Honestly, she should've been a little more bothered by Aiden himself, but right now all that she was more worried about was the fact that Aiden was seeing her in her pajamas.

"... um... hi, Aiden," Jesse said, after a few, long moments.

The brown-haired boy slowly retracted his hands from Jesse's shoulders, still staring at her. "... hi, Jesse," he said at last, sounding a bit as if he wanted to bolt.

"Oh, you guys are up as w-"

The two of them swiveled in perfect unison to see the red-haired Cassie Rose and Winslow freeze in place, a few yards away from them. For a few minutes, the three of them stood in an odd triangle, regarding each other silently with wide eyes as they tried to figure out what in the name of heaven they were supposed t to do.

Finally, Jesse coughed, making all attention go to her. "Um... well, I'm headed to the kitchen to see if Ivor's brewing a calming potion or something... you guys can come if you'd like?" She let the question trail off a bit, uncertainly.

Another rather awkward silence occurred, before Cassie cleared her throat. "I mean... I was headed there anyway, so... sure, I guess..." she said, slowly.

"I... sure?" Aiden bit his lip and looked away awkwardly, rubbing the back of his neck. "I guess that sounds... nice. Sort of. I guess." He then blinked as Jesse started walking, quickly speedwalking to keep up with her- for being such a short girl, she could sure walk really fast. "Wait, how did you know Ivor was gonna be up?"

"I didn't; I was just hoping. He's been up for the past two nights, so..." Jesse shrugged a bit, turning the corner into the kitchen. "I was hoping he'd be in there."

"Oh- Jesse." Ivor looked up from his potion stand, but to Jesse's surprise Harper was perched on a chair as well, absentmindedly rubbing the spot on her leg that had been cut earlier, a bandage wrapped around it. "You're up again." Ivor's eyes slid sideways, and his eyebrow went up. "And... you brought company, as well." His voice showed no sign of displeasure, but he didn't exactly sound happy about it, either.

"Uh- yeah, sorry, I hope you don't mind. I ran into them in the hallway," and Jesse slid neatly into a chair next to Ivor, who almost immediately passed a bottle over to the girl. Aiden and Cassie hesitantly got into their own chairs a little further away. "We ought to just start an Insomniac Club at this rate," she joked a bit feebly, making the occupants of the room chuckle a bit.

Jesse blinked down at the bottle suddenly, a thought having occurred to her. "Oh- did you already make one for me?"

"Yes, I was assuming you might come down," Ivor replied, as Harper scooted away from Ivor a bit, a subtle blush beginning to come over her cheeks slightly.

Jesse uncorked the bottle and sipped, her shoulders almost immediately relaxing a bit the moment the liquid came into her mouth. She let out a little sigh and set the bottle down on the table. "Oh... that's much better," she sighed.

Ivor glanced over at Aiden and Cassie, regarding them for a few moments- long enough for a chill to run down their spines. He might not seem it, but when he was _this_ quiet, he was actually a little frightening.

What he finally said was "What flavor would you like?"

Aiden glanced to Cassie automatically, just in time to catch the glance she was giving _him_. Their eyes met, and they immediately glanced away again, mumbling something under their breath that none of the others in the room could actually catch.

"What was that?" Ivor tilted his head at them.

"Strawberry ice cream," the two of them chorused, before glancing at each other automatically, a pink blush coming over their faces.

"... adorable."

The word slipped out of Harper's mouth as if it were an afterthought, the white-haired woman putting a hand to her mouth in surprise the moment she realized she'd said that out loud- probably when she noticed the two of them starting to blush redder than the insides of a ripe watermelon.

Jesse let out a soft giggle at that. "Well, I'm sure Ivor can manage that- right?" and she looked at the potionologist.

"Milk, magma cream, glistering melon, and sugar," Ivor rattled off with a relatively deadpan expression. "It'll take a bit longer than Jesse's, but sure, I can do that." With that, he got right to work on the potion, popped the ingredients into a potion bottle, and then set the potion bottles on the brewing stand. "Alright, they should be finished in about... ten minutes."

"Thank you."

A longer, _extremely_ awkward silence settled over the room, before Aiden sighed, looking up at Jesse. "I... I just wanted to thank you, for... for not..." He was fumbling his words, gaze going straight to the table, "... well, you know. _"_

Cassie looked away, silently, her heart thudding away in her chest so hard that each palpitation felt like an earthquake.

Honestly, it was hurting a little bit.

"No problem."

Aiden suddenly set his hands down on the table, a bit harder than he'd intended. "But it _is_ a problem!" His shoulders were starting to shake as he stared at a now-rather-surprised Jesse. "Why would you try to save- why would you even be _remotely_ nice to a schizophrenic, idiotic megalomaniac!?"

Aiden's voice was rising a little bit, and it was only the tiniest inkling of the fact that it was some ungodly hour of the day and everyone else was sleeping, and Jesse's sh*t past that was keeping him from just outright _screaming_ at Jesse. "I tried to kill you. I tried to kill the Founder. Notch, I tried to kill _Lukas!_ I'm a power hungry maniac, a schizophrenic, an idiot, a coward, a thief, a _complete asshole_ -"

"Aiden."

"- completely insane, a bully-"

" _Aiden._ "

"- an attempted murderer-"

"You think that's bad?" Cassie snapped suddenly, making Aiden start around to stare at her and Winslow leap off onto the table, her own voice rising yet at a somewhat controlled level. "I _am_ a murderer. I killed people- hell, if Jesse hadn't been there, I'd probably have killed _more_ people than the ones we saw onscreen! You think you're that bad?! You're talking to the girl who just tried to _kill_ people just to get a stupid flint and steel!"

"Cassie-!"

"After everything _I_ did- I destroyed a freaking city!" Aiden shouted in a low-ish voice right back, "I ruined tons of people's lives- Jesse should've just thrown me over the edge or just f*cking _stabbed_ me. I deserved it!"

"Well what about me?! She had full right to just kick me into that pit of Endermites. I would've done the same to her!" Cassie hissed back, feeling tears building up in her eyes. "I didn't even deserve to go _with_ them on their adventure, and she just- decided to take me with her anyways!"

"If there's anyone who should be having this discussion at all, it's me," Ivor suddenly snapped, putting his hands down on the table a bit harder than he meant to- effectively, you could've called it slamming your hands onto the tabletop. "I created a _giant, overpowered_ _Wither_ that tried to eat the _entire world_. If anything, Jesse shouldn't even _like_ me- not even remotely. And yet here we are!"

"Yeah, well, you didn't set out to _kill_ anyone!" Aiden snapped back, not noticing the way Jesse had gotten up and trotted out of her chair. "I would've done _anything_ to beat Jesse. I was even ready to full-out _murder_ her, yet she saves my life. Even here, I haven't exactly been nice to her. I've insulted her and her friends, I've- I've- I punched her in the face, for _f*ck's_ sake!"

Ivor let out an annoyed growl. "I wasn't exactly _pleasant_ either, yet everyone else forgave me."

"Did you kill anyone?!" Cassie snapped, glaring at him.

" _Yes!_ " Ivor suddenly snarled, making the two teenagers flinch back at the sudden aggression, "not directly. Not intentionally. But if I hadn't created that Witherstorm, Reuben wouldn't have died, now would he have?!"

Jesse flinched a bit, looking as if someone had just punched her in the gut.

"Would you three _stop this!_ " Harper snapped, getting to her feet, oblivious to the way Jesse was poking around with some potion ingredients next to the brewing stand. "It's not a contest to see who did the worst thing. Ivor, you're not the only one who knows what happens when a creation gets out of hand. Cassie, I know how you feel about being trapped somewhere and not being able to get home. And Aiden- you weren't in your right mind, and your behavior was affected. It's _not your faults._ "

"Well-"

"All of you, _stop it!_ "

Everyone turned to look at Jesse, who hadn't snapped- with the calming potion in her system, it came out more as a soft scolding than a sharp rebuke.

"Look- just- just drink these."

All four of them started as Jesse shoved some potions in their directions across the table. Aiden's and Cassie's was distinctly foggy, with a swirl of pinkish-gray to it, while Ivor's and Harper's appeared to be a simple, clear liquid; albeit with some gold flecks and sugar thrown into it. "Drink this, and then _sit down._ We are going to talk this out like _normal people._ "

Everyone immediately sat down, uncorking their bottles. Jesse's tone had been mild and rather serene, but she was definitely not smiling right now.

Aiden and Cassie uncorked their bottles, their shoulders abruptly relaxing and the two teenagers letting out a slightly surprised sound as the taste of strawberry ice cream came into their mouths. Ivor uncorked his and took a sip, eyes widening as he realized- well, for a flavored potion that an amateur had made, it was actually _really really_ good.

And the effect wasn't half bad, either.

"Is everyone feeling better? Can we all talk now?" the girl asked, a slightly pleading tone entering her voice.

All of them nodded mutely at her, and she relaxed again. "Look... I... I don't like hating people," she said at last, staring down at her lap. "And honestly, you guys _have_ done some bad things, but..."

She hesitated, before saying, softly, "I... my dad's done bad things to me, and me only."

Everyone automatically shared glances- this was the first time Jesse had actually _talked_ about her dad in front of- well- anyone, really.

"And, when I was a kid, I always gave him the benefit of the doubt, and I would always forgive him, because he was my dad, and I... I was sure he loved me, and I was supposed to love him. And if I loved him, I would forgive him. Besides, I must've been the one doing things wrong if he was angry enough to... do all of those things to me."

Jesse took a deep, shaky breath, before letting it out again. "And then one day, I thought, maybe _I'm_ not the one who's doing things wrong. Maybe _he's_ the one who's in the wrong. I don't know if that's actually correct or not, but I like that, so I go with that."

The black-haired girl smiled weakly, locked in some dark memory now. "And... people tell me that life is easier when you learn to accept apologies that you never get, but... I did that all my life as a kid, and... nothing ever got easier or better for me. Which made me think... maybe 'forgiveness'... isn't actually accepting an apology. It's about understanding that someone made a mistake... and giving them a second chance."

"Well... I've already given my dad hundreds of chances, and... I don't think he's going to change, so... I don't think I can forgive him anymore, but... I can definitely forgive you guys." Jesse smiled, taking herself back out of that space and looking back at the others. "You guys have already taken your second chances, and gotten so much farther than my dad ever will. And..."

She paused, before smiling. "Sometimes, a second chance is all people need."

Aiden was on the calming potion, but he was definitely feeling tears welling up in his eyes.

Silently, he stood up, walked forward, and then leaned forward and pulled Jesse into a tight hug, feeling tears starting to trickle out of his eyes. Without the healing potion, he was quite sure he would've actually been hysterically sobbing or something along those lines. "I'm sorry. I'm sorry. I'm _so sorry,"_ he choked out, feeling his throat close up a little.

Cassie sniffed a bit, too, feeling tears beginning to pool in her eyes. Jesse looked up at the sound, before reaching out and pulling Cassie and Ivor into the hug as well, Ivor grumbling and setting his potion down before allowing himself to be pulled into the hug. He totally didn't have tears forming in his eyes. Nope. No idea what you're talking about.

Harper, watched, feeling a sad smile form on her face.

And then Jesse reached out and beckoned a bit. "I would just pull you into it, but you're at the other side of the table and I can't grab you," she told Harper.

Harper couldn't help but just laugh at that for a moment. Or, well, not _laugh_ , but she did chuckle a bit. A moment passed, before she stood up, walked over, and joined into the hug.

* * *

Jesse walked back to her room, her entire body feeling slightly fuzzy for some reason- almost like her entire body had fallen asleep and was now getting the circulation back.

(No, that sensation would be more 'prickly' than fuzzy, wouldn't it...?)

Maybe it was a sign that she was sleepy right now.

Good. She definitely needed some sleep at this point. She was exhausted. Especially because it was about... one in the morning or something by this point.

Yeah, they definitely needed to get some sleep.

Insomnia was quite cruel sometimes.

Eking the door to her room back open, Jesse was somewhat relieved to see that Lukas hadn't woken up, and was still snoozing away as if he was a rock. She was worried that he might've just woken up randomly while she was gone.

Carefully, she clambered back into the bed, relieved to feel that the blankets were toasty warm against her now-rather-chilly body, and snuggled down into the next of blankets, accidentally managing to snuggle right into Lukas as she did so.

The blonde shifted slightly as she did so, and Jesse abruptly froze, waiting for him to wake up or something.

Instead, his free arm reached up and looped Jesse into a hug, the petite girl finding herself being cuddled like some sort of giant teddy bear or something, the blonde burying his face in her shoulder. "Love ya," he slurred in his sleep, in a low, sleepy voice.

Now that she was being hugged like a stuffed animal, Jesse just couldn't help but smile happily at that.

"Love you too."

She barely had enough time to reach one arm and wrap it around him in a hug before she was plunged into a deep, dreamless sleep.

* * *

 **A/N: If a chapter is over 2,500 words from now on, it's long enough to publish. That's it. I'm not going to push myself for 3000 anymore; it takes me too long to write haha xD**

 **Awwwww... lots of fluff! Next chapter will be fun to write as well :3**

 **Insomniac Squad~ haha**

 **Oh! I have a deviantArt group for Phantasmagoria now! You can go ahead and follow it if you'd like.**

 **Wow, I completely forgot to mention this haha**

 **RQTC: Have you ever had your name mispronounced, either first or last?**

 **Yes. Woefully so. People tend to pronounce my last name like the s-word, except without the T. (which isn't even the way you pronounce it in the first place.) One time a substitute teacher called me that... but... well, let me just say, he forgot to take off the 'T'.**

 **...**

 **60.**

 **THOUSAND.**

 **VIEWS.**

 **SIXTY THOUSAND?!**

 **GUYS OMG I LOVE YOU ALL SO MUCH!**

 **LunarStarsMoons: Haha I'm glad you thought so xD / (laughs) / (giggles) Okay, then.**

 **sailor . mikuchan: The character's great! Thanks for the submission :3 / Ahhh, I see xD**

 **AquaK13: No, I don't remember you. Who are you again? xD xD Jk. Welcome back! / Nah, it's fine! / Heheheh xD / Uhhhhhhhhhmmm... okay then 0-0. / (chuckles) / That's a lot of babies xD / Lolol / Of course xD / (grins) / (laughs) I'm glad you're ready. / Thank you! Still don't know how that happened lol / (beams) Thank you! / RIGHT?!**

 **LittleAngelbun: x3**

 **RapidSammi: (grins evilly) / I'm glad you liked it, Sammi-kun!**

 **Jack: No, it's fine! I know other people haven't read it either, but this isn't a bad place to start! / Too bad I might have to wait to get it... / (grins) / GOOD xD**

 **Toni42: (laughs) I'm glad you're excited for the chapter... at least, I think you are. xD /** **Eh, she's actually decent. I just probably don't express it well enough... ha... ha... / Thanks! It took me a super long time to do, so I'm glad you liked it xD / (cracks up) DID IT REALLY?! xD**

 **Kaos Ruin: Yeah... / No spoilers~**

 **giriri: Please PM it to me, don't put it in the comments of a different story. That kind of defeats the purpose of me telling you to PM it to me xD / GOOD! xD**

 **Savannah-the-Caracal: (laughs) / (grins)**

 **Infernius Flashfire: Hehehehe xD / Oh, yes, that'll be very fun. x3**

 **RavenBlaze4850: (grins) Yep! / No, they'll probably all just conk out- they pretty much finish watching the episode around 2 in the morning haha xD / Inquiring minds must wait until it is revealed :3 / Alright, cool :3 / Yeah, Thinknoodle said I think. Too bad I might not be able to get it until the 5th... / (grins)**

 **S4SH4L4SH4theGaMeR101: Ah, I see x3 / I'm glad you liked it! / Yeah Winslow's great xD / (fangirls with you) x3 / I just read that in a Spongebob voice for some reason xD**

 **Rabbits rule: Hi! / No, Lukas is exhausted and a bit loopy from the whole experience. / x3**

 **Emily The Avenger: Thanks! :3**

 **DarkPrincess2001: Few more chappies xD**

 **Guest: :3**

 **x.X. A.L. X.x**


	132. FLUFF

Lukas was feeling pretty good.

He was warm, he was hugging something pretty soft (maybe it was a stuffed animal?), and he was feeling much better than last night-

Oh Notch.

Last night.

Lukas shot upright, eyes widening. Where was everyone? Where was he? This wasn't his room. What had happened? He'd just been so tired after everything had happened where who what _when howwhy-_

"Something wrong, Lukas?"

Lukas blinked rapidly, before looking down.

He immediately felt his cheeks color.

That 'pretty soft' thing he'd been hugging was not, in fact, a stuffed animal- it was a very sleepy-looking Jesse, the girl in her pajamas and wrapped up in a very tight hug by the blonde. Sitting up must've jolted her awake a little bit, although that neckl-

He paused, before bending down and having a closer look.

Yep... there was a nice choker on her neck. In the center was an iron disk with a small, green jade pressed into the center. There was a thin chain around her neck... but then it looped back around, and then did some sort of strange intertwining until it reconnected with the iron disk. And- well, sure, it was really, really pretty, and it matched her eyes, and she looked very good with a necklace on, and- what had he been thinking about? Oh yeah- why was she still wearing it? Wasn't sleeping with it on uncomfortable?

"Lukas...?"

Oh yeah; Jesse had been blinking at him in confusion.

"Oh. Um... no, nothing's wrong, Jesse. You can back to sleep if you're still tired," he told her, gently patting her hair as if she were some sort of kitten.

"... mmkay. Night, sweetie." And Jesse snuggled deeper into his arms and promptly went straight back to sleep.

Lukas felt his face go even pinker.

Not that he was _displeased_ , though.

Not even a full minute later, the door eked open, and Lukas looked up to see Olivia poking her head into the room. "Hey, Jesse, it's about time we-" She stopped midsentence as she spotted Lukas cuddling Jesse on the bed, blinking at her with his cheeks steadily growing pinker.

"... breakfast'll be ready in half an hour," Olivia finally finished, giving Lukas a strange grin and letting the door slide shut. "I'll- um- I'll leave you to it."

If Lukas had gone any pinker, he could've been mistaken as the Pink Panther.

* * *

Dan was walking briskly down the hallway to go get ready for breakfast when he spotted Stampy slowly meandering his way down the hallway, looking _totally_ exhausted.

"Stampy? Y'all right there?" he walked around so that he could see Stampy a bit better and meet his eyes, the shorter boy leaning rather heavily on the wall.

"Tired." With that being said, Stampy slid down the wall, blinking heavily from where he was sitting on the floor, up at the currently gray-haired boy.

Dan just stared down at Stampy, feeling a slight headache coming on as he stared at the shorter boy curled up on the floor and looking like he might pass out any second now. "... Stampy, it's time for breakfast."

"Wake me up when the pancakes are ready," Stampy mumbled.

Dan let out a long, slightly irritated sigh. Only slightly, because it was Stampy he was talking about here. "Stampy, really...?"

Getting no response from the cat-hoodie-wearing boy, he let out another little sigh and looked around to make sure there wasn't someone he might accidentally whack with what he was about to do next.

Of course, there was no one. (Who would willingly be up at this time of morning? Oh yeah, Dan would.)

Stooping down, he looped an arm around the boy's shoulders and then lifted Stampy into the air bridal-style, staggering a bit with a slight grunt- Stampy was a bit heavier than he looked, but still much lighter than, say, I dunno- Sparklez or something. "Alright, c'mon Stampy- it's time for breakfast and you need food," he told the very sleepy other boy briskly.

"Okay," Stampy said, in a slightly sing-songy voice.

"... you are _not_ a morning person, are you." And Dan was off down the hallway, being careful to keep Stampy in a relatively compact space so that he didn't bang the poor boy on a wall or something.

Although I'm pretty sure he wouldn't have minded just banging StAZIRA GET THE FLIP OFF MY COMPUTER

* * *

The morning was pretty peaceful so far. The sun was shining after the VERY violent storm from the previous night, the birds were singing, and everyone had basically slept in until ten, so they were all feeling pretty refreshed.

Right now, though, most of the occupants of the room weren't focusing on any of these nice things.

No, their main focus was that Stampy was leaning heavily on Dan, essentially hugging the other boy's arm. Dan was simply looking slightly embarrassed, hair a faint shade of brown.

Jesse was beaming cheerfully at this, though this may have also been partially due to Lukas braiding her hair. It also a bit of a mystery to most of the other 'guests' that she greeted Aiden and Cassie very cheerfully and gone back to letting Lukas braiding her hair. (He was doing a pretty good job- there was a reason his hair usually looked so good.)

"Love you," Stampy mumbled to Dan.

Lizzie was grinning like a maniac, before leaning over and whispering to Ivor in a very loud stage whisper- who happened to be nearest to her- "Stampy's still dreaming. I think he might be dreaming of Dan as his husband."

"Is it that obvious that he has a crush on him?"

Lizzie nodded, grinning smugly. "Yes."

Dan muttered an incoherent 'shut up' in her direction.

"Shhh," Stacy giggled a bit for some reason, grinning before she turned to Stampy and said, in a hushed voice, "Ooooh, do you like Dan~?"

"Mmhm."

Lizzie stifled a loud giggle, before whispering over to him, her own mischievous grin not fading one bit, "And what are your kid's names?"

Now half of the room's occupants were desperately stifling giggles, excluding Jesse, who was simply laughing quietly, or Lukas, who was still concentrating on braiding her hair (albeit with a huge grin on his face).

"Mmm... Jack and Harry."

Laughter was getting more and more acute, as Sparklez chimed in, in his own low voice, his own grin growing incredibly huge, "Do you promise to love and cherish each other as long as you live?"

Dan's hair was now a very vibrant mix of brown and pink, the brown being a lighter shade of brown but still very vibrant, leaning his head into one hand to try to hide the horrible blush coming over his face.

He was kind of failing.

"Yes now lemme just kiss him-"

Aiden abruptly got to his feet and walked out the door. The moment it shut, hysterical laughter rang out, which set Jesse off into a round of giggles, and in turn made everyone else explode into laughter. Poor Dan's hair was so vibrantly brown and pink at this point that it was actually really pretty.

"Um..." Olivia cleared her throat as she came into the room, some maple syrup on her pants and her lips twitching desperately as she tried to keep herself from bursting into laughter, "Breakfast is ready."

Stampy blinked awake, looking around at the roomful of hysterically laughing people, then at a horribly embarrassed Dan. "What's going on?"

* * *

"Okay... so... there's a lot we've got to discuss, isn't there?" Soren's smile faded, adopting a more serious tone.

Breakfast had been so much more cheerful than the previous morning's, especially after Stampy's little gaffe (both he and Dan were now blushing their heads off)... but, well.

Now it was discussion time.

"Oh... yes." Ivor cleared his throat, pushing his plate away. "Should we start with that... um... 'final' vision of the... ghosts or whatever they are?"

"Oh... yeah." There was a long pause, before Axel cleared his throat. "Well... they're not dead. That's good, right?"

"What makes you say that?" Mevia asked, sounding slightly surprised by the assertion.

Axel shrugged. "I mean, we saw that vision with them fangirling over something _after_ the one with all the zombies- sooo, that means they didn't die, right?" he reasoned, looking around at the rest of the room.

"Yeah... he's right!" Gill perked up a bit, looking around the room. "That would work like that, right?"

"Well, I don't know..." Harper frowned. "We don't know how the visions work. They might not be in chronological order or anything. For all we know, the one where they were being all excited happened two years or something before the one with the zombies."

A grim silence fell over the audience as they considered that, before Maya frowned thoughtfully. "Do you think that they _lived_ here?"

"Well, it's definitely Ariza's house- she mentioned that at some point," Jesse pointed out. "I'm not sure about the others, though- for all I know, they just visit Ariza a lot or something."

"True... but... if they did die..." Aiden spoke up, voice faltering as his eyes widened, an almost _horrifying_ thought coming to mind.

"... then are they haunting this place?"

An uncomfortable silence lingered, before Cassie cleared her throat a bit, shifting a little bit. "So... about last night." She took a deep breath.

" _WHAT THE F*CK WAS THAT?!_ "

Everyone flinched a bit at the sudden shout, Cassie wincing as she realized that most of the audience was now attempting to lean away from her in case she had another outburst. "I'm sorry- it's just- everything flying around the living room is still on my mind like- what the _hell_ was that?"

"There was... a reaper," Ellegaard said slowly, as if she was trying to piece everything together. "And her ghost... Spooky?"

"Smokey," Ivor automatically corrected her. "And they didn't have a gender. They were just a reaper, I think. Their name was Gray."

"Right, them. And... and they... mentioned someone else towards the end. Dian, or something." Petra frowned, Lukas glancing up from Jesse's braid as he tied the whole thing together. "That's who was... 'possessing' Lukas, or trying to- right?"

"I'd assume so; I don't know why he'd-"

"They. We shouldn't assume their gender."

" _They_ , then," Mevia corrected herself, shooting a slight glare in Isa's direction, "why _they_ would be throwing vases and books and stuff at us all willy-nilly and trying to grab using those- those _hands_."

Reginald frowned. "Did Gray _know_ that... uh, 'Dian' was going to be there?"

"I think they were just there as a precaution or something- they _did_ mention something about a friend calling in a fav-" Jace abruptly cut himself off, eyes widening in near _horror_.

"... Jace? You okay?" Petra asked, frowning at the boy in concern and giving him a little shake. Reuben gave a little whine as well, pressing his nose into Jace's hand.

Jace remained stock-still for a few moments, before slowly whispering, "They mentioned being there for the night because a friend called in a favor... and those inky hands that grabbed Jesse and told us to watch the 6th episode at night..." His face grew even paler. "... does that mean someone else has been watching us this whole time?"

Shivers shot up everyone's spines in fear, and even Aiden, Cassie and Ivor exchanged worried glances at that.

Way to make the whole situation so much more paranoid than it really had to be...

"Well... if someone _is_ watching us, they _have_ to slip up _sometime_ ," Em said, putting emphasis on sometime. "And when they do, we are getting them to explain _everything_."

A loud chorus of agreement from the rest of the group, the tension relaxing somewhat.

Somewhat.

"Should we watch the next episode, then?" Gabriel asked, at last.

Petra, surprisingly, shook her head. "Nah, I actually need to borrow Jesse for an hour or so."

Jesse blinked at that in surprise. "Um... okay."

"So, we'll meet in the living room in an hour or so?" Ellegaard asked, looking around at the rest of the room for confirmation. Most of them nodded as well.

Jesse blinked, still looking a bit surprised. "Um, yeah, I guess so. See you guys later. Bye, Lukas, thanks for braiding my hair," and she kissed his cheek and proceeded to quickly exit the room.

Jace looked at a now goofily-grinning Lukas, before over at the door Jesse had just exited through. "... she might've just broken him," he said at last, watching Gabriel, Isa, and Reginald also file out of the room after the two of them.

"I'm pretty sure I did that earlier when I caught them cuddling in bed," Olivia said, taking a sip of coffee.

There was a loud fangirl squeal from Nell and Gill that absolutely nobody was surprised by.

Meanwhile, one of the paintings one the wall switched their eye to stare at them, eye suddenly glowing blood-red.

They'd have to slip up _sometime,_ hm?

Well.

Time to prove that wrong.

* * *

"Petra, what's up?"

The redhead took a deep breath, turning around to face Jesse in the armor room. The petite girl simply looked bemused at the sight of Gabriel, Reginald, and Isa also standing around in the room, having a small chat.

"Well, I've been tossing this idea around for a while since we started watching the episodes, but I think it's about time we actually put it into action."

Gabriel, Isa, and Reginald all looked up upon hearing Petra's voice, before turning around, all three of them pulling out a set of weapons- wooden, of course.

Jesse looked even more confused when Petra drew another wooden sword and tossed it to her, her hand automatically shooting out and catching it, although she very nearly fumbled and dropped it.

"Petra, what's going on?" Jesse repeated.

"Sword at the ready, Jesse," and Petra spun on her heel, eyes gleaming in a dangerous way as she grinned at the petite girl.

"We're going to teach you how to fight."

* * *

 **A/N: Sorry, chapter's a bit short, but I really didn't have much I wanted to put in this chapter, so I just decided to leave it short- I'd rather leave it short than drag it out, y'know?**

 **RQTC: I've been relentlessly working on this story haha, do you like the two chapters in the current bingepost?**

 **LunarStarsMoons: I'm glad you liked it! x3 / Cramps are indeed the worst. / Ahhhh. xD**

 **S4SH4L4SH4theGaMeR101: Yay! x3 / What even? Your name isn't even that hard to pronounce!**

 **homeworkoverload: Hi! I'm glad you're enjoying summer camp :3 / Bai!**

 **AquaK13: Lolol sure xD / (laughs) / Dude, your mind is so dirty hahahaha xD / Ahhh, I see. xD / Dogs are cute, though, so xD at least you haven't been called literal shit. xD**

 **RapidSammi: Hehehehe xD / Yeah... / Well, it's while one is super sleepy, so xD / Are you serious? xD / Love ya~**

 **LittleAngelbun: How tf does someone do that -_- / (laughs)**

 **Toni42: It did, unfortunately :/ / I'm glad you liked it! :3 / I know, it just popped into my head.**

 **Dr . MKNoble: Oh no, that sucks xD / I'm glad you like it! :3**

 **x.X. A.L. X.x**


	133. Nightmarish Memories

"I- what?" Jesse asked, sounding rather disoriented, wooden sword dangling at her side. "You're... going to teach me how to fight?"

"Yeah. You do a lot of it in that world, and- well- even if you don't end up doing it in _your_ world, it's always a helpful skill to have. There's not a day I _regret_ being able to fight," and Petra gave Jesse a pretty wolfish grin that probably didn't make her feel very good. "So I rounded up the people who are best at fighting- or, well, swordfighting, at least. You might need other types, but let's start simple for now, hm?"

"Well- I mean- Petra, this- this is a nice offer, but- I definitely won't need-"

"No buts. Now defend yourself!" And a swift overhand cut came right at Jesse.

"Wh-!" Jesse swung the sword around wildly, the wooden sword crashing into the other one and effectively stopping it from smacking Jesse on the head. "What are you-?!"

"Don't complain now watch out!"

Jesse suddenly found herself being attacked wildly by the single wooden sword, her own arm flailing around and smacking away the blade as best as she could. Even with her best attempts, though, she was still getting whacked rather painfully by the wooden sword in quite a lot of places and blocking woefully few attacks. Gabriel, Reginald, and Isa kept wincing sympathetically as the onslaught kept going.

After what felt like eternity but was really only a minute, Petra let the sword drop to her side, Jesse dropping her own arm to her side and panting heavily. "There, I think that's good for now."

Jesse looked up at Petra, panting heavily. "That was... that was... really hard... phoof." And she flopped down onto the floor, feeling her ribs ache from where she'd just gotten whacked with the stick. "... do I have to do that again?"

"Yep," Petra said cheerfully, not at all apologetic about it. "But you did pretty well."

"Petra, I missed half of your hits, you hit me in over twenty places, and I'm sore..."

"Yeah, well, for someone who's never really fought before, you did pretty well against me," Petra told her cheerfully, not at all abashed by everything she did. "Now up you get; time to practice against Gabriel."

Jesse just groaned.

"If you look on the bright side," Isa said, in an effort to be optimistic, "after this training is all over, you'll be quite excellent at swordfighting. You'll be glad to have all this training."

"Not while I'm actually training, I assume," Jesse said tentatively.

"Not likely, that will most likely be hell."

Isa and Reginald glared at Gabriel when Jesse paled noticeably and Petra gave Gabriel a grin. He simply shrugged. "That's basically what happened when _I_ was training."

"Yeah well you didn't have to _tell_ her that."

* * *

After an hour had passed, everyone reconvened in the living room. Everyone noticed that Jesse looked significantly more tired, and winced a bit whenever she shifted her position too significantly, but she waved off everyone's concerns and flopped down on the floor with a grunt. "I'm gonna need a healing potion..." she groaned.

Ivor glared at Petra a bit. "Exactly what did you do to her?" he asked, adopting a steely tone.

Petra shrugged nonchalantly, ignoring the way Lukas was narrowing his eyes at her. "Nothing, really."

"If you don't count 'relentlessly whacking someone with sticks' as something," Reginald mumbled, before wincing as Petra dug her elbow into his ribs rather cheerfully, still smiling away.

After everyone had settled down, Harper, who'd somehow gotten ahold of the remote this episode, lifted it and clicked the 'play' button to start the episode.

The screen loaded for a few moments, before fading to black.

Slowly, it came back in to show Little-Jesse curled up in a tube, surrounded by blue liquid. Jesse was wearing what looked like a hospital gown, several nodes attached to her arms, her chest, her stomach, and several other locations on her body. She didn't have the extra limbs yet, or the red eye, and looked... actually, it was a little weird as to how normal she looked.

"Huh. I guess this is before she got turned into a hybrid," Harper mumbled, raising her eyebrows slightly. (She couldn't pull it off quite as neatly as Ivor and Jesse could, though.)

Onscreen, Jesse looked around a bit, tapping the glass experimentally, before pressing her palm to the glass as her eyes widened.

The screen shifted a bit to show Little-Jace in his own tube, his own palm pressed to the glass as he looked at his sister. In this one, he didn't have the wolf ears, either, and he was just blinking at Jesse in slight bewilderment. He also had his own hospital gown on, nodes attached to various parts of the body.

Slowly, he raised a hand and pointed down.

The little girl followed his gaze to see a box-like object with buttons and lights and screens blooping over it. One of the little screens seemed to be monitoring her heartbeat, and- oh, that's interesting. There was someone wearing a white coat hunched over the screens, poking away at the buttons experimentally. Finally, they looked up, someone else coming in-

Everyone's eyes widened.

Cassie's aunt was the one standing there, her eyes narrowing a bit as she pointed at the tube with Jesse in it. Jesse blinked as the person in the white coat turned to talk to her. A moment later, Cassie's aunt stepped back with a reluctant look on her face, and the person in the white coat toggled a switch.

The node attached to her heart suddenly started glowing, Jesse looking down at it curiously as luminous red stuff began to ooze down the tube, until it slowly seemed to empty into her body.

"What... is... that?" Jace asked, slowly.

Lukas frowned, squinting. "Is that... spider blood?"

Everyone's heads snapped back to face the screen.

Jesse was blinking down at the tube still when suddenly she flinched, propelling herself backwards so that her back bumped into the glass of the tube. With that, she gave a sudden shudder, and slammed a palm over her left eye, shaking her head furiously as she started contorting a bit, her body trembling harshly as she tried to keep herself from shuddering so hard.

It wasn't working.

The spider hybrid abruptly screamed, bubbles exiting her mouth and the horrible sound being muffled by the liquid in the tank. It sounded a bit as if she were being pierced by knives and needles and she was screaming in pain still, the scream still being muffled, and most of the audience was now doing their best to scoot away from this _absolutely horrific_ scene.

And suddenly, her eyes flew open, the left iris flooding with bloody red pigment. The little girl's head snapped down to look at something, in time to see bumps beginning to poke their way through the hospital gown-

And then ripping it.

The fleshy bumps that had just formed suddenly morphed into arms with hands, joints unlocking abruptly, while fingers undulated from her palms, and her extra limbs were _still growing_ , and Jesse seemed to be screaming harder than ever now.

Another muffled scream joined, and Jesse's head snapped over in time to see Jace hunch into a tiny ball, screaming endlessly (if the stream of bubbles flooding from his mouth was any indication) with his hands clamped over his head...

Ears slowly beginning to poke their way out.

"Oh Notch," Petra gaped at the screen. "This- this is how Jesse and Jace were made into hybrids... _Notch_ , that looks like they're going through _hell_ right now."

Jesse clamped her uppermost hands over her head, lower ones hammering on the glass as she tried desperately to get out, to get to her twin brother-

Suddenly, the background behind her warped, and she was sitting in that room that she'd been in when Jace had been taken from her, clawing at her head, screaming at full-volume now, while Jace was wailing and sobbing for her, and there was a high-pitched ringing that was beginning to sneak its way in and grow more and more dominant, and the screen was swooping in and out of focus and view, and honestly, it was making the viewers feel a bit sick to their stomachs.

Maybe that was the point.

" _You shouldn't be using that!_ " Cassie's aunt was shouting, desperation tinging her voice. " _It's really hurting Jesse! Besides, it's not ready yet! Causing her this type of pain- it's not_ safe!"

A low chuckle that made Jesse abruptly freeze, eyes widening in shock.

" _Don't worry. She'll be fine. These hybrids_ were _created to be more durable than their weak mob counterparts._ "

And suddenly Jesse dropped to the ground, eyes rolling up in her head as she fell to the ground, screen going black the moment she hit and bounced off, a scream ringing out onscreen over the screaming that was _still_ going on.

" ** _JESSE!_** "

The screen switched to show the portal hallway, Jesse shooting upright and screaming, her irises bloodred and her hands clutching at her hair and in that moment she looked perfectly _insane_. There was a set of hands on her shoulders, and whosever they belonged to was saying something, saying something that the screaming was drowning out-

" _Jesse! JESSE! CALM DOWN!_ "

Jesse's scream abruptly petered out, turning into a gasp for air as she started panting, her entire body trembling violently as if she'd run a fifty-mile marathon.

The screen switched to show a blurry, out-of-focus picture that quickly came into focus. Lukas was holding Jesse's shoulders tightly, staring into her eyes with his own, fearfully wide, blue-green eyes. His claws might've been poking out a little bit too. " _Jesse? What's wrong? What happened? Are you alright?_ " he immediately rattled off quite the long list of questions.

Jesse blinked at him, still looking quite shell-shocked, before making to get up. Lukas put a stop to that, simply pressing down on her shoulders until she sat back down. Jesse's eyes slid around, looking at the background. Cassie was sitting up near a portal, her eyes blinking rather rapidly and looking quite red, her hands twitching as if she wanted to do something- and then she relaxed a bit when she spotted Jesse, eyes growing more concerned.

Not too far away, Petra was on her feet, looking around and turning around in little circles in a disoriented sort of way. Ivor was rummaging through his bag, before he got up and went over towards her.

A bottle was pushed into her face, a potion that was almost completely clear liquid, except for a wisp of pale blue to the drink. " _Jesse, drink this,_ " Ivor told her.

The spider hybrid just looked up, her right eye slowly fading more towards green again as she kept trembling, her expression still filled with abject fear.

"That... that was a _nightmare._ " Ivor shook his head. " _Literally_."

Dan shuddered a bit, looping his arm around Stampy and squeezing the cat-hoodie-wearing boy in a tight hug. "Yeah, it's... it's a little scary. They basically used something that wasn't really _safe_ to erase Jesse's memory."

Lukas tightened his arms around Jesse, who winced a bit. "Lukas, bruise."

"Oh, sorry."

" _Jesse._ "

The spider hybrid simply swallowed, every muscle in her body standing out in sharp relief; she was so tense. Her eyes were filled with fear still, and Ivor pushed the potion at her a little more insistently. " _C'mon, Jesse._ "

Slowly, Jesse's upper arms reached up to take the potion bottle, abruptly making the liquid inside the bottle start vibrating due to her hands shaking so badly. Tentatively, she put the bottle to her mouth, and drained the whole thing in a few deep gulps.

Abruptly, her entire body relaxed, and Jesse's expression also relaxed- actually, she looked pretty serene right about now, considering she'd been trembling like a leaf the minute before.

" _Jesse... what was that?_ " Petra asked slowly, looking a little groggy but definitely concerned as she stared at Jesse.

" _Nightmare,_ " Jesse replied, sounding rather serene, before she looked down at the bottle for a moment and then back up at Ivor. " _Calming Potion?_ "

Aiden, Cassie, Ivor, Harper, and Jesse all exchanged a small grin at that for some reason. (Hmmm, I wonder why.)

" _You needed it,_ " Ivor replied shortly, " _that sounded like some nightmare._ "

"You don't have to say it twice," Hadrian muttered, shifting a bit in his seat. He'd dealt with some pretty nightmarish things in his time... but yeah, screaming children were a little more than he could really handle.

Jesse paused, as if she had to think about that. " _Well... I guess it was okay at first,_ " she said thoughtfully and still in that oddly serene way. " _But then it turned into a nightmare really quickly. It was more like a couple of memories than a real nightmare, is all._ "

"Are there any repercussions from calming potions?" Mevia asked Ivor.

He shrugged after a moment of thought. "It's quite easy to get addicted to them if you drink more than your body can handle at once and start relying on them too much for everything. Depending on what you're looking for, it could easily be more addictive than drugs or alcohol- especially if one has a nervous disorder or something along those lines."

"... ah."

Onscreen, Cassie blinked at them again as Jesse leaned into Lukas, reaching up and starting to pet him, the blonde relaxing abruptly and then curling up on the floor. Jesse had to basically lie on top of him to lean into him now, but she really didn't seem to mind. After a moment, Ivor glanced up at the ceiling and petting Jesse, making her already relaxed body go even looser.

Petra blinked at them again, before going over and sitting down, pretty much leaning on Jesse's stomach- not that the spider hybrid seemed to mind. Lukas started purring softly, curling up even more than before. Winslow padded over and sniffed the blonde ocelot hybrid, before meowing and curling up next to him as well.

"Aw, this is so cute," Gill grinned. "You lot are adorable, you know that?"

"I'm not _cute_ -" Petra began to argue.

"Yeah, she's more hot than cute."

Petra blinked and looked over at Jace, who'd slapped his hands over his mouth a second too late.

Cassie crept a little closer, lying down on her stomach and watching the other group for a moment, before closing her eyes and slowly relaxing.

The screen switched to show Jesse still petting Lukas while he purred like the engine of a car, Ivor still patting her on the back in a comforting way, while Petra dozed off against Jesse, the portal hallway illuminating the whole hallway with dim, miasmic patterns of light.

Slowly, the screen faded to black.

"That was _so sweet_ ," Slab said, sniffling a bit and reaching up to wipe his eyes a little bit.

Jace and Jesse exchanged slightly sheepish, slightly shy glances with one another, Reuben snuggling up between them as Jesse leaned into Lukas with a smile and Petra wrapped her arms around Jace in a tight hug. Axel and Olivia shifted over as well, Olivia leaning into Petra a bit while Axel used one arm to brace themselves.

This wasn't _this_ path of the future...

But there were some times now that they were wishing more and more that it _was_.

* * *

 **A/N: I know that the chapters are a bit shorter now, but I can upload them quicker than if I struggle to reach 3000 words. It'll go back to a 3000 word limit once we reach July 11 or 12th.**

 **RQTC: Have you ever read something absolutely awful that made you just _cringe_ hardcore? Share 'em with me, I wanna see what readings have caused you pain xD**

 **An example (don't send me this one) is My Immortal, known as one of the worst fanfictions... ever.**

 **Responses to reviews!**

 **LunarStarsMoons: (laughs) Well, I'm glad I made you feel several emotions. / Hehehe xD / (laughs) / (grins)**

 **RapidSammi: Oh dear xD / ? What is the pinky test- oh xD okay I won't ask. xD**

 **S4SH4L4SH4theGaMeR101: (laughs) I'm glad you like it!**

 **MissyMattingly: Yep! :3**

 **InsaneAcrobat: (chuckles) Yeah, I'm kinda binge-uploading. / Azira's a... well, they're not a _bad_ person... they're not exactly _good_ either, so xD / gotcha, cool!**

 **AquaK13: Oh no xD / Hehehe xD / Oh my god now I can't stop thinking of a montage mashup between the two xD / Yay! / :3**

 **sailor . mikuchan: I feel ya fam / Cool!**

 **LittleAngelbun: I'm glad you liked them! / Oh noes you are dead T^T**

 **giriri: (laughs) I'm glad you liked it.**

 **BeliTheGhoti0304: Which one hahaha xD / And Gabriel, and Isa, and Reggie xD / Lolol xD / (grins)**

 **Jack: (laughs) / I didn't even plan that... since Jesse's big on speeches in the game I just decided to make one up on the spot lol xD / Yeahhh. / Nah you're good xD / Hahaha xD / Lolololol / Nah, it's fine. xD / Yep!**

 **Guest: Well, in this he didn't kill Ellegaard, so...**

 **RavenBlaze4850: Hehehehe xD / Yep xD / I was going for that, sort of. Until they all started yelling at each other haha xD / (chuckles) / (laughs) Nope, I just went off to go check my music and Azira 'borrowed' my computer. xD / (laughs) / Sort of xD / Ahhhh xD / (chuckles) / Yep!**

 **Welp, that's it for now! Bai!**

 **x.X. A.L. X.x**


	134. A Cassie-centric Chapter

The screen was still black, when suddenly Little-Cassie's voice came onscreen. " _Aunt Cassie, do you think she'll play with me if I ask?_ "

The screen switched to show a ball spinning into the air rapidly. A web shot out from somewhere offscreen, and the screen zoomed after the ball as it slapped into Jesse's hand, the little spider hybrid sitting cross-legged on the ground as she detached the ball and rolled it back to Cassie.

Cassie giggled as she picked the ball back up. " _You're good at this!_ " she called over to Little-Jesse.

Jesse smiled brightly back at her, squeezing her eyes shut. " _Thanks,_ " she replied, voice still sounding remarkably like a sort of humming hiss.

Jace mumbled something about them being too loud in his blankets and burrowed even further under them, making the two girls look at each other and then start giggling cheerfully.

"Lazy puppy," Petra whispered into Jace's ear, making him glance back at her.

"Nyeeeeehhhh." He stuck his tongue out at her and snuggled into her further, which was a bit amusing for Petra.

(Not that she was complaining, of course.)

Real-Cassie's gaze softened as she glanced at Jesse, who seemed to be staring at the screen intently, drinking the sight of that moment in with a blank expression on her face. If you stared closely though, you could see the hope dancing in her eyes.

Cassie finally went back to watching the little game that was in progress, feeling a fist clench a bit in her stomach.

That looked... nice.

Cassie bounced the ball again, before throwing it up as high as she could. The spider hybrid waited for a moment, as if waiting for the ball to go as high as it could, before raising her palm and letting a web shoot out of her hand and latch back onto the ball, retracting it once again so that it landed right in her palm. Pulling the strings off, she tossed it back at Cassie, who jumped to catch it, missed, and ended up having to go chase after it. " _How are you so good at this?_ " Cassie called over to Jesse as she dashed after the ball.

The spider hybrid thought about it for a moment, her bottom lip poking out a little bit in thought. " _Hmmmnnn... I'm not sure. The scientists test me a lot, I guess._ "

Cassie shrugged and winged the ball into the air again, Jesse catching it easily with a smile and tossing it back to the little redhead, who caught it this time. " _Well, whatever it is, I don't mind- it makes playing catch with you a lot of fun!_ " she chirped.

Jesse beamed cheerfully. " _Thaaaaaanks~!_ " she chirped, voice actually shaking off some of the hissy hum that it was and sounding normal... human, really.

Cassie beamed back, and suddenly the landscape was changing around her and her smile dropped to one of a slightly muted excitement.

"Oh- okay- that's a bit dizzying," and Lukas winced.

Jesse absentmindedly fingered the choker around her neck as she watched the screen. "Yeah, it... actually, it really is. Not nearly as bad as the little minecart ride in Sky City, though."

Isa winced a bit.

When the background changed, the camera shifted as Cassie started walking down a white hallway. She came to a stop next to a door, and hopped up to grab the handle. It took a few tries, but after a few minutes it slowly shifted open.

Jesse was snuggled up in her pile of blankets like the first time she and Cassie had met, but she sat up when she saw Cassie eke into the room. Cassie's smile faded as she surveyed the room.

"What's she looking for?" Axel wondered.

Olivia was shaking her head almost before he'd finished. "Not _what_ , Axel- _who_. She's looking for Jace."

Jace's eyes widened, as did several other members of the audience's eyes, as they reevaluated the scene and realized that Olivia was right.

Jace was nowhere to be seen.

"Maybe... maybe he's in a test or something?" Mevia suggested, frowning nervously at the screen and beginning to fidget with her hands a little bit. (Otto and Harper exchanged openly shocked looks at that.)

Em's eyes narrowed. "Maybe."

But her tone of voice said she didn't believe that.

" _Hi, Jesse,_ " Cassie said to the spider hybrid, tentatively.

Jesse blinked at Cassie for a few seconds. Then she turned around to look over her shoulder, as if looking for someone behind her. Then she turned back around to face Cassie with a blank look. " _Are you talking to me?_ "

" _Yeah- of- of course I am,_ " Cassie said, blinking rapidly. " _There's only two people in the room, and- and I'm using your name, aren't I?_ "

" _But I don't have a name,_ " Jesse stated matter-of-factly, blinking a bit.

Harper put a hand to her mouth, eyes widening.

Jace wasn't in a test.

He'd already been taken.

Cassie just blinked at Jesse, looking crestfallen and confused now. " _Jesse... what are you talking about?_ " she asked, taking a cautious step forward-

Jesse edged backwards a bit more, looking warily at Cassie. " _Who are you?_ " she asked, finally, sounding a bit worried. " _Why are you in here?_ "

Cassie's eyes widened, and she stood there for a moment, hands trembling, as if she really wasn't sure what to say. " _... Jesse...?_ "

The door suddenly banged open, making Jesse flinch and Cassie turn around with a little jump.

Cassie's aunt was in the doorway, a furious look in her eyes as someone came up behind her. " _C'mon, Rosie- we're leaving,_ " the woman nearly _snarled_ , before covering her mouth and coughing a little bit.

Cassie turned back to Jesse, who was just staring at them blankly. She lifted her hand and gave a forlorn little wave. " _See you,_ " she told the spider hybrid, at last.

Jesse simply nodded after a minute, an odd look on her face. " _See you,_ " she echoed.

" _Cass, please-_ " the audience's eyes widened at the voice, " _I didn't know either-_ "

" _I'm sorry, Harper,_ " the red-haired woman nearly _seethed_ , taking Cassie's hand and walking out of the room briskly, walking straight past the other woman, " _but I'm not staying with that-_ " Her hands went over Cassie's ears for some reason, " _\- and I'm not staying here one minute longer._ " Another harsh cough came out of her mouth, and Cassie's aunt reached up to cover her mouth. " _... good bye._ "

And she continued storming out, Cassie looking back at the fluffy-haired, confused-looking spider hybrid behind her...

Before the door slammed shut on Jesse with a final-sounding sort of _clang_.

The screen switched back to show Cassie, and suddenly her background started reconstructing herself, her aunt vanishing as she abruptly curled in on herself, squeezing her eyes shut as tears started pouring down her cheeks. The background finally stopped reconstructing, showing a slightly older, maybe pre-teen Cassie curled up in the corner of a bed near a window.

A window that revealed a spooky forest with two moons.

The YouTubers all exchanged a wide-eyed, silent look at that.

" _... you promised, Aunt Cass._ " Cassie mopped at her eyes, a tiny meow sounding as a kitten Winslow poked his head over her knees. " _You hid the flint and steel somewhere, I didn't follow you... we were together, and everything was okay... you promised you'd stay with me. No one else did so why-_ " she choked a bit, letting out a sob as tears began dripping onto a set of glasses in her lap. " _... why did you leave me alone?_ "

Cassie blinked hard, feeling tears start pooling in her own eyes. She tried to blink them out of her eyes but only succeeded in making them run down her face in rivulets.

Aiden glanced at Cassie before doing a double-take at the sight of the red-haired girl furiously blinking her eyes, tears pouring down her cheeks with each blink. He watched her for a moment, before letting out a nearly inaudible sigh and pulling her over into a tight hug, Winslow quickly slinking down into Aiden's lap to avoid getting squashed.

Cassie stayed there for a moment, stiffly, before slowly melting into the hug, her face crumpling a bit as tears continued overflowing from her eyes.

Jace felt Reuben slipping out from between them, and he looked down to see the little pink pig running over to Cassie, nudging the girl's leg insistently.

Cassie looked down to see Reuben nuzzling her leg a little bit, letting out little comforting oinks.

She just couldn't help but let a watery smile come over her face at that, tears continuing to flow down her cheeks.

Onscreen, Cassie sniffled again, wiping her eyes. " _I..._ " She paused for a moment, " _I wanna go home._ "

This just sounded so _heartbreakingly_ like a forlorn little child that Jesse turned away and buried her face into Lukas's shoulder. He slowly pulled her into a hug, burying his own face into hers as he felt her shoulders tremble slightly.

" _I wanna go find my friend. I- I can't remember them, but- but I liked them, and- and I remember that. I remember that I really, really liked them... I want to go find my friend..._ " Cassie hunched over even more, letting out a choked sound. " _But I can't. I'm just... stuck here._ "

Winslow meowed plaintively onscreen.

" _... all I've got of any of them are just memories and nightmares and dreams now._ "

The screen's background abruptly started changing again, turning into a slightly more stone-lined room than the warm wood that the one she'd just been in was. Cassie started aging a bit again, but not as drastic of a change- she was only a _little_ taller and a _little_ older looking.

Onscreen, the girl abruptly swung her arm out, right as the background stopped changing.

Her axe slammed into an armor stand with a loud _CRUNCH!_

Half of the audience jumped a bit at the sudden, loud noise.

Cassie slammed her foot into the armor stand, slamming it off of the axe and knocking it to the floor. She didn't stop at that, though- she raised her axe again and brought it down with such a horrible series of crunching noises that everyone couldn't help but flinch at every noise, every hit, as she slowly reduced the armor stand to splinters. Judging by the amount of shattered wood already all over the floor, she'd been doing this for quite a while.

Abruptly, she came to a stop, her shoulders trembling and sweat pouring down her face. Her eyes were glowing red slightly, and she finally shook it off a little bit, eyes slowly returning to green. " _... damn, that genetic condition hasn't gotten this intense for a while._ " She sighed, leaning against the wall a little bit. " _I still can't believe Aunt Cass didn't mention it to me. I mean... it affects me, too. I should at least have known about it._ "

There was a long pause, before she looked up. Her eyes followed a trail of wooden splinters... before coming to a stop on a white pumpkin.

Everyone's eyes widened.

" _Oh, crud..._ " she went over and dusted some splinters off. " _Did I really lose that much control that I got splinters all over here, too?_ " she let out a slightly annoyed sigh. " _No wonder Aunt Cass always told me not to-_ "

Her eyes abruptly widened, and the screen switched to show the axe clanging off the wall, spinning out of her hand, and landing on the ground. Cassie shook her hand out a bit, glaring at the axe with slightly reddening eyes again.

And then the 'pause' signal came onscreen.

Aiden looked around at Harper oddly. "Did you just pause the episode?"

"No, I- the remote's been right here the whole time, I haven't touched it since it started," Harper replied, sounding rather startled herself.

" _Now, something you should probably know about Cassie- she avoids thinking about her aunt as much as humanly possible._ "

Everyone's heads snapped to face the screen again.

"The narrator," Magnus mouthed.

" _She's usually doing everything she can to just_ not _think about it- beating up armor stands, setting up redstone traps for fun, brewing- um, no offense, Cassie, but you're not too hot at that-_ "

Real-Cassie scowled a bit.

" _\- and she pretty much just flat-out refuses to ask for help. It's... almost like a personal insult to her to admit that she just needs help. Even if she's building a trap and continually dropping stuff on her foot or whatever._ " The narrator paused, allowing the audience to absorb that a bit, before continuing, " _Welp, I think we're about done right now. Let's keep going, shall we?_ "

The screen went back to playing, Cassie's fist slowly curling a bit as she slid down the wall and landed on her hands and knees, eyes shutting as if she was tired, so, _so_ tired, and she was just _sick_ of everything.

Real-Cassie knew that expression.

She'd been making it for the past 7 years.

Abruptly, the background changed again, to that cavern with the portal in it, Cassie bending down and starting to pet Winslow. " _The portal key was found,_ " she told him, a strange spark dancing in her eyes.

Winslow looked up at his owner, making an odd grumbling sound that sounded a bit more concerned than anything else.

" _I_ have _to get the portal key,_ " Cassie continued slowly, lifting her head so that now she was staring emotionlessly at the portal on the wall, and it was kind of terrifying, in a way, to see a previously animated, cheerful girl just look so...

Blank.

Real-Cassie could remember building the portal with her aunt as well. It'd been hidden deep underground, so only she or her aunt could come through, because _they'd_ built it together, just in case they ever needed to go back, back home, but of course the two of them had just laughed it off and joked about that very slim possibility, because it was _hers_ , hers and her aunt's, _theirs_ only.

" _I have to get the key back,_ " Cassie said at last, one fist clenching in her lap and starting to tremble violently. The screen moved to show that there were tears threatening to spill out of her now-shiny green eyes, Winslow letting out a plaintive meow. " _It's the only thing I have left of Aunt Cass._ "

The screen abruptly went black.

" _It's the only thing I have left._ "

Onscreen-Cassie bolted upright, letting out a gasp as she clutched at her heart a bit, sounding a bit as if she was in pain.

When nothing immediately life-threatening happened, she slowly let her hands fall into her lap and looked around. She was sitting in the portal hallway, Petra eating something that looked remarkably like a piece of charred meat. Winslow and Lukas were sharing a fish, Lukas breaking off little bits alternatively and feeding one to Winslow, then one to himself, and so on. Ivor was rummaging around in his bag...

Lukas frowned a bit, eyes narrowing at the screen. "Hey, where's-?"

" _Hey, Cassie._ "

Cassie jumped, whirling around to see Jesse standing behind her and regarding her with a serene expression.

"Oh. Never mind."

" _What is it?_ " Cassie asked warily, her red eyes fading back to green fairly quickly.

If Jesse had noticed the way Cassie's eyes had turned red, she didn't give any indication, and just held out a rather large piece of toast with a set of her lower arms. " _Want some toast?_ " she asked, mildly.

Cassie took the toast, taking a deep breath as Jesse shifted into a sitting position next to her. " _S-sure. Thanks._ " Cassie then took a large bite of the toast, Jesse looking at her serenely. After a few moments of chewing, Cassie covered her mouth and asked, " _You feeling better?_ "

" _Much, thank you,_ " Jesse told her mildly. " _I don't think that calming potion's quite worn off yet, though I must say it's quite nice when it helps with sleeping. It makes it that much harder to get nightmares._ "

Cassie hastily swallowed her toast to respond, swallowed a little too quickly, and coughed, choking a bit. Jesse patted her on the back as Cassie quickly cleared her throat. " _Cool._ "

Several audience members chuckled a bit at the monosyllabic answer.

Onscreen-Jesse had the same sentiment, chuckling a bit herself, before continuing, quite serenely still, " _we're about to try another portal. It's that blue one over there-_ " and she indicated a dark blue portal glowing- well, dark blue. " _You might wanna start getting ready._ "

" _Alright, thanks,_ " Cassie replied, covering her mouth again.

Jesse gave the girl a placid thumbs up before getting back up slowly and wandering back over to her other friends, starting a conversation with Lukas, who grinned and patted Winslow a bit.

Cassie went on eating her slice of toast, before pausing a bit. " _... I can't help but wonder how different my life would've turned out if I'd just asked for help when I needed it._ "

Real-Cassie swallowed and squeezed her eyes shut from where Aiden was still hugging her.

She was starting to wonder that herself.

The screen slowly went black.

"I have a feeling that things will get exciting in a minute or two," Soren said after a few moments, attracting attention to the ginger-haired man.

"Yes. But the question is," Ivor said, softly, "is if it's in a good way or a bad way."

With that ominous note, the screen started fading back in.

* * *

 **A/N: Annnnd _now_ stuff starts gettin' real fun :3 I hope y'all are ready.**

 **The Cassie-centric chapter was actually quite fun to rewrite! :3**

 **RQTC: What role do you think Cassie and Jace will have in Composite once I am actually able to write it?**

 **I have plans, but I would like to see what you guys think :3**

 **RQTC 2: Should I post my designs for the Hybrid Season 2 characters on deviantArt?**

 **Responses to reviewers!**

 **LunarStarsMoons: Yep, unfortunately it was intended that way. (winces) Poor Jesse. / Yep! / Ahhh. xD**

 **S4SH4L4SH4theGaMeR101: I've read some of my old fanfictions and such _cringe_ haha xD / Ahh, I see. xD **

**RapidSammi: Awww thanks! Glad you liked it Sammi-kun!**

 **Infernius Flashfire: Ahh, sure if you'd like x3 / YEP!**

 **LittleAngelbun: Expect more today x3**

 **sailor . mikuchan: Cool, got it. xD**

 **Toni42: (laughs) / Eh, not too well unfortunately. Though understandably, because here she's never done it before. / Hmmmm... interesting idea! I have no idea, to be honest xD**

 **InsaneAcrobat: Cringe xD / Ah, I've read it before, it's lovely x3 / What the heck xD Uh... that's a bit difficult to read. / Gotcha. / (laughs)**

 **AquaK13: Yeah... / I did answer the question, but wait until the beginning of Episode 8; a lot of things might get answered then. / Hehehehehe xD Someone made fanart of JACE in a dress, actually. / Hehehehe xD / Oh- wait, where did you hear that?! xD / x3 Yes, she's adorkable. / (laughs) Ahhhhh.**

 **BeliTheGhoti0304: Ahhh, I see xD / I think the shortest chapter might be the first one, actually xD / Nope, it's the Cassie-centric one xD / RIGHT?! / (nods) Gotcha. / Ah, I see. / Cool!**

 **Emily The Avenger: (laughs) Yep. / Hahaha I couldn't help myself xD / I'M GLAD YOU THINK SO!**

 **Savannah-the-Caracal: Ahhh, I see. xD**

 **x.X. A.L. X.x**


	135. Referential

The screen faded back in to the portal hallway, slowly going down...

Before suddenly Jesse lunged out of the same dark blue portal from earlier, a glass bowl on her head as she shot back to her feet, slipping and sliding a bit on the wet floor and dancing to a slightly-less-wet spot of the floor.

The whole audience blinked a bit.

"Well... that was unexpected," Sparklez said, adjusting his sunglasses.

"Understatement of the day," Hadrian muttered, wincing a bit when Otto elbowed him in the ribs again.

Lukas followed a second later, crashing ungracefully into the floor as his tail flipped into the air and slapped him on the head. Petra whipped out of the portal, skidding to the side to avoid tripping on Lukas as he quickly scrambled out of the way, while Cassie slipped, tripped, and nearly did a faceplant right on the floor, Winslow letting out a loud meow as he nearly got squashed.

Cassie winced apologetically, stroking Winslow on the head as Reuben re-situated himself back between Jace and Jesse.

The four soaking-wet teenagers looked at each other silently, gaping at one another with their mouths open. Before any of them could say anything, though, a literal _wall_ of water came exploding out of the portal, sending a screaming Ivor straight into a different, duller blue portal right on the other side of the hallway.

"That is a bit unfortunate," Gabriel said, wincing sympathetically.

Onscreen-Jesse tore off the helmet, presumably for breathing purposes seeing as she'd been soaking wet, tossed it onto the floor, and raced after Ivor before it even hit the ground, dropping to all eights and shooting straight into the portal. Lukas yanked his off as he ran after her, Cassie tugging hers off (and nearly yanking Winslow off with her, since he'd been in the class bowl with her) and bolting after them.

Petra watched them go, before she let out a loud, aggravated groan and yanked off her own helmet, tossing it over her shoulder as she raced after the others. " _Aggggh, not again!_ "

The screen did an abrupt swish pan to show Ivor, Lukas, Petra, and Cassie talking quietly in the hallway, before the sound of someone emerging from a portal sounded, and they looked around.

Jesse came running out of a portal, flailing all of her arms in a panic as she ran around in a few circles, desperately shaking her head.

This may have been due to the fact that there was a squid on her head. It wasn't a normal squid, either. It was a little, puffy blue one sitting smack on Jesse's head and smiling cheerfully.

Gill snorted a little bit at that. "You look _ridiculous_."

"You're mean," and Jesse pouted a little at Gill.

"Aw, I dunno, I think you look really cute with that squid on your head," and Lukas gave the black-haired girl a little kiss on the cheek, and immediately her gaze softened into a smile as she leaned into Lukas a bit.

" _Get it off! Get it off!_ " she shouted, before she accidentally charged straight into another portal.

"Good job, Jesse," and Petra gently punched Jesse on the shoulder.

Jesse winced.

Lukas patted Jesse on the back sympathetically.

Another person burst out of the portal Jesse had just emerged from, a person with fluffy reddish-brown hair and a raincoat, dashing straight into the portal Jesse had just run into. " _Heyyyy! Limooooo get back here!"_

Ivor laughed before hustling after her, Lukas snickering a bit as well before he dashed in. Cassie chuckled a bit as she raced after the two, and Petra just facepalmed in a tired way before following them, racing into the portal after the lot of them.

Another swish pan, and Jesse came bolting out of an olive green portal. Petra raced out after her before accidentally colliding straight into Jesse, sending the spider hybrid pitching forward onto the floor with a pained little grunt before Petra body-slammed her back into the floor.

"What are you dudes even _running_ from?" Nell asked, curiously.

Cassie bolted out of the portal herself, Winslow perched on her head, before she tripped over both Petra and Jesse, somehow did a little somersault over them, and landed flat on her face. Winslow let out a pained yowl.

Everyone winced sympathetically at that. Even Winslow.

Ivor and Lukas came sprinting out of the portal next as if the Ender Dragon was right on their tails (literally for Lukas), bats flooding out of the portal in a solid cloud.

"Oh. I guess that's what you dudes are running from."

" _Baaaaaaaaaaats!_ " Lukas yelled, ears flattening against his head, as Jesse wormed out from beneath Petra and shot down the hallway after Winslow, who'd apparently just decided to run away from the cloud of bats. Petra was throwing random firebolts up into the cloud and roasting a few in midair, while Cassie was just flailing her arms wildly to keep them off her head. Ivor was just running around in little circles.

" _Why does Gotham have_ so many freaking bats?!" Ivor snapped as he dove out of the way of a bat that attempted to divebomb him. " _They even have a freaking BatMAN, for goodness' sake!_ "

" _And a Batmobile, and a Bat-signal, and a Bat-Cave..._ "

"That is, um," Ellegaard winced, "that is a _lot_ of bats."

Magnus gently squeezed her shoulders in a sympathetic way.

"Well, but bats are kinda cute sometimes, aren't they?" Jesse asked, blinking around at the other members of the audience.

"Once you get them in groups that are more than one or two," Maya said, rubbing her temple a bit as if there was a bad memory involved in this, "they stop being cute and start being really annoying."

"... ah."

Another swish pan as Jesse trotted out of a hot-pink portal with a slightly annoyed look on her face. Petra and Ivor also came out, Petra just looking extremely frustrated while Ivor looked almost amused. Cassie emerged, looking _distinctly_ scratched up and a little disgruntled as Winslow perched on a now-rather-lopsided beanie, hissing furiously at something.

Everyone winced a little at that. "I guess Winslow doesn't like portal travelling too much?" Aiden said, slowly.

"Looks like."

" _I see why this was a punishment now,_ " Cassie remarked drily to Jesse.

Several members of the audience chuckled at this.

Jesse turned around to look at Cassie and respond, before blinking. After a moment, she rolled her eyes and walked back over-

To a guy wearing a top hat and looking very much like a proper English gentleman. "Er... terribly sorry, but I believe I may be lost... do you mind pointing us in the right direction?"

Jesse gently pushed him back into the portal (I said _gently_ ) and fished around with one arm, groping until she found something, and she tugged Lukas through the portal, Lukas blinking rapidly in complete confusion.

" _What just happened?_ " he asked, sounding and looking extremely disoriented.

Petra let out a loud, frustrated, " _Rrrrrrgh!_ ", sparks shooting off of the Blaze hybrid in an angry fashion, before she punched the wall next to the portal with a frustrated growl.

A little gold coin came springing out of the spot she'd just punched, landing right in her open palm. Petra blinked at it, before looking up at the others with a bewildered look.

Cassie gently pushed Winslow onto her shoulder, pulled off her beanie, and then upended it. Dozens of the little gold coins came pouring out of her hat and sprayed onto the ground with a metallic rush.

A little 'text box' sort of thing popped up, saying " _You have 158 hint coins!_ "

The group all looked at the hint coins on the floor, before up at Cassie. " _Cassie-_ "

" _In my defense, those puzzles were really hard._ "

The screen did another swish pan to show Jesse, Lukas, Petra, and Cassie trying to pick her way through an ocean of sheep.

The entire audience blinked again.

"How in the world did so much sheep get into a single hallway?" Reginald wondered, staring at in bemusement.

"I'm betting that in some random worlds, there are just now sheep that are just roaming around," Mevia mumbled. However, due to her habit of announcing for the games, her mumble came out at speaking level. Jesse giggled a bit, covering her mouth.

"I'm not taking that bet; I think you're right."

Mevia blinked, before looking oddly pleased about the comment.

Onscreen, Lukas tried gently shoving a sheep out of the way, before realizing he'd gotten his claws stuck in the wool and starting to try to detangle himself with no luck. Petra let out a ticked-off sigh, Ivor bursting up through a crowd of sheep nearby and sending little bits of white fluff flying everwhere. He then spit out a mouthful of wool. " _Ugh,_ " he muttered, quietly.

The Order got a very coincidental fit of the giggles right about then.

Cassie shooed one sheep away, rescuing Winslow from another one, when she heard a baa and looked over to see the same sheep staring at her. " _Quit it, sheep!_ "

The only response she got to that was the sheep head-butting her, knocking her onto the floor and making Petra snort a little in amusement.

Cassie gave Petra a joking glare, before standing back up and punching her on the shoulder, Petra wincing a little and sending Cassie a glare herself.

Real-Cassie and Petra exchanged sheepish grins as the rest of the audience snickered.

Gill pointed at a sheep in the far right corner. "I like the pink sheep with the mustache."

"... oh yeah. There is a pink sheep with a mustache in the far right corner," Olivia blinked. "Why does that even _exist?_ "

Suddenly, there was the sound of something exiting the portal, and they all looked 'round- to see a giant egg riding a pig.

Onscreen-Jesse froze a little, eyes widening. The giant egg seemed very oblivious to the group of people standing around in the ocean of sheep, and instead decided to speak to the pig.

" _George! Together we shall conquer this world! Now take me that way, George!_ " the egg said, in a rather annoying, high-pitched voice. One eye's iris was normal, while the other one was so tiny that it was almost obliterated by the pupil.

There was a short pause.

The pig started walking in the complete opposite direction.

" _Okay, that way._ "

And they disappeared into a different portal.

It wasn't much of a surprise that most of the audience got a huge fit of the giggles right about then.

The screen abruptly swish-panned again, to show Jesse struggling to climb out of a portal that appeared to be on the floor. Her extra arms popped over the edge, and boosted her out of the portal as she got to her feet, standing up straight at last.

And then she did a flip with a yelp before slamming face-first into a wall, groaning a bit.

The screen suddenly turned to show that Jesse had been standing on the WALL, gravity having gotten turned about ninety degrees.

"Oh, wow." Jace winced a bit. "That looked... painful."

"How did _gravity_ get turned around?" Maya wondered.

" _Ow,_ " Onscreen-Jesse said flatly, before crawling to her feet and stretching a bit, wincing in pain as she carefully stepped back. Slowly, Lukas, Petra, Cassie, and Ivor crawled out as well, Petra hovering out instead... and upon realizing that she was falling, doing a quick flip and catching herself nimbly, like a cat.

Real-Jesse stuck her tongue out at Petra. "Luckyyyyy," she whined a little bit.

Petra just chuckled a bit.

Onscreen, Petra was still scowling, muttering something about " _that damn, glowing, one-eyed Dorito demon_ " under her breath. Lukas, Cassie and Ivor managed to get out, got to their feet...

And then gravity abruptly switched back to normal, and they all yelled, falling onto the floor. Cassie landed first, Winslow lying on her stomach, before Ivor landed right smack on top of her and Lukas crashing to the ground on top of Ivor, making Winslow suddenly yowl in pain twice and Cassie yelp.

Before delivering a fifty-word-long string of swear words.

The entire audience looked at the redhead admonishingly. Even _Winslow_ did, and he'd ought to be used to it, due to Cassie being his owner.

She just shrugged at the looks. "I curse a lot, okay?"

"I can see that," Ivor replied drily.

The screen moved rapidly again, showing Petra marching out of a swirling white portal with water all over the floor, snowflakes melting to water in a matter of seconds. She did _not_ look too pleased.

Lukas was shivering madly as he emerged, looking somewhat soaked, ears flattened and hair a little flat from dampness, tail whacking himself repeatedly and smacking off a lot of the snow. Winslow was perched on his shoulder and licking Lukas's face, looking distinctly not-wet. " _Cold, cold, cold, cold, cold,_ " he chattered, sounding as if he'd been thrown in a freezer. " _I-I-Ice Lakes s-su-sucks_."

" _Yeah, I can't believe that zombie made you actually fall_ into _the lake,_ " Petra said, her expression softening.

"WHAT?!" Half of the audience exclaimed at that (Jesse tightened her arms around Lukas a bit).

" _G-g-g-good t-th-thing C-C-Cassie k-k-k-knows how to s-swim,_ " Lukas chattered, rubbing his arms furiously.

Everyone glanced at Real-Cassie, who looked surprised but... glad, really.

Jesse came through, looking a bit sluggish and almost loopy as she came out, but she still smacked Lukas.

And then she went on smacking him, dusting snow off of him. " _How did you not see that z-zombie coming?!_ " she gently scolded, not actually looking _that_ upset, " _It was going so much slower already due to it being so cold!_ "

Lukas mumbled a rather incoherent " _Sorry"_ as Ivor came out, grinning madly, before drawing back and launching a sphere of snow at Petra, smacking him on the back of the head. Petra growled audibly as she turned around, eyes scanning the group.

Cassie pointed at Ivor.

Jesse went on dusting snow off of herself, Lukas, and Cassie (the three of them being pretty much coated in the stuff right now) as Petra went chasing after Ivor with an annoyed yell, balls of flames in her hands as the potionologist fled in the other direction, cackling madly.

"Mature, Ivor. Very mature," Soren said, sounding amused.

Ivor scoffed, though he didn't really seem that annoyed. "Please. None of you four would know mature if it came up and slapped you silly."

He then paused. "... okay, except for Ellegaard and Gabriel, but not Soren or Magnus."

"Hey!" Soren and Magnus chorused indignantly, making Jesse grin and hide her smile a bit.

The screen swish-panned to show a tall portal made of netherrack, one corner of the thing lit on fire. The screen slowly zoomed in a bit... before zooming out rapidly as Jesse, Cassie, Lukas, Ivor, and Winslow burst out of it, ashes covering their clothing and a bit of their faces.

"Oh, wow!" Dan exclaimed. "That one looks _crazy!_ "

"Yeah, no kidding!"

" _That was_ crazy!" Jesse coughed, hacking out a good mouthful of soot. She started frantically gagging and coughing, trying to get it out of her mouth, as Petra strolled out, looking perfectly fine. Actually, she looked rather energetic right now.

" _That wasn't too bad,_ " she said casually.

"I so freaking hate you right now," Cassie grumbled in Petra's direction jokingly. Upon hearing that, Petra let out a bit of a laugh.

"You are not the only person to say that to me."

" _Easy for you to say!_ " Onscreen-Cassie choked out, giving the Blaze hybrid a mock-glare. " _You're basically someone who can walk through fire with no problem what-so-freaking-ever!_ "

" _Why would there even_ be _a fire world?_ " Jesse grumbled in agreement, spitting out another mouthful of ashes as Ivor shook his head vigorously, succeeding in scattering ashes all over Winslow.

Harper had been opening her mouth, presumably to answer Onscreen-Jesse's question, but had since abandoned that in favor of chuckling softly at what had just happened, Ivor giving her a sheepish smile.

The calico cat gave Ivor a rather disgruntled look onscreen before going over to Cassie, rubbing against her leg affectionately and making the redhead grin and bend down to pet him on the head.

Jesse looked down, before gasping suddenly. The screen switched to show that the seat of Lukas's pants was on fire, somehow missing his tail.

"Oh jeez!" Aiden exclaimed.

"Put it out. Put it out!" Clutch exclaimed.

Lukas started turning in circles upon hearing Jesse's gasp, trying to see what was going on there. Without thinking, Jesse bent down and rapidly patted the fire out, aided slightly by Lukas's frantically flicking tail as Lukas danced in place a bit, trying to put it out himself.

The narrator spoke up mildly. " _Well, if you really wanted to smack that ass so much, this was a great excuse._ "

Jesse's face turned bright red, but she somehow straightened up wordlessly as Lukas let out a relieved sigh. " _Thanks, Jesse,_ " he told her.

"I know what you all are going to say, and before you say it... don't," Jesse said, warningly, her cheeks already turning a lovely shade of red. Lukas had taken an odd _fascination_ to the ceiling, his own cheeks turning bright red, doing his best to ignore the giggles that they were getting from the others.

Jesse nodded and leaned back with a rather relieved look, giving the ocelot a thumbs up as he took out a brown journal and a quill and started scribbling in it, narrowing his blue-green eyes at the journal.

The group all blinked at him.

The real audience all blinked at him as well.

"... what is that?" Ellegaard asked at last.

Cassie's eyes narrowed as she kept squinting at it.

" _I marked that one down as 'Fire World,'_ " Lukas said after a minute or so, shutting the book.

" _Wow,_ " Petra drawled sarcastically, " _how did you come up with_ THAT _gem of a name?_ "

* * *

 **A/N: I'm sorry it took me so long to post this chapter! xD Coming up with the references was annoying. But hey, anyone who can correctly tell me all of the references gets a little surprise for them~ :3**

 **And Episode 7 has OFFICIALLY kicked off! :3**

 **RQTC: What are all of the references... well, referring to? xD**

 **Responses to reviewers!**

 **S4SH4L4SH4theGaMeR101: No spoilers. :3**

 **RapidSammi: Basically- she IS half spider, after all. This is basically the best way they could think of to deliver the DNA, in this version of Hybrid at least. / (grins) Yep.**

 **giriri: I know. She's my friend on DeviantArt. xD**

 **Emily The Avenger: (grins) / (laughs) / Awww. :3 You're so nice.**

 **sailor . mikuchan: Hm. I see. / :3**

 **AquaK13: Hugs are great xD / (smirks a bit) / (laughs) / Yep! / (grins) / Okay, I'll work on that asap, then xD**

 **LunarStarsMoons: Oh no xD / Ah, that's good :3 / x3 / Good :3**

 **Dr . MKNoble: Haha, alright :3 / Thank you! I'm glad you liked it :3**

 **the indecisive bird: (grins) / (chuckles) / True. xD / Then I'd love to upload 'em!**

 **Toni42: I love her too haha xD / Yeah, true. / Also true, but this is my fanfic, so I get to decide their ages x3**

 **LittleAngelbun: (laughs) / (simply smiles)**

 **Jack: Haha that'd be cool xD / I only read like half a word and then stopped, it was so awful xD / x3 / Alright!**

 **That should be all for now! Bai!**

 **x.X. A.L. X.x**


	136. Jokes

"Whoa- that was... a little confrontational," Stacy said, somewhat defensively.

Onscreen, Lukas looked up, raising his eyebrow a bit. His tail twitched a bit and his ears flicked, knocking a few more ashes off of his head. " _Okay... did I miss something here?_ " he asked, tentatively.

" _Yeah, what's up with you?_ " Jesse asked mildly, turning to face Petra with a bemused look on her face.

Petra's voice rose steadily as she spoke. She wasn't _yelling_. Not yet. But she was definitely getting louder and more frustrated. " _What's up with me? What's UP? I'm tired of all this-_ useless _portal-hopping trying to find our way home! 'What's on the other side of_ that _portal? A lake of fire and netherrack? Awesome! Let's go there!_ '" She used a dumb, hokey voice for the last few sentences, voice dripping with sarcasm.

"Whoa," and Jace blinked a bit. "You're being a little..."

"Mean," Maya finished.

Petra's eyes narrowed a bit in worry.

" _Okay, first off,_ " Jesse said, calmly, " _I thought this portal would just lead us to the Nether or something, at which point we could just wander back home. I did_ not _know it'd be- er- Fire World, for lack of a more impressive name. Second, we're all pretty frustrated, Petra._ "

" _Yeah, what Jesse said,_ " Cassie said, taking off her glasses and using her shirt to dry to wipe off the thin layer of ashes on there but only succeeding in smudging the whole thing around. Jesse lifted her hands, weaving a quick handkerchief and handing it over to Cassie, which she took with a grateful nod and began to polish the lenses furiously.

" _I know,_ I know _, it's just- it's not really_ getting _us anywhere!_ " the Blaze hybrid grumbled, another frustrated sound coming out of her throat.

Jesse paused, as if thinking, before something caught her eye and she looked back at Lukas. " _Lukas, you're on fire again._ "

The ocelot hybrid yelped, and his tail started smacking everything in a three-foot radius (which included Jesse) in an effort to put the fire out.

Several members of the audience couldn't help but chuckle at that.

" _See-! Ugh,_ " Petra groaned, " _this is what I'm talking about. We're stuck in a rut- go through a portal, avoid dying long enough to get back to this_ STUPID _hallway-_ "

" _Wash, rinse, repeat... yes,_ " Ivor sighed, scratching his head and looking around the mile-long hallway filled with portals tiredly.

Cassie grunted a bit as she put her glasses back on her face, crossing her arms a bit. " _Wish my aunt and her friends had at least left some signs around. Guideposts, maybe._ "

Jesse let out a long, tired sigh, rubbing her own head a bit. " _Yes, well, unfortunately, it's not like we have directions for how this all works. It'd be nice to have... a map, or something. Honestly, I think at this point I'd even settle for a sign that points us in the direction of- well- I don't know what our world would be labelled, but yeah. So of course, there's going to be_ some _trial and error-_ "

" _And error, and error, and error, and error, and_ error," Petra snapped, throwing her hands into the air and marching off down the hallway.

"Umm... is it safe to go wandering off down the hallway without a buddy or something?" Lukas asked, frowning.

"Facemeat doesn't really think so."

"Thanks, that was _really_ comforting," Cassie drawled in Facemeat's direction, the gladiator's expression darkening slightly at the heavy sarcasm in the redhead's voice.

Ivor blinked, a bewildered expression coming over his face. " _Petra?_ " he asked, slowly.

" _Where are you going?_ " Cassie finished the statement for him, that same perplexed look on her face.

" _There may not be guideposts,_ " Petra said, sharply, looking around at the portals and then giving them all a rather disgruntled look, " _but_ someone's _gotta be able to tell us how to navigate these_ stupid _portals._ "

Hadrian frowned a bit but didn't say anything.

" _Okay- this one's redstone._ " And Petra came to a stop in front of a portal that was lined with redstone, glowing a deep red and casting a strange, almost blood-like glow over the area.

Harper could feel her heart pick up- both in sheer excitement and in a crushing sense of anxiety.

On one hand, they _might_ just be able to fix this whole mess that Crown Mesa was in...

But on the other hand, things could go very, very, _very_ wrong if they played their cards wrong.

Let's just hope it was the former.

" _Redstone means smart people,_ " Petra continued, looking over at the others as they came over from where they'd been standing a good distance down the hallway, " _hopefully, smart enough to help us find our way home._ "

" _Petra, I_ promise _, we'll find the portal home,_ " Jesse replied, calmly, which couldn't have been easy considering that Petra was acting like a hormonal teenage girl going through puberty.

" _It's that or die trying, right?_ " Petra asked sarcastically, with a barely repressed roll of the eyes.

"Okay, Petra, you're _really_ ticked off. More than just being frustrated should justify," and Olivia frowned a bit at the screen.

Petra frowned a bit, concern dancing in her eyes. "I- yeah, seems like."

Jesse looked as if she were about to open her mouth and say something along the lines of " _Actually, yes, that does seem to be the case_ " but that just didn't seem like a good idea to her right now, because she just stayed silent.

" _So... what are you saying?_ " Lukas asked, tail flicking around in agitation. " _That you've- made up your mind, you're just going through this portal and that's it? We might find at ourselves at, at another Psycho White Pumpkin Mansion._ "

"Well that was insensitive," Isa said, after a moment. Real-Cassie's gaze had shifted so that she was staring at Winslow, the floor, the ceiling, Aiden- anything but the actual screen.

Real-Lukas winced. "Yeah... sorry, Cassie."

"... it's fine. It's a valid statement, after all."

Aiden's arm tightened around the redhead slightly.

He paused, realizing what he'd just said a second later, and gave a deadpan Cassie an apologetic look. " _Um, no offense._ "

" _None taken_ ," she drawled back.

" _Maybe that's what I_ am _saying,_ " Petra said sharply, gold eyes already beginning to glow with an angry heat, " _maybe I'm just saying that I'm tired of Jesse calling the shots every. Single. Time._ "

Real-Petra _immediately_ slapped her hand to her mouth in shock, eyes widening in shock. Jace's mouth had dropped open, Lukas's arms had tightened around Jesse, and all three of them immediately looked at Jesse.

Real-Jesse looked as if someone had just kicked Reuben.

"Wow. Okay. That was..." Slab frowned a bit. "That was _not cool_."

Onscreen, Jesse's eyes widened a bit. She looked a bit like someone had just punched her in the solar plexus, and she gaped for a few seconds.

"Oh my Notch," Real-Petra whispered, feeling as if she was being drenched in guilt, and she turned to stare at Jesse. "I- I am so-"

" _I'm sorry._ "

Everyone's heads snapped so that they were looking at the screen, Jesse just staring at her feet and looking as if she might be blinking back tears. " _I'll, um... I'll just... go over. And sit._ " She slowly moved so that she was sitting about twenty feet away, sliding down the wall and sitting like a small student would, " _Over here. And not touch anything. Or go anywhere. You guys can... discuss... what decisions you... want... to... make..._ " She was trembling harder and harder, and tears were starting to come out of her eyes, but she still attempted a frail little smile. " _About... the portal._ "

Real-Jesse just looked down at her lap silently, no longer even watching the screen.

She wasn't sure what her reaction would be if she did.

Maybe something along the lines of throwing up.

"Oh _Jeb,_ Jesse I am so, so, _so sorry,_ " Petra groaned, pressing her hand to her face and feeling as if someone had kicked her.

"... I mean, I do get a little bossy, so..." Jesse shrugged, trailing off weakly.

"When? When have you ever been bossy?!" Mevia abruptly snapped, making the entire room look at her in surprise, "I've barely ever even seen you _yell_ for longer than a minute!" (Otto and Harper exchanged openly surprised looks at this.)

Jesse mumbled, weakly, "Well, when Isa and Milo were arguing-"

"That wasn't being _bossy,_ that was just them both being idiots and you getting angry about it!"

"Hey!" Isa and Milo chorused. (Reginald couldn't help but hide a small smile at that.)

"You're really not bossy at all, Jesse," Petra replied, quietly.

"Well, if you said it, it must be true, right?"

Petra blinked, taken aback.

"You notice things about people..." Jesse mumbled, tilting her head slightly, "so if you say stuff about me making decisions for others too much... it means I'm being bossy... so it's true, right?"

Petra was feeling worse and worse by the minute.

That was the thing- when Jesse was happy, you were happy. When she was upset, you couldn't help but get upset as well. Her contagious emotions were like a double-edged sword. Had to find a way to make Jesse laugh- or smile. At least smile. Otherwise she wasn't going to be able to explain this to Jesse.

And then she had an idea.

"Well, not really, because..."

Onscreen, Ivor shot Petra a glare before going over to where Jesse was sitting criss-cross-applesauce on the floor, hands folded neatly in her laps as she sat there, bottom lip trembling slightly. " _Jesse-_ "

" _I... it's fine... D... Ivor..._ " Jesse managed to make the smile a little bigger, but with the tears running down her face it just looked kind of heartbreaking. " _You guys can make the decision if you want._ "

Onscreen-Lukas frowned, glancing at Petra with a ' _see what you just did?_ ' look.

"I'm on my period right now."

Jesse's head snapped up, and she looked at Petra in stunned silence for a moment.

There was three heartbeats of pure, shocked silence.

And then Jesse bit her lip, starting to shake.

Petra was worried now; did she just make Jesse cry by accident oh no this wasn't what she wanted-?

Jesse burst out laughing, covering her face with her hands and shaking with giggles. Petra joined in a bit, relieved beyond belief, and Lukas chuckled a bit as well, feeling his cheeks turn bright red. "Well, that... worked, I guess..." he mumbled, covering his eyes a bit in embarrassment.

Jace's cheeks were about the shade of apples, while Olivia was chuckling uncontrollably and Axel was clearing his throat awkwardly. Aiden's face was currently about as red as Cassie's hair, and Cassie was giggling as well, hand shoved up to her mouth. Maya was laughing now, face buried in her hands while Gill was just finding his nails absolutely _fascinating_.

Soren was whistling away at the ceiling. Gabriel was developing an _extraordinary_ interest in this one thread on the couch, while Magnus was talking rather loudly about Ellegaard, and how pretty she was (now the entire audience had blackmail material, good going Magnus) and Ellegaard was just shaking her head in amusement. Ivor was taking a deep breath and letting it out shakily, cheeks burning red, while Harper was chuckling softly under her breath.

Stacy and Lizzie were shaking with silent giggles, while Stampy was biting his lip in an effort not to laugh because his face was so _red_ , and Dan's hair was the most vibrant shade of brown yet, and Sparklez was clearing his throat over and over and _over_ again, as if trying to cough something out. Em was blushing a bit but snickering, while Nell had just thrown her head back and started laughing.

Slab and Facemeat were both looking very intently at the screen, while Clutch was chuckling in a low voice. Mevia was just full-on _cackling_ away, while Hadrian and Otto exchanged slightly embarrassed looks, the blush on their cheeks speaking much more evidently for them.

Onscreen, Petra sighed, looking rather uncomfortable, gold eyes no longer glowing with that red-hot heat. " _Well... I mean... you tend to make pretty good decisions about 90% of the time. Even if the remaining 10% is just sheer dorkiness,_ " she joked faintly.

Jesse smiled faintly at that.

"But... yeah," Petra said at last, her smile fading. "I didn't mean that, it's just..." She let out a long sigh. "I'm just not the greatest at controlling my temper. Especially when it comes to teammates... I think that's why I just don't like being in 'teams' in general... I end up feeling like everyone else is doing everything wrong and I'm the only one in the right. So I'm sorry."

Jace frowned a bit at that for some reason.

"It's fine, Petra," and Jesse smiled slightly. "It's not like you were purposely trying to hurt my feelings."

Slowly, Petra smiled back.

Petra took a deep breath and bent down next to Jesse, giving the girl an apologetic look. " _Sorry, I'm just..._ really _frustrated._ "

Jesse gave her eyes a slight roll, gesturing with one of her middlemost arms at the hallway. " _Oh yes. Because any sane person would NOT get frustrated when dashing through an endless hallway of portals,_ " she drawled sardonically, making Petra chuckle a bit.

Petra's smile fell a moment later. " _So... uhh... we're cool, right?_ "

Jesse considered this, before wiping her face and nodding, a tiny smile coming over her face. " _Cool-o-rama._ "

Real-Lukas chuckled a bit, recognizing the comment from back in the first episode.

" _See?_ " Lukas asked, tail twitching a bit as he relaxed, " _It's okay! Friends... being friendly! Eeeeeverybody being cool!_ "

The giggles began to amplify, and it was no longer just on the female side. Lukas huffed a bit, pouting at the rest of the audience a bit.

Onscreen, Cassie reached up and covered her mouth, 'coughing' a little (yes, she was totally coughing right here, not laughing at all, no sirree bob), but when she removed her hand her lips were still twitching up a bit at the corners.

Onscreen, the spider hybrid took a deep breath, getting back to her feet. " _Well, Petra, if you think that portal's the one we should go through..._ "

" _I do,_ " Petra said calmly, giving the spider hybrid a nod.

Jesse put her lower set of arms on her hips, smiling slightly. " _Well, then that's what we're gonna do._ "

Petra gave Jesse a sheepish little smile, rubbing the back of her head awkwardly. " _Thanks, Jesse._ "

And she turned and walked straight into the portal. Jesse followed her quickly-

The moment her foot entered the portal, her mild smile turned into a look of shock, eyes widening slightly.

The screen zoomed down to focus on her legs, small dancing sparks of electricity dancing along her legs.

" _With every single one of the other portals,_ " Jesse's voice spoke, as a sort of voiceover, " _I've_ never _gotten a feeling from any of them. Not like this._ "

And then she disappeared into the portal, the screen abruptly going black.

" _Which makes me wonder what's up with this place, and if we didn't just made a terrible, terrible mistake._ "

"I think you did," Harper mumbled.

Ivor looked over at the white-haired woman oddly, eyes narrowing. "What... Harper, what is that supposed to mean?" he asked her, in a low whisper.

She looked over at Ivor, helplessly gesturing at the screen. "I... you'll see in a moment," she said at last.

Which wasn't ominous _at all._

* * *

 **A/N: OML I'm so sorry about my terrible attempts at jokes xD**

 **But, hey! Looks like that warning about the Prototype: Autonomous Management Agent we got a while back is going to come in handy soon~**

 **RQTC: Best fact about Jesse that you've ever come across?**

 **Jesse apparently catalogues her friend's 'hug styles' so as to give them the best hug x3**

 **D'awwwwwwww**

 **C'mon, guys! I know you guys can get the references if you just look closely!**

 **Responses to reviewers!**

 **LunarStarsMoons: Yeah, so you don't count unfortunately, but I love ya anyway (hug)**

 **LittleAngelbun: Yes, yes, yes, yes, but no. You got pretty close though, good job!**

 **MissyMattingly: Lol yes I feel like Telltale Games now, they're always sticking references in xD**

 **Infernius Flashfire: Alright :3 / Ehhh... save Cassie. I mean, there's only two dead characters in the first arc, and then... three in Episode 6, and that's about it.**

 **AquaK13: (laughs) / Yes, yes, and yes. That wasn't all of them, but good job! x3 / I'm sorry I just had to xD**

 **Dr . MKNoble: Nope, not Markiplier. But yes to Element Animations! You're the first person to get that haha x3 Yes to Bill, but you didn't get all of 'em. Kudos for Element Animation x3**

 **Darkbeast Dend: I'm glad you liked the chapters :3**

 **DarkPrincess2001: (grins)**

 **S4SH4L4SH4theGaMeR101: Hahahaha xD / I don't mind her as the narrator, either x3 / Aww :(**

 **GuestPerson13: Yes, yes, and yes (I think). Not all of them, but you got all the ones you guessed correct!**

 **Infernius Flashfire: Yes, yes, yes, yes, yes, you repeated Batman... agggh I think you missed two xD Good job though! / Ahahaha are you really?**

 **Toni42: It was a great chapter to write, haha x3 I'm glad you liked it!**

 **BeliTheGhoti0304: Yes, nope. Yes, yes... and you did pretty well! x3 / :3**

 **RapidSammi: Yep :3 / That's good! / Awww xD**

 **NoItsBecky: Yes, yes, yes, yes, yes... ahh, but you missed two. / I'm glad you liked the chapter! x3**

 **If you want hints, just ask, and I'll put 'em in the next chapter's A/N!**

 **x.X. A.L. X.x**


	137. Super-Zombie

The screen faded in to show a biome that was similar to a desert biome, but with a few variations. The vegetation appeared to be made up of quite a lot of dead bushes and cacti, and the ground levels ranged anywhere from flat, to canyons, to tall spires of terracotta. Most of it appeared to be quite barren, though. Also, there was much more clay than in the normal desert biomes.

"Oh, hey, it's a Mesa Biome," Soren pointed out, pointing at the screen.

"Oh, cool!" Lukas exclaimed, leaning forward a bit with his eyes sparkling in interest. "I've never seen one before. It's pretty cool."

"I was just gonna say it's pretty," Jesse said, grinning slightly.

"Yeah, all that clay in that lighting right now? Very nice aesthetic," Lukas nodded in agreement.

There was suddenly a loud yell, and the spider hybrid appeared out of nowhere and slammed onto her back with a grunt, a mushroom cloud of sand exploding up around her.

The audience winced a bit at that.

Lukas crashed down a few feet away, Cassie being unfortunate to land facedown, Ivor bouncing slightly as he hit the ground with an 'oof' and Petra just hovering down neatly. Winslow made an odd grumbling sound as he got up, shaking a dust cloud of sand out of his fur.

The audience winced again. That was _definitely_ gonna leave a mark.

" _This is... quite pretty, actually,_ " Jesse said as she got back up, putting her hands on her hips and looking around with a curious expression on her face, " _though I honestly have to wonder, how does anyone live here?_ "

Petra sheepishly rubbed her head, looking around. Cassie spit a mouthful of sand out in the background. " _Maybe there's... I dunno, like a redstone city over that hill? Behind that mountain...?_ " she trailed off weakly.

Lukas shrugged, pulling out his journal again. " _Hey, it's a rare biome. That's pretty cool, at least._ " And he started scribbling away in the journal again, the group looking at him curiously again.

" _Hey, Lukas, I've been meaning to ask you- what's that?_ " And Jesse pointed at the small brown book in his hands curiously.

"A journal," Em deadpanned.

Jesse might've taken offense (well, actually, no she wouldn't have), except she was a little too busy giggling at the sarcastic comment now.

Em's deadpan expression softened slightly.

 _Slightly_.

Lukas looked up from where he was writing in the journal, blue-green eyes gleaming a little bit as he did so. " _Oh! It's, ah, just a journal... that I picked up back at Cassie's place._ " He chuckled a bit nervously, glancing back at Cassie.

Cassie adjusted her glasses, having a slightly closer look at it. " _... ah, one of those journals I planned to start writing in and then never got around to. Never mind- at least it's being put to good use now._ "

Lukas blinked, looking rather startled about the red-haired girl taking this view. " _Oh! Right. Okay._ " And he slipped it back into his pocket as Ivor looked around a bit, strolling around and looking around him with a mildly interested expression. " _Uh, how... how you doing, Petra?_ "

The Blaze hybrid let out a low sigh. " _So much for my hunch with that redstone portal, huh?_ " she asked, tiredly.

"Well, I dunno about that..." Harper said slowly, making them all glance over at her.

"What do you mean...? Do you know something about this place?" Petra asked, slowly.

Harper just frowned at the screen, eyes narrowing intently.

" _Hey, don't beat yourself up, Petra,_ " Jesse said bracingly, looking around at the barren Mesa biome as Winslow made to crawl onto Cassie's shoulder with a content meow, " _we've definitely seen worse._ "

" _Hey, yeah!_ " Lukas perked up immediately, his ears flicking slightly. " _At least there's no fire, no squids..._ "

" _No squids on fire,_ " Ivor added from where he was standing about five feet away.

"That, uh, yeah," and Aiden winced a little bit at the screen, "I can't imagine that would be a lot of fun."

Mevia grinned a bit for some reason. "I dunno, I'd find that pretty fascinating myself."

Onscreen-Jesse seemed unsure whether to laugh or look stern at that, and apparently decided to compromise by choking. Lukas reached over and thumped her on the back good-heartedly.

Several members of the audience couldn't help but just start giggling at that, Real-Jesse included.

" _Maybe you're right,_ " Petra said, quietly. But she couldn't help but look cheered up at that.

" _... hm. Would you look at that,_ " Ivor said, pointing at the ground. Jesse looked down to see a rough, pale, sandy path that travelled in a generally straight line for _quite_ a distance in both directions. " _It looks like some sort of road._ "

"Shoddy work if it _is_ a road," Hadrian muttered, making the people who were able to hear him shoot him a subtle glare.

Onscreen, the spider hybrid narrowed her eyes at it and crossed her arms. " _Hm. Well, it_ does _look like a path... which means someone had to have built it, which means civilization._ " She glanced up and gave Petra a grin. " _I don't think you were_ that _off with your hunch, Petra._ "

The Blaze hybrid looked even more cheered up by that.

" _I think you're right,_ " Lukas said rather agreeably.

Gill leaned forward to whisper to Maya, who glanced back at the bearded boy. He was grinning like the Chesire Cat. "Well, of course Lukas would be agreeing with _Jesse_ -"

This time the pillow that Lukas threw in his direction got a square hit right in his face, especially because Maya ducked out of the way.

" _Well,_ " Cassie said, drawing all eyes to her, and making her smirk slightly as she put her hands on her hips, " _we're not going to find out where it goes by standing around on it._ "

"True," Ellegaard remarked.

" _Yeah, Rose is right,_ " Jesse said absentmindedly.

Cassie blinked rapidly, before looking over at Jesse. " _'Rose'_?" she asked, hesitantly.

Jesse looked up from the path at Cassie, blinking a bit herself. " _What?_ " she asked, blankly.

" _You just called me Rose._ "

" _Oh. Did I?_ "

"Yes," Soren said, sounding slightly amused, "yes you did, Jesse."

The black-haired girl just made a little face at him, to the amusement of several of the other audience members.

" _Hm. It might've been because of your hair,_ " Jesse said, squinting at Cassie a bit and touching her bottom lip thoughtfully, " _I think the color just looks kinda... rose-like._ "

Both Real and Onscreen-Cassie blinked at that, their hands going to their hair automatically.

"Yeah, it's pretty nice hair," Aiden said to the girl, giving her a small smile.

Real-Cassie blinked at him again, looking slightly bewildered by that assertion.

" _Let's go, shall we?_ " Ivor asked teasingly, gently giving the three teenagers a little shove. Jesse stumbled a bit, sending him a mock-glare before chuckling and turning around, beginning to trot along the makeshift road. Cassie was still blinking in slight confusion at the new nickname Jesse had just given her, and Winslow was looking very pleased about something.

"What's Winslow looking so smug about?" Sparklez wondered.

Winslow let out a meow, Lukas glancing over at the cat before back at the others. " _Winslow's pleased that Cassie is socializing,_ " he reported.

" _Oh- is he really?_ " Jesse glanced back at the cat with a small smile, before turning around and scanning their surroundings thoughtfully. " _Hmmm... sand. Clay. Annnnd more sand._ "

"You forgot that cactus," Axel joked, pointing up at the screen.

Olivia hid a smile at that.

Suddenly, the sound of a rock clattering slightly sounded, and the spider hybrid abruptly tensed a little bit. " _What was that?_ " she asked, warily.

Petra crossed her arms, tilting her head to one side. " _Well... guess I was right. There are people here._ "

"Yes, quite a few, actually," Harper mumbled. "Though the... population may have changed, somewhat..."

Ivor glanced at Harper, then at the screen, putting something together suddenly. "Do you live in this world?" he asked, keeping his voice relatively low yet still perfectly audible for the rest of the audience to hear.

"... yes. Yes, I do."

Onscreen, Petra looked over at Jesse and Lukas. " _You two are the stealth people, wanna check it out?_ "

Jesse rolled her eyes and gently punched Petra on the shoulder. " _Lazy,_ " she joked, making the Blaze hybrid stick her tongue out at her playfully. Jesse gave her a grin, before dropping to all eights and scuttling across the ground at high speed, pausing behind a large stone outcropping and peeking over it to have a look around.

" _What do you see?_ " Lukas asked, padding over behind her nearly silently.

The screen switched to show Jesse's eyes scanning the landscape- before her eyes widened. " _What th-!?_ "

" _What? What is it?_ " Lukas pressed down gently on Jesse's shoulders, trying to get a good look at whatever it was that she was looking at. The screen switched again to show a single zombie.

A zombie that had a big, red, flashing metal object on the back of its head.

"Whoa, wait, what?" Em blinked at the screen. "That's weird."

"Yeah, no kidding, brah," Nell agreed, tilting her head and trying to get a better look at the zombie from where she was perched on the couch. "What's that thing on the back of its head?"

Magnus narrowed his eyes at it. "It's red... is it redstone?"

Gabriel glanced at the Rogue sitting on the couch next to him. "TNT's red, that's not redstone."

"Yeah, well, _that's_ not TNT."

"Good point."

"Isn't it- like- the middle of the day? Why isn't this thing on fire?" Petra frowned at the screen a bit, narrowing her eyes.

" _Why isn't it on fire?_ " Jesse wondered, frowning at the zombie thoughtfully.

"Hey, I just asked that."

Onscreen, Lukas frowned and was silent for a moment as he thought about that. " _Well... maybe that's this world's thing?_ " he suggested, glancing at the zombie cautiously, " _Zombies and monsters come out in the daytime?_ "

"Not quite." Harper shook her head a little bit, drawing quite a lot of attention to her. "The world's... 'thing'... is worse than that." She made a shaky sound. " _Much_ worse."

"What do you mean?" Real-Jesse asked, a note of anxiety entering her voice.

Harper just made a soft sound in the back of her throat. Now that the audience was watching her more closely, the white-haired woman looked _supremely_ uncomfortable about something- almost like she might throw up.

Ivor frowned and shifted so that he was looking at her more, placing one hand on her knee. "Are you alright?" he asked, in a soft voice that made the Order exchange slightly surprised looks.

Harper just nodded, lips tightening. "I'm fine. Let's just keep watching," she said, but her voice had dropped to an almost strangled-sounding _whisper_.

The audience exchanged concerned looks.

She was definitely not 'fine' right now.

" _Not that much crazier than anything else we've seen..._ " Lukas mumbled, thoughtfully.

Jesse watched the zombie for a minute longer, weighing her options, before looking back over at Lukas. " _We should try to get closer,_ " she whispered to him, " _see what else we can find out._ "

Lukas nodded and gave the girl a thumbs-up and a small grin. " _Cool._ "

With that, he stood up, flicking his hands downwards. His claws shot out, making a sharp metallic sound. Jesse looked to the zombie quickly to see it already beginning to turn in the direction of the sound Lukas had just made, quiet though it was. Lukas dropped to all fours, eyes narrowing, muscles tensed and coiling...

And then he pounced, leaping down the hill/cliff-thing and landing right in front of the zombie, swiping one arm furiously and hitting the zombie square in the face with his claws, before spinning around and using his other arm to swing straight down on the zombie for good measure.

The zombie simply turned to face him, eyes glowing red. It showed no sign of going down.

"Wait- but- that should've-?" Cassie frowned at the screen, leaning forward. "That should've killed it, right? Lukas definitely isn't a pushover- and it's not like zombies are super strong."

"Yeah, that's a little weird," Dan said, frowning at the screen himself.

Lukas staggered back a step in surprise, eyes widening. " _Uh- J-_ Jess-! _"_ he shouted, voice rising a bit in pitch.

Jesse quickly leaped down the hill/cliff as well at Lukas's shout and landed right in front of the zombie, sword coming out of the sheathe rapidly, before one arm swung straight up and slammed the sharp end of the blade into the zombie's head, making a dull _thudding_ sound. The zombie kept approaching Jesse, who kept swinging her sword, smacking into it repeatedly.

The zombie should've been _long_ dead before this point- hell, it should've been dead five times over at least- but it just kept walking forward, lurching towards Jesse persistently.

"Oh Notch," Lukas gasped. "What the hell _is_ this zombie?!"

"Like- I dunno- Super-Zombie or something!" Petra exclaimed, tightening her grip on Jace anxiously.

Jace glanced at Jesse, who was staring intently at the screen.

" _Oh- oh- okay, then, we've- there's something wrong with this zombie!_ " Jesse shouted, dodging back as it swiped at her, before looking down at the sword in her hands and then taking ahold of it like it was a baseball bat. She drew it back, before swinging it hard at the zombie's neck and managing (finally!) to cut halfway through- just as Lukas drove his claws straight forward from where he was standing right behind the zombie.

Claws punched right through the zombie's chest, and the zombie froze there for a moment- an interlocked mess of claws and sword- before exploding into a cloud of dust.

"Okay, so at least the zombies _can_ be killed," Gill said, shakily.

"Yes, that's a good thing," Stampy agreed meekly.

"But why are they even so hard to kill in the first place?" Maya wondered, shifting backwards a little bit. "It's a little bizarre."

"Maybe it's the red flashy thing on the zombie's head, dude," Nell suggested.

When everyone looked at her, she shrugged. "What? Normal zombies are, like, total pushovers compared to these guys... or, uhh, in general. The only difference is the red flashy thing-"

"Chips," Harper spoke up, almost automatically. "Redstone chips."

Nell shrugged nonchalantly at the correction. "Alright, then, brah, chips on the back of the zombie's head."

There was a short silence as everyone processed that, before Olivia made a little hum. "You know, that's not a bad theory."

"Yes, I didn't know you'd be able to come up with a theory like that," Mevia said lightly, making half of the audience glare at her a little bit and the other half just blink a bit.

Nell shrugged, not looking at all offended or anything. "It just makes sense, man."

Slowly, Jesse lowered her sword, dropping her arms tiredly and giving Lukas a fierce, but slightly tired grin. " _Not quite what we were expecting, huh?_ "

* * *

 **A/N: First deadly zombie. Uhh... yay?**

 **Have a chapter! (tosses chapter to you) Enjoy~ :3**

 **Finished the character designs for Hybrid: Season 2... but I'm not releasing 'em until Season 2's release date.**

 **Which won't take too long because that's in TWO DAYS.**

 **TWO DAYS, PEOPLE!**

 **Squeeee!**

 **RQTC: None.**

 **Instead, I will be giving hints for the references, in order of appearance :3**

 **Reference 1: The squid's name is Limo (as stated in the chapter), and the person who chased me's nickname is Mill.**

 **Reference 2: There was a LEGO Movie made for this rather recently, and it was directed by Chris McKay.**

 **Reference 3: Hint coins are very helpful for gameplay in this 6-part game with a spinoff game and a new one coming out later this month.**

 **Reference 4: Pink Sheep with a mustache is not Markiplier.**

 **Reference 5: This animation studio has been making this Minecraft animated series since 2013 or so.**

 **Reference 6: A damned, glowing, one-eyed Dorito demon who can control dreams.**

 **Reference 7: Lukas's voice actor voiced the guy that this reference is referring to.**

 **Responses to reviewers!**

 **LunarStarsMoons: (grins) / Ahhhh xD / x3 / Lunar, if you see this before Twitter, I need to talk to you. Right now.**

 **Guest: OMG same here xD**

 **the indecisive bird: Hehehehe xD / alright.**

 **AquaK13: Oh, did you really? / (chuckles) / Heheheh xD / Yes, yes she is. / x3 / Bai!**

 **RapidSammi: (laughs) I just had to put it in.**

 **Dr . MKNoble: (laughs) Ah, did you really? xD / Ahhh. / (laughs) I've done that before, so I feel her there. / Thank you!**

 **Emily The Avenger: xD**

 **LittleAngelbun: Hahahaha xD / Okay (points up)**

 **BeliTheGhoti0304: x3 / Yeah, same here. / Aw, thanks :3 / It's fine~**

 **J.M.M.: Oh xD Nah it's fine, don't worry about it.**

 **S4SH4L4SH4theGaMeR101: Yep~ / I'm glad you're excited :3**

 **sailor . mikuchan: Well, you got those right. :3 / Same here haha xD**

 **Guest: (chuckles)**

 **InsaneAcrobat: Ahh, sorry xD / Yes, yes, no, yes, and yes. There's no Mario in there. xD**

 **Jack: (laughs) / Yay :3 / Hehehehehe xD / (chuckles) / Ahhh.**

 **giriri: Thanks! / x3 / (shrugs) That depends on the Jesse, tbh.**

 **Darkbeast Dend: Ahhh, I see.**

 **I'm sorry if I sound a little subdued right now, it's just that at the time I'm writing this chapter, a LOT of shit just went down... and I feel really, really bad.**

 **To TheRealRedGaming, if you even see this right now... I'm so bloody sorry. I am _so sorry_. Things got really out of hand last night, and god- I should've stepped in right then and there but I didn't, and I'm sorry.**

 **That's all for this chapter... bai!**

 **x.X. A.L. X.x**


	138. Creepy Zombies are Creepy

" _Jesse?!_ " The spider hybrid was suddenly yanked sideways with a little yelp, the screen shifting enough to show Ivor frantically checking her over, dark blue eyes filled with alarm as he gently checked over her. " _Are you hurt?_ "

" _I- no, I'm fine, D- Ivor,_ " Jesse said, sounding startled by the near _ferocity_ of the check-over.

"Whoa," Ellegaard blinked, "I haven't seen Ivor this worried since Soren nearly got killed by that horde of Ghasts." She glanced at Ivor, but the potionologist was watching the screen, carefully avoiding her gaze.

" _Good... it was just one zombie,_ " and Ivor's expression grew more serious now, calming down and looking up from Jesse's feet to Jesse's eyes, " _what was the problem?_ "

Lukas shook his head rapidly- fast enough that his ears flopped around a bit. " _No, no, no- that thing was like- I dunno- 'Super Zombie' or something."_

Petra blinked at that. "Oh. Huh."

"I mean, it's better than calling them 'the-zombie-with-the-red-glowy-thing-on-its-head'," Magnus said, shrugging a little.

Dan made a face at that. "Yeah, that's a terrible name."

Onscreen, Jesse scrunched her face up a bit in thought. " _... the name could use some work,_ " she told him, after a moment.

Several members of the audience snorted at that, the slightly nerve-wracking mood that had settled over them all lightening at the slight joke she'd just made.

" _Oh, hush,_ " Lukas made a face, looking rather uncomfortable now. " _It was stronger, tougher,_ faster _... Ohhh I hope there's not something wrong with me._ "

" _No, no, you're fine, Lukas- that was all the zombie right there,_ " and the spider hybrid scratched her head a bit, looking at a bit of a loss for ideas. " _Maybe this world's... thing is that the monsters are all super-buff?_ " she asked, after a moment of thought.

Petra rubbed her left arm, eyes gleaming a bit as she narrowed them thoughtfully. " _Hmmm... maybe?_ " she said, slowly.

Cassie shrugged a bit as well, nodding a bit as Winslow slinked around on her shoulders. " _It definitely seems possible,_ " she said after a minute of thought. " _Definitely more likely than supernatural interference or something."_

" _Oh, man, we had so much trouble with just_ one _of the things,_ " Lukas said, making a slight face at the very thought of it, " _I can't even begin to imagine how we might fight a whole horde of them._ "

Jesse was looking around when she spotted something. Her eyes widened and promptly drained of blood, turning the same shade of white that _snow_ was. " _Um... speaking of which..._ " she said, voice slowly rising in pitch at the end.

"Theeeeere's a horde of Super-Zombies behind them, isn't there?" Mevia deadpanned.

The others turned to see what Jesse was looking at, and the screen switched to show- yep- a whole horde of Super-Zombies, lurching towards the group in creepy sync.

"Why the hell are they- okay, that's just bloody _creepy_ ," Cassie said, shuddering a bit.

"Oh Notch, yeah," Lukas winced a bit, shifting backwards nervously. Jesse didn't complain about that at all herself.

" _I'm never talking again,_ " Lukas sulked, unsheathing his claws rapidly once again.

Real-Lukas groaned and put his head in his hands. "I'm sorry, I think I jinxed it," he mumbled, voice muffled by his hands.

"Happens to the best of us, don't worry about it," and Jesse patted him on the back sympathetically. (She had to bend her arm around a bit, since she was pretty much sitting in his lap right now, but she managed it.)

" _I don't know about you guys,_ " Petra called out as she unsheathed her sword, flames immediately flaring to life and dancing along the metal as she glanced at the others anxiously, " _but I'd like to find a better way to deal with these 'super zombies'._ "

Cassie whipped out her axe, Winslow worming under the redhead's beanie and curling up tightly beneath it. The redhead looked over at Jesse, concern dancing in her eyes. " _Um, Jesse?_ "

The spider hybrid backed up a little, anxiety dancing in her eyes. " _Uhh, what are you looking at me for?_ I _don't know how to handle the super zombies!_ " she squeaked, backing up a little more, the entire group slowly retreating- until their backs smacked straight into sandstone.

"They're cornered!" Axel cried out, as if this wasn't obvious to everyone in the room.

The zombies' rotting hands, extended outwards, were inches from their faces... _centimeters..._

"Oh Notch, oh Notch, oh _Notch_ ," Gill whimpered a bit, scrambling backwards.

"We'd better not freaking die," Petra said with a growl, but the way her voice was quivering slightly betrayed how nervous she was getting.

Suddenly, their arms dropped, and all of the zombies dropped their heads forward limply, all of their eyes still glowing a luminous red.

Slab let out a relieved sigh, and Nell mopped her brow a little bit in relief.

There was a short, tense silence as the four of them stared at the 'super-zombies'. " _That was... unexpected,_ " Lukas voiced what _literally_ everyone was thinking, reaching out tentatively with his sword and gently poking one of the zombies, which just swayed in place slightly.

Harper's eyes narrowed.

So PAMA had decided to spare them.

But wh-

Her eyes widened again.

Oh.

 _Oh_.

Onscreen, Jesse carefully edged to one side and pointed at the flashing red chip on the back of every single zombies' heads. " _What in the name of Notch is_ that _thing?_ " she asked flatly, before looking back down and glancing over at their current redstone expert. " _Cassie?_ "

Cassie adjusted her glasses as she trotted over to have a look at it, frowning intently at it. " _Hm... I don't think I've seen anything like this before. It definitely is a_ redstone _thing... but what exactly, I have no clue._ "

"Is someone controlling the zombies, maybe?" Jesse suggested.

Everyone looked at her.

"What? I-it makes sense, right? If it was a regular zombie, it'd just be doing its best to get at my brains, but because it isn't just trying to get at our brains like a regular zombie..."

"... someone must be controlling them. Keeping them from- you know- trying to eat our brains," Lukas finished, realization dawning on his face.

"But... who would control zombies? What purpose would they even have to control them?" Mevia wondered, frowning a bit. "I mean, if you're going to control anything, go for something stronger or more powerful."

Harper felt a little faint right about now.

Not who.

 _What._

" _Fascinating,_ " Ivor hummed, leaning forward to have a look at it as well.

Jesse tentatively reached out to poke the zombie as well. It just swayed in place a bit, completely blankly. " _Maybe the redstone-y things are what make the zombies so... blank,_ " she mused.

Lukas had been writing this down in his journal, which he now tucked back into his pocket. " _Makes sense to me. I'm starting to wonder if we should-_ "

What he'd been wondering they should do, they'd never know, because abruptly, the zombies threw their heads back, a high-pitched, echoing ringing sound blasting out, static an underlying background noise to the thing.

Real-Jesse clamped her hands over her ears, wincing. "Ow!"

She wasn't the only one to have that reaction- Lukas had yanked his jacket up over his head in an attempt to shut out the sound. Jace had his fingers in his ears, while Petra had tugged the bandana down over her ears and was screwing up her face in an effort to shut out the noise. Axel had yanked his hood up over his head, while Olivia's hat was tugged down over her ears. Reuben was worming under Jace's leg to try to escape from the sound.

Soren was furiously shaking his head, as if trying to _shake_ the sound out of his ears. Gabriel had his hands pressed tight against his ears, while Ellegaard had automatically buried her head in Magnus's chest, the Rogue holding her with one arm and doing his best to shut out the name with his free arm (which, as you can probably guess, was not exactly working out for him). Ivor was pressing himself into the armchair, his hands pressed to his ears, while Harper had tugged down her hat over her ears.

Maya had grabbed the pillow Lukas had whacked Gill with earlier and wrapped it around her ears, while Gill had followed Luka's example and yanked his jacket over his head. Winslow was pressing his ears down with his paws, while Cassie had her head buried in Aiden's neck and Aiden had his face screwed up in concentration, blocking out the noise to the best of his abilities without his hands.

Stampy's hood was covering his ears as he yanked it down, Sparklez holding his head as if he had a headache (well, no one could blame him, this sound was definitely migraine-inducing), while Dan had followed Gill and Lukas's example and tugged his jacket over his head. Lizzie had pulled her arms out of her sleeves enough to stuff wads of fabric against her ears. Stacy just had to plug her ears using her fingers.

Slab, Clutch, and Facemeat all just had their hands clamped against their ears tightly to block out the noise (although Slab had a pair of couch cushions in his hand), while Em was grabbing at her own ears. Nell had grabbed a couple of couch cushions and was clamping them over her ears. Hadrian was almost _growling_ audibly at the sound, while Otto was wincing and Mevia just squeezed her eyes shut.

" _AUGH!_ " Lukas yelled onscreen, as Jesse furiously shook her head, his hands yanking the ocelot ears down. " _What_ IS _that?!_ "

Cassie was clutching her head as well. " _It's- like it's in my head!_ " she screamed back.

Jesse was clawing at her head a bit, when her eyes abruptly snapped open, and the screen zoomed into her eye.

"Oh- a flashback?!" Cassie exclaimed.

"WHAT?!" Axel yelled back.

When it zoomed out this time, though, Jesse was just standing upright in a dark sort of cavern, her eyes wide. Around her, moving images and snatches of sound flew by. It was hard to keep up, but the audience could _definitely_ spot-

Jace and Jesse, racing around the room, laughing like little maniacs as they pretty much ran in circles.

Little-Cassie chatting away to Jesse, who was smiling and nodding away with a somewhat blank look on her face.

Little-Lukas tackling Jesse in a tight hug, the spider hybrid giggling a bit as he did so.

The little spider hybrid diving out of the way of a wooden sword, before pelting at Ivor like a fluffy-haired bullet.

Suddenly, the screen zoomed back out, right as the staticky, ringing background abruptly ceased, Jesse's hands dropping from her head as she panted a bit, trying to catch her breath from the sudden memory.

Sensing that the noise had ceased, everyone slowly removed their hands from their ears.

"Did that noise cause the flashback?" Jesse asked cautiously. "I mean... it didn't start until the noise started. And it ended right when the sound stopped."

Harper's eyes narrowed as she considered that for a moment.

If Jesse had a _memory_ chip...

... yes, that could be it...!

"You know," Ivor was saying when Harper quickly started paying attention again, sounding mildly impressed, "I wouldn't be all that surprised if it were true."

Onscreen, the zombies swung an abrupt 180-degree turn, and started lurching away in creepy sync again.

The entire audience blinked.

"Wait, they're just... leaving?" Em asked, slowly. "What was the point of all that, then?"

"I'm sure we'll find out if we keep watching," Lizzie said, leaning forward a bit.

Ivor simply looked utterly nonplussed at the sight of the zombies lurching away in creepy synchronization. " _They're... leaving? Just like that?_ " he asked, slowly.

Cassie tilted her head to one side slightly, eyes narrowing. " _They're... headed back the way they came from_ ," she said, after a few moments.

Lukas's tail flicked a bit as he stared thoughtfully after the retreating zombies. " _This might sound crazy,_ " he hummed, after a moment, " _but I feel like they're trying to lead us somewhere._ "

" _You're right. That does sound crazy._ "

Lukas rolled his eyes and playfully smacked Petra on the back of the head for the offhand statement, Jesse squinting at the zombies thoughtfully with her arms hanging limply at her sides. " _... Mmm, alright, let's go,_ " she decided, " _I'm starting to think that there's somebody behind this. And I wanna find out who._ " With that, she started walking after the zombies- not _briskly_ or anything, mind you, but she was still walking after them.

"You're just going to follow the creepy red-eyed mindless zombies?" Petra asked, brow crinkling. "Are we sure that's a good idea?"

"Well, we're not going to find out what's going on by just standing on this here road, are we?" Jesse asked, gesturing vaguely at the screen.

Mevia smiled suddenly. "You sounded like a cowboy right there."

Jesse grinned a bit and tilted her head innocently, adopting a Texan accent. "Well, howdy there stranger, what brings ya round t'these parts?" she drawled, smiling cheerfully.

Lukas couldn't help but just chuckle a bit at that. Mevia's lips curved up into a smile and she started _giggling_. Like _actually_ giggling. (Otto and Harper exchanged startled looks at that.)

"But, really," Jesse said, her smile fading after a moment or two, "There _has_ to be somebody behind this. Somebody who's put these chips on the back of the super zombie's heads."

Harper mumbled something under her breath. Ivor wasn't certain, but he could've _sworn_ that she'd just said "You're not wrong there."

Cassie shrugged nonchalantly at that, putting her axe back away and trotting after Jesse. Winslow poked his head out from under her now rather-tattered and rather lumpy beanie. " _Aight. I'm cool with that._ "

Ivor glanced after Cassie, before simply lifting his shoulders into a shrug and following after Jesse.

Several people giggled at that, Ivor simply crossing his arms and scowling at them, his cheeks flushing slightly.

Petra, Lukas, and Ivor exchanged looks, before Petra shrugged a bit and jogged after Jesse to catch up to her. " _So, then, let's get moving,_ " she said, sounding faintly enthusiastic. Lukas looked much less enthused, but he still followed after Jesse.

And the five of them began to walk after the small horde of zombies that were still lurching along in perfect unison, making sure to keep a safe distance away the whole time.

"That's _incredibly_ creepy, by the way," Jesse spoke up.

Lukas shuddered a little, allowing his arm to tighten around the short girl next to him. "Oh yeah, you don't have to tell us twice."

* * *

 **A/N: Short, but I didn't know what to do for the chapter. Sorry.**

 **No one's got all the references yet? Seriously?**

 **MooncakeT: Yes, yes, yes, and yes. Unfortunately, that's not all of them, but you still did a good job! :3**

 **giriri: Indeed. / Yes, yes, yes, yes, yes, yes, but you missed one. VERY close, though- one more to go.**

 **RapidSammi: (grins) / The 'D' thing...? / (chuckles)**

 **Dr . MKNoble: Yes and yes x3 / It's fine, don't worry!**

 **AquaK13: x3 / I already did mine a while back, actually xD / Nope, sorry.**

 **LittleAngelbun: Yes, yes, yes, I think you're right, so yes, nope but close, yes, and yes! x3 / Take a look at 4 and 5 again. There is an egg called Jason in 5's reference x3**

 **S4SH4L4SH4theGaMeR101: x3 / Reference 5 is not Telltale, but the last one is. / Yes. / Yes. / Ahh, well good job x3**

 **LunarStarsMoons: Thanks... :3**

 **x.X. A.L. X.x**


	139. Chips Ahoy

The screen faded to black a moment later.

Harper looked around at the others, frowning. "Should we take a break sometime during the episode?"

The others hesitated, all of them glancing at each other.

Finally, Ivor nodded. "I think that's a good idea. It's not good to just sit around indoors all day."

"Alright, so we'll break for lunch or something later," Soren said decisively, looking around the room. When they got a general chorus of assent (Hadrian just shrugged a bit), everyone turned back to face the screen.

The screen had already faded in to show the five of them (six if you counted Winslow) watching as the zombies were lurching up a staircase towards a bunch of houses. The houses appeared to be made of sandstone and clay, though... maybe there was some wood? (It was too far to tell.)

The screen switched again to show the five of them walking up the stairs in near-deathly silence, none of them even daring to cough or clear their throat or anything. The audience could understand, though- the complete _bizarre_ quality of the whole situation made it a bit creepy for them all. Even Cassie. (And Notch knows that she's the genius when it comes to creepy stuff.) After what felt like an hour of walking up the staircase, they reached the level that the houses were on.

The houses were all elevated slightly, composed of what looked a lot like hardened clay. The floors looked like sandstone, and the roofs were made out of wooden planks. There were some decorative 'flags' along some of them next to the windows, and, well, the town, or... city or whatever it was looked really nice, but...

" _I don't see any people... anywhere,_ " Petra said, sounding a little worried.

Lukas was looking around at the architecture with practically glowing eyes, looking around fast enough that the audience was fairly certain he was going to crick his neck. " _This architecture's fascinating,_ " he breathed, " _it's all sand and clay-based. It's awesome._ "

Ivor rolled his eyes a bit, although he didn't seem like he was actually all that annoyed. " _Of course you'd say that. You're the one who was trained by Soren the Architect at age 5._ "

"Yeah, I do imagine that'd have something to do with it," Jace said, rubbing his chin with a mock-thoughtful look, before shooting Lukas a playful smile to show he didn't mean any harm.

"Well, it _is_ interesting!" Lukas exclaimed, blushing a bit in embarrassment. "Don't you think it's interesting, Jesse?" He automatically looked at the petite girl who was almost always likely to be on his side. (Except when she was making puns. That was when she wasn't on his side.)

To the audience's surprise, Jesse was just staring at the screen, eyes narrowed at the screen. "Yeah, I guess... but what I'm more interested by is what the heck's going on here."

"Oh. Right." Lukas sat back a bit and coughed, cheeks tinted pink. In the excitement of seeing the new architecture, he'd kind of forgotten about the whole situation. (Good job, Lukas.)

Onscreen, Jesse was looking around when she spotted Cassie frowning a bit in Ivor's direction- almost as if she recognized the name 'Soren'.

" _Hey!_ " Petra said suddenly, making the entire group look over at her as she walked off a bit. The screen switched to show a small pyramid of red blocks, stacked neatly near one of the houses. "Told _you guys there'd be redstone!_ "

" _Well for all you know, Petra,_ " the narrator spoke up, making Jesse start a bit, " _the people who live here are just idiots who thought the blocks looked nice and used it to decorate their city._ "

Jesse scowled at the sky, while Real-Petra scowled at the screen.

" _Speaking of redstone,_ " Ivor said, in a slightly quieter voice than the audience was used to, " _I'd like to investigate those..._ " He paused, as if searching for a more satisfactory term.

" _Chips,_ " Cassie offered.

Onscreen, Jesse made a slightly squinty look, looking as if the name wasn't exactly her favorite. " _They're chips in the barest sense of the word,_ " the narrator said mildly, making Jesse glance back up at the sky. " _But, y'know, whatever. It's better than calling 'em 'those thingies'._ "

Real-Jesse snorted a bit.

" _Yes, those chips on the back of the zombies' heads,_ " Ivor agreed, nodding to Cassie a bit as if to thank her for the suggestion. Cassie blinked at that in surprise, before perking up a little bit.

" _Ooh, yeah,_ " and Lukas perked up a bit too, ears flicking straight up with interest in his eyes. " _I wanna see those too._ "

Jesse shrugged and joined in with them, going over to a pen with a bunch of zombies facing away from the opening of the pen. Ivor approached the zombie, before reaching up and taking ahold of the chip in both hands, starting to pull at it. A low buzzing sound began to... well, sound.

" _Whoa, wait, what are you doing, D-_ " Jesse stopped mid-word again, cheeks beginning to turn faintly pink. " _Ivor?_ "

"What on earth do you keep slipping up on?" Hadrian wondered, narrowing his eyes at the petite girl sitting on the floor.

Jesse just shrugged a bit, carefully avoiding his gaze. If he'd been looking very closely, he'd have noticed the pink blush forming on her own cheeks. "I'm sure it's nothing." (Yeah, sure, Jesse. I'm sure the rest of the audience totally believes you.)

Onscreen, if Ivor had noticed the slip, he didn't exactly let on. " _What's it look like?_ " he asked, turning back around to face Jesse and loosening his grip on the chip, the buzzing sound fading out. " _I'm going to rip this thing out of this zombie's head. For science._ "

Maya made a face suddenly, having suddenly gotten a mental image of Ivor ripping off... well, let's just say more than just the chip on the back of the zombie's head. "Oh... that could be potentially gross."

" _They're... sleeping. Or something. It'll be easy!_ "

"I, uh... I wouldn't be too sure about that, if I were you," Harper said, wincing slightly.

Onscreen, Jesse simply blinked at that assertion. " _Isn't that... a bit dangerous?_ " she asked Ivor, tentatively.

" _More so for the zombie than for me,_ " Ivor responded promptly, and turned back around to resume 'ripping out that thing for science', before pausing a bit, his face falling into a more concerned look. "... _I think._ "

" _That wasn't very reassuring,_ " the narrator drawled, making Jesse glance up and shoot them an irritated look.

"This narrator- well- actually, the commentary's a little funny, sometimes," Aiden mumbled, crossing his arms a bit and squinting at the screen a little bit.

"... actually, he has a point," and Jace grinned sheepishly.

Aiden glanced at Jace rapidly, surprise entering his expression.

Jace noticed the look, and gave the other boy a friendly sort of grin.

Slowly, Aiden smiled back.

Ivor started to pull, harder and harder, the buzzing growing louder and more insistent as he kept pulling harder, and harder, until he was practically bracing one foot against the zombie in an attempt to yank it off- when suddenly, there was a dazzling flash of white, and Ivor was thrown flat on his back with a yell.

"Oh _Notch!_ " Soren had a hand over his heart at the sudden scare. "Holy- _what_?!"

Ivor simply winced a bit. That looked like it had hurt.

" _Are you okay?!_ " Lukas exclaimed, while Jesse just stared at where Ivor had just fallen, looking utterly nonplussed with wide eyes, before she simply went over and leaned down to help him up.

" _It shocked me!_ " Ivor snapped, thankfully only sounding more annoyed than anything else. (Well, 'thankfully'.)

"Oh, okay," and Olivia let out a relieved sigh. "He didn't actually get hurt or anything."

"Yeah, that could've turned out worse," Sparklez sighed a bit himself.

" _Well, at least we learned something new,_ " Cassie offered as Jesse pulled Ivor back to his feet, from where she was setting Winslow down on the sandy ground carefully.

" _And what would that be?_ " Petra asked, coming back over with a slightly worried expression on her face.

" _They can't be removed. Not- not with our bare hands, anyhow._ " Cassie gave the chips an appraising look. " _I wonder what would happen if you tried to work it off with a_ weapon _..._ "

Lukas's ears twitched suddenly, and Lukas glanced up, eyes slightly wide, before he reached up and cupped a hand around his ear, cupping the ocelot ear with a look of concentration coming onto his features. " _Do you hear that?_ " he asked, softly.

Jesse looked around warily. The screen scanned the landscape- before stopping as a person came into view, walking along some ways away. " _Hey- there's someone over there!_ " Jesse exclaimed, raising her arm and pointing.

Harper felt her fists tighten in her lap.

Cassie leaned around Ivor to get a proper look. " _Think he's friendly?_ " she asked, sounding a little anxious.

Jesse lifted one arm in a wave. " _Hello?_ " she called. The person didn't even glance in her direction, simply continuing on his walk. Narrowing her eyes, Jesse flailed her arm even harder at him. "Hello?"

The person kept on walking.

Jesse lowered her arms, blinking a little bit. " _Er..._ "

"Well... that's rude," Slab said, after a minute's pause.

"Facemeat doesn't like rude people," Facemeat grunted.

"Well, we don't _know_ that he's rude," Jesse pointed out. "For all we know, he could just have horrible hearing."

"Hey, that was alliteration," Aiden said, grinning slightly. (Hey, that was... sort of alliteration right there.)

Onscreen, Jesse's lower two sets of arms crossed, while her uppermost left arm reached up to just scratch her head a little bit. " _Well... maybe his... hearing is bad. Or something?_ " she reasoned, slowly.

Lukas shrugged a bit, simply looking a bit mystified. " _Um, that makes sense... I... guess._ "

Jesse looked down at herself, before back up at the others. " _Er, do one of you guys have like a cloak or something, 'cause... he might not be too excited to see someone with... well... y'know._ "

Petra shook her head, a disappointed look coming over her face. " _That's right, I forgot._ "

"It's pretty easy to forget... once you actually talk to Jesse- onscreen, I mean- you tend to forget that she has extra arms," Reginald said, leaning forward a bit to get a better look at the screen.

"Yeah, but I'd still like to not scare everyone," Jesse said, sounding slightly amused.

Lukas patted his pockets experimentally, ears flicking a bit, before he shook his head with a small frown. " _Uhhh, nope. Sorry._ "

" _Well, I might... yeah, here,_ " and Cassie fished out a wad of gray fabric quickly, before tossing it over to Jesse. Jesse's lower arms shot out and caught ahold of it, the wad unfolding in midair into a slightly overlarge gray cloak. It was a bit wrinkled-up from being shoved in Cassie's pocket, but it was good for the situation.

" _Thanks,_ " and Jesse quickly tossed the thing over her shoulders, her uppermost set of arms reaching up and doing the clasp, finishing moments before the cloak fully settled over her shoulders.

"Why did that look kind of cool?" Stacy asked, grinning a bit as she regarded the screen.

"Because I'm fabulous, of course," and Jesse struck a ridiculous pose that proceeded to send most of the teen-aged viewers into a fit of giggles and making the older ones roll their eyes with repressed grins. (Except for Soren and Ivor, who were grinning openly. Man, for two people who didn't get along at all in Episode 3 and 4, they sure had a lot of things in common.)

" _Alright, hang back a bit, guys,_ " and she turned around, the cloak swishing around with her movement, " _I'm gonna go try to talk to him._ "

" _Okay, just-_ " Petra paused, concern written over her face. " _Be careful,_ " she finished, a bit gruffly.

Lukas nodded in agreement. " _Yeah, I mean- there's still a lot about this place we don't know._ "

Harper mumbled something like "You're telling me" under her breath.

Jesse gave them a cheerful thumbs up (making half of the audience grin), before walking towards the guy, who'd stopped at a chest and was rummaging through it. " _Um, hi there,_ " she said cheerfully as she approached, rubbing her head slightly awkward.

The guy just kept rummaging through the chest.

"Well, that's... rude," Lizzie mumbled, frowning a bit.

" _Um, hello?_ "

Still nothing.

"This guy's got some nerve, ignoring a 17-year-old girl like that," Magnus grumbled to Gabriel, who nodded a bit.

"Agreed."

Harper swallowed, fists clenching in her lap, making Ivor glance at her- and then start a bit. Harper was _extremely_ pale right now. And she looked just like she was about to throw up.

He reached over and touched her arm, making her eyes slide over to him, still looking sick to her stomach. "Are you... all right?" he asked, softly.

Harper opened her mouth. Paused. Closed it. And then shook her head slightly.

"No."

" _Er, my friends and I could just use-_ " The man now looked up and turned to face Jesse as she drew almost level with him-

With a set of glowing, red eyes.

Half of the audience let out shocked yells, while the other half flinched a bit. Lukas's grip had abruptly tightened on Jesse, while Jace had jumped and clonked his skull right into Petra's chin. Ivor's arm instinctively tightened on Harper's, making the other woman wince, while Stampy had tried to jump into Dan's arms, Dan had tried to dive behind Stampy, and the two of them ended up on the floor in a tangled heap somehow. Hadrian and Mevia had both jumped and clonked heads, while Cassie had let out a shriek and hidden her face in Aiden's shoulder. Milo had instinctively grabbed the Founder's arm and tugged her over the back of the couch as well in alarm.

" _GAH!_ " Jesse screamed onscreen, jumping back, tripping over her feet, and then landing on her back, propping herself up on her elbows and gaping at him as the man simply swiveled on the spot and walked away, the big red chip blinking on the back of his head painfully obvious. " _Who the- what- huh?!_ " she stuttered out, green and red eyes the size of tea saucers.

Ivor skidded to a stop next to her, hauling her up to her feet and checking her over frantically, the girl still gaping after the man. " _Oh dear- did you get hurt? Are you alright?_ " he asked.

" _Y... yeah, I'm... I'm okay,_ " Jesse eked out, eyes wide as she kept staring after him.

Cassie skidded to a halt on her other side, making Jesse glance over at Cassie. Cassie was blinking rapidly, hands trembling as she held her axe at the ready. " _Did something go wrong? Do I need to hurt someone?_ "

Harper let her eyes shut, Ivor's grip on her arm firm.

Yes, something had gone wrong.

" _There is something,_ " Jesse spoke shakily, " _very, very,_ very _wrong going on here... we need to help these people._ "

Before anyone could say anything else, the screen switched so that the audience was viewing the group from farther away. A familiar set of clothes came dashing across the screen before doing a slider to the base of a staircase, Jesse's head snapping around to look at it just in the nick of time to see her slide to the staircase and then dash up it, leaving a small dust cloud in her wake.

"Harper?" Otto blinked. "Was that you?"

" _Jesse?_ "

The spider hybrid looked back to her friends, blinking. " _Someone just ran into that house... whoever they are- maybe they've got some answers._ " And with that, Jesse dropped to all eights and ran towards the house, the others following some distance behind. She whipped back to her feet as she skidded to the base of the stairway and then dashed up the stairs, before coming to a stop at the top of the staircase.

The screen shifted to show someone very, very familiar rummaging through a chest, muttering to herself.

Harper's eyes widened a bit.

" _Um... h-hello...?_ " Jesse asked slowly, as the woman slowly stood up, holding...

... quite a few of the chips?

They were blinking, too.

"What the heck? Why are they just sitting around in a chest in someone's house?" Em asked, looking a little disgruntled.

"Yes, that, um... that looks a bit frightening to be decorating a house with," Isa said, wincing a bit.

The figure turned enough to reveal HARPER, holding an armful of the chips.

* * *

 **A/N: Haha! Yes! This is fun!**

 **Lol I sound like Ivor with his 'adventure' xD xD xD**

 **Congrats to giriri and LittleAngelbun for getting the entire list correct! You two get a oneshot/picture/animatic of your choice! x3 Just shoot me a PM or comment what you'd like, and I'll get on that as soon as possible!**

 **RQTC: Have you ever heard a song and listened to it and then just abruptly started crying?**

 **Yes. Multiple times.**

 **azzhoe: Yes, yes you do.**

 **giriri: Correct!**

 **Toni42: Hehehe xD**

 **LunarStarsMoons: (hugs) It's fine, don't worry.**

 **AquaK13: Hehehe xD Yes indeedy. / No, otherwise I'd have mentioned you... / Hehehehe xD / Bai!**

 **Dr . MKNoble: Yes, yes, and yes... that's not all, though. / Thank you! :3**

 **LittleAngelbun: YEP!**

 **That's all for now. Wow, I updated fairly quickly after the last one got put up... welp, hope you enjoyed!**

 **BAI!**

 **x.X. A.L. X.x**


	140. I'd Rather Be Ignored Honestly

Harper jumped with a rather large flinching motion, throwing all the chips back into the chest with a loud yell of shock (which in turn made half the audience jump), making Jesse jump back herself and grab at the cloak automatically, in an attempt to keep it somewhat shut.

"Whoa- that was, uh," Magnus blinked, recovering from the sudden shock Harper had given them all just now. "That was, uh... a bit of an overreaction."

"Kind of like how you nearly blowing Jesse up back in the Death Bowl was a bit of an overreaction?" Petra asked, drily.

"... I see your point."

Onscreen, Harper darted back a few steps, her gray eyes darting around everywhere, before she looked back at Jesse, her shoulders trembling slightly. " _Th-that you... PAMA?_ " she asked, shakily.

The spider hybrid merely frowned at the question, a blank expression on her face. " _Who?_ "

"Hey, you asked us about a 'PAMA' back when we first met," Maya exclaimed, snapping her fingers as that occurred to her. "Does that have something to do with this?"

"... oh, yeah... she di-" Jesse suddenly paused, eyes widening as something hit her. (Not literally, of course. Mentally.) "... Harper, does 'PAMA' stand for something?"

Harper blinked, taken aback by the abrupt question. "I... yes, how did you know?" she asked, sounding rather surprised.

"What does it stand for?" Jesse asked immediately, actually turning around so that her eyes were fixed directly on Harper, even as Lukas blinked a bit, his cheeks turning faintly pink from having his face pretty much buried in Jesse's chest right now.

"Prototype: Autonomous Management Agent..." Harper said slowly, taken aback by the sheer anxiety on Jesse's face.

Jesse felt the blood drain from her face. She hadn't realized she'd just slid to the floor until Lukas was shaking her, voice rising in panic as he called her name, and Jace was reaching over to keep her from just toppling over and Reuben was nudging her in concern.

"Jesse, are you okay?!" Petra exclaimed, her hand stalling in midair as she reached for the short girl.

"That... I recognize that name, that- that was- that 'Red' dude told me- not to underestimate..." Jesse managed, feeling a little faint.

Glances were exchanged.

Harper could feel her stomach tightening a bit.

'Red' had _definitely_ not been wrong.

Onscreen, Harper looked taken aback by the monosyllabic answer. " _Okay then,_ " she said, glancing around the room again as if there were more people there, regaining her composure rather quickly, before facing Jesse and pointing at her accusingly, eyes narrowing. " _Okay. Who sent you?"_

Jesse gave a slow blink at that. " _... myself?_ "

Most of the audience couldn't help but just outright laugh at that innocent reply Jesse gave. With anyone else, it would've sounded sarcastic or just outright rebellious, but with Jesse it just sounded as if she were legitimately confused.

Harper blinked at Jesse again, and the spider hybrid slowly moved her uppermost set of arms up in surrender, blinking at Harper slowly. " _Um... would you calm down, please?_ " she asked meekly, after a moment or two of silence, " _you're kind of freaking me out a bit._ "

Harper threw her arms into the air, making a soft sound of frustration. "You're _freaked out?!_ " she exclaimed. " _How do you think_ I'm _doing?!_ "

Real-Jesse frowned a bit, tilting her head. "... feeling incredibly confused?" she asked, after a moment.

Real-Harper hummed thoughtfully, averting her eyes to the ceiling for a few moments. "Mmmm, that's most likely the case"

Jesse kept her hands up in surrender, tilting her head slightly as she kept regarding Harper curiously, as if she were some strange new thing she'd never seen before. Harper's eyes narrowed as she lifted her arm and pointed her again, although this time it was a more hesitant sort of movement. " _Hang on... you're serious,_ " she said, slowly.

The spider hybrid nodded slowly. Harper squinted at Jesse, slowly approaching until she was close enough that Jesse looked a bit uncomfortable. " _Okay... eyes, not red, NOT red... well, except for-_ "

She suddenly stopped, blinking rapidly, before walking forward again, this time getting close enough that their noses were nearly touching, even with Jesse leaning back a bit in surprise.

The audience blinked.

"Uhhh, Harper? What exactly are you doing?" Dan asked, slowly.

"Hey, things are different in this version of the future, remember? How'm I supposed to know?" Harper asked, giving him a slightly bewildered look.

"Oh. Yeah."

Onscreen, Harper narrowed her eyes at Jesse for a moment, before stepping back, an expression of utter bewilderment on her face. Her eyes flickered to the cloak that was currently concealing Jesse's arms, before going back to Jesse's green-and-red eyes. "... _Jesse?_ "

Jesse blinked, stepping back a bit with a wary look coming over her face. " _H-how do you...?_ "

Harper's mouth suddenly dropped open. The screen switched to show Ivor, Petra, Lukas, and Cassie (and Winslow on her shoulder) quickly walking up the steps and moving to stand a few feet behind the spider hybrid. " _And they're- you're all- this should be- it's impossible!_ " she spluttered, looking _utterly_ baffled by now.

"Why's it impossible?" Hadrian asked, frowning at the screen.

Harper gave him a deadpan look. "Did I not just _literally_ explain this to Dan over there?" she nearly _drawled_ , lifting an arm to point at Dan (his hair was pale orange now).

Onscreen, the spider hybrid blinked a bit, before turning to glance over her shoulder at her friends, expecting the utterly confused looks Ivor, Petra, and Lukas were giving her- before she stopped on Cassie.

Cassie's expression wasn't exactly _cold_.

More along the lines of _downright glacial_.

Cassie's green eyes were practically colder than icebergs in her eyes, her face frozen in an expression of quiet anger, disappointment, recognition, and... well, almost _hope_ , really. Her emotions might've just been tossed into a blender with about three-fourths of the blender getting filled with ice cubes.

"Whoa," and Aiden blinked, glancing at Real-Cassie, expecting her to look a bit surprised too.

Instead, to his slight surprise, she had a significantly more mild version of the expression on her face, staring at the screen almost coldly.

Real-Harper winced a bit, averting her eyes again.

Onscreen, Harper's eyes flickered between Jesse and Cassie, before her eyes hardened and she glared at them. " _Okay, is this some sort of joke? Who are you people? What's going on here?_ "

" _It's a very poor joke if_ I've _ever seen one,_ " Cassie seethed back, eyes beginning to turn red slowly.

Harper looked at Cassie for a moment, before averting her gaze from Cassie to stare at Petra, Ivor, and Lukas curiously. " _I've seen Cassie and Jesse before... but not you three._ "

Jesse blinked at Cassie, tilting her head, before giving her a bit of a funny look. " _Hey... you worked at the Bureau of Amalgamology, didn't you? Petra and Lukas are hybrids, too. Shouldn't you know 'em, then?_ "

Harper blinked at Jesse again (quite a lot of blinking going on here). " _Did the memory chip malfunction?"_ she asked after a moment, simply looking somewhat bemused now.

" _She did work at the Bureau of Amalgamology,_ " Cassie said coldly, " _but she wasn't there when Petra and Lukas were 'created', for lack of a better term. The_ Old Builders-" Harper winced at the name, and possibly at the way Cassie nearly _spit_ it out as if it were poison or something, " _didn't stick around for very long._ "

Onscreen, Ivor's mouth dropped open. Real-Ivor looked just as shocked, if not slightly _more_ shocked. "You're-" he turned around, staring at Cassie with wide eyes. "You're an Old- I mean- Ancient Architect?!" he blurted out, looking almost _excited_ , really. Most of his expression was just shock, though- mainly due to the fact that he'd been _sitting next to an Old Builder/Ancient Architect for 7 episodes now._

"... yes. Yes, I am," Harper said at last, giving a faint smile. Had anyone been looking closely, though, she looked almost _sick_ right now.

Cassie crossed her arms a bit, a slight scowl coming over her face. Aiden (and Jesse, this girl notices everything) were the only two people to really notice, since all eyes were focused on Harper right now.

" _... well- um-_ " Jesse said, in an attempt to break the completely awkward silence that had fallen over the room, " _I know this might sound a little... weird, but we came here through a portal._ "

Harper looked rather interested at that. (Both Real and Onscreen.) " _A portal? A PORTAL portal? Really?_ "

"No, obviously she meant a chicken portal," Hadrian muttered sarcastically.

Mevia made a bit of a face, leaning over to Hadrian. "Mmm, that one needs work, Hadrian," she whispered to him.

"What's wrong with chickens?" Isa asked, sounding slightly offended as she tightened her arms around Benedict. (Olivia also frowned; there was nothing _wrong_ with chickens.)

Onscreen, Jesse nodded a bit, Cassie saying nothing and merely crossing her arms. Winslow let out a soft meow that went completely unnoticed.

" _Okay,_ " Harper said, unsteadily, putting her hands to her head and beginning to pace around the floor, " _okay okay okay okay uh, been alone for a while so this is a lot to take in right now..._ " She hesitated a bit, while the others moved off to go do their own thing- Petra just sat down on the floor with a completely bewildered look, while Lukas took a look around the room with his ears and tail twitching; Ivor went ahead and started poking through a chest, while Cassie just leaned against a wall, still aiming a death glare in Harper's direction.

(Real-Harper couldn't help but wince a little bit; this girl could _seriously_ hold grudges.)

" _The people..._ " Harper began, hesitantly, " _the citizens of Crown Mesa- you've met them, right?_ "

" _Sort of? If by 'meeting' them you mean seen the fact that they have red eyes and a chip on the back of their head and then getting scared out of your wits upon seeing them, then yes,_ " Jesse replied, somewhat sarcastically. Her voice softened into a concerned one moments later. " _Out with it, what's going on with these people? What is up with this TOWN?_ "

Harper reached out and put a hand on Jesse's shoulder, making the spider hybrid tense up a little, before relaxing. Not _much_ , but she did relax. " _It's probably hard to understand right now, but if you meet any more people, please- don't hurt them,_ " the white-haired woman said, sounding _extremely_ sincere, " _they're my friends._ "

Jesse just blinked at her for a moment, before slowly inclining her head forward in a nod. " _O-okay... I won't hurt them..._ "

" _Thank you,_ " Harper said, sounding _extremely_ grateful, " _they're good people, I promise..._ " She trailed off a second later, before she started backwards, eyes widening as her hand almost jumped off of Jesse's shoulder. " _Oh, oh no, oh no no no no I've wasted too much time._ "

"Err... that does _not_ sound good," Axel said, frowning.

"What do you mean," Olivia said slowly, glancing at Harper worriedly, "you've 'wasted too much time'?"

Real-Harper just swallowed a bit. She was starting to look sick to her stomach.

Onscreen, Cassie just scowled at Harper, eyes still harder than ice. (Real-Cassie winced a bit at that, although Harper definitely had a bit more of a reaction.) " _Yeah?_ "

Lukas suddenly interrupted, voice having gone a full octave higher. " _Um... Jesse?_ " he asked, ears slowly flattening on his head almost fearfully.

Jesse turned to look at Lukas, before trotting over to the window he was looking out of- and then freezing.

The screen switched to show five people with glowing red eyes marching towards the house, in downright _creepy_ sync. " _We've got company!_ " Lukas squeaked, the ocelot hybrid stepping back a bit.

"Ohh, jeez, that's not good," and Jesse winced.

"How so? There's only five of them, and there are six of you," Milo asked, curiously.

"If a regular _zombie_ was that hard to beat with that chip on the back of the head..." Jesse began, glancing fearfully at Lukas.

Lukas paled noticeably, realization hitting him like a ton of bricks. "Then how are we supposed to beat five _people_ with those things on the back of their heads... especially considering we're not supposed to hurt them?"

The entire audience paled noticeably. Isa looked a bit as if she might faint.

"That's..." Clutch frowned. "That's very, very bad."

Onscreen, Jesse stepped back, looking a bit nervous. " _Ohhh dear._ " She turned around to face the room- and then blinked.

The screen switched to show that the room was now empty.

"Wait- what?" Em exclaimed, blinking at the screen. "Where'd she go?"

Harper touched her mouth thoughtfully. "Hm, I know that this house in particular doesn't really have an exit, save for the door and the windows... ah, I think I might've jumped out the window with an invisibility potion. That's the only one I know for _sure_ I was going to take with me on that little excursion.

Ivor looked a little as if he might kiss Harper on the spot.

" _Hey- where'd she go?_ " Jesse wondered, looking around in a bemused way.

Cassie muttered something under her breath. The only things that the spider hybrid could catch (and therefore, the audience was able to _hear_ ) was something about " _never reliable_ " and " _should've said something_ ". Jesse stared at Cassie for a minute, as if debating whether or not to ask her about it, before deciding she'd probably end up on the wrong end of Cassie's axe if she voiced the thoughts. So, wisely, she decided to keep her mouth shut.

"What was that about?" Gill asked the redhead curiously, glancing in her direction.

"I don't want to talk about it," Cassie said dismissively.

Facemeat frowned a bit. "But... Facemeat heard something about-"

"Let me rephrase that," Cassie repeated, turning to glare at Facemeat, "I _don't. Want. To talk about it._ "

Facemeat, who was easily at least two or three feet taller than Cassie, much more muscled, more visibly well armed, and _definitely_ scary looking, took one look at Cassie's cold glare...

And decided to just shut his mouth.

" _Well..._ " Petra let out a low sigh. " _They're definitely not ignoring us anymore._ "

"Is that a good thing, or a bad thing?" Jace mumbled, under his breath but loud enough so that only the group sitting around him on the floor could hear him.

"Definitely a bad thing."

"Yeah... not good, dude."

"Very bad."

"I'd have to say it's a _terrible_ thing."

"Uh, yeah. It's bad."

A soft oink from Reuben.

"Just checking," Jace uttered back, slowly turning around to regard the screen with a significantly more uneasy look.

* * *

 **A/N: Late chapter is late and I'm tired. Sorry... I hate painting irl, can I just say that? Especially with acrylic paint. _Especially_ on a huge piece of paper.**

 **Oh... and applying scumble and glaze. Did I mention that I hate that?**

 **RQTC: MCSM SEASON 2 IS OUT! DID YOU HEAR?! (No, obviously you didn't xD)**

 **Too bad I might have to wait to play it... no spoilers until then, y'hear?**

 **LunarStarsMoons: x3 / Thanks! / Hahaha, really? x3 It's always movies. Movies without a fail. But some music as well.**

 **S4SH4L4SH4theGaMeR101: Awww :3 / YEP!**

 **AquaK13: (coughs a bit) xD / Yep x3 / Hahahahaha xD / Hmm, I see. / x3**

 **giriri: Ahhh, is that so?**

 **RapidSammi: Yep x3 / (laughs) / Ahhh.**

 **sailor . mikuchan: I see.**

 **LittleAngelbun: Cool x3**

 **Toni42: Indeed x3**

 **J.M.M.: x3**

 **Infernius Flashfire: (laughs) / No, haven't heard those. I might check 'em out sometime, then. / Ahhh, true. x3**

 **Emily The Avenger: Shelter by Porter Robinson. I didn't even watch the video the first time and I cried. xD / Nahhh, it's fine x3**

 **Jack: (laughs) That's good, though. / 'Lovely' xD / (shrugs) It's fine x3**

 **the indecisive bird: Professor Layton games just kick you in the feels and you don't regret it one ounce though xD / Yep xD / AHAHAHAHA YEP xD / Lololol xD**

 **Darkbeast Dend: (laughs) True.**

 **Savannah-the-Caracal: Ah, then I'll have to have a look.**

 **no: ... because it actually has a point in the story?**

 **aman: ... so then don't read the story, if you don't like it... xD**

 **Boggie443: (laughs)**

 **Welp, that's all for this chapter! Bai!**

 **x.X. A.L. X.x**


	141. Prototype: Autonomous Management Agent

" _Ah, Jesse?_ " Lukas squeaked, backing up a few steps as the red-eyed people marched up the steps and into the room, _"what do we do here?_ "

"Leave! Run away!" Stacy exclaimed, flailing her arms wildly at the screen.

"Will those people _let_ us leave?" Cassie asked, grimly.

Isa frowned. "Who knows? Besides... they can't exactly hear you."

"... oh yeah."

" _They don't... look happy,_ " Petra said warily, backing into the wall and pressing her back up against it as the group collectively moved backwards.

Cassie shot the Blaze hybrid a look. " _They don't look_ anything."

"... _agh, that's even_ creepier."

Jesse forced a smile that looked almost _maniacal_ from how hard she was basically forcing it. (Which probably creeped the audience out a little bit.) " _O-kay, time to go!_ " she chirped, in forced, overly cheerful voice.

" _Good plan,_ " Ivor deadpanned.

Jesse tried to move past the people gently, but the person in the front of the group shoved her back, making Jesse stagger rather violently as they nearly knocked her right off her feet. (The audience winced a little bit at that.) " _Um... okay, looks like that plan might be a no-go,_ " she said, sounding a bit shaky.

" _You are not from this place,_ " the group of five spoke in _perfect sync_ , pointing at the other group in robotic, simultaneous motions.

"Okay, this just got creepier," Petra squeaked a bit, scrambling backwards in an attempt to avoid them.

Onscreen, Jesse took a deep breath, slowly taking a backwards step and swallowing nervously. " _Um... yeah, I... guess we're... not?_ " she said, weakly.

Harper let out a loud gasp, making the whole audience look at her. "Oh no. Oh no. Oh no no no no no. You shouldn't have said that," she said, voice beginning to rise in both pitch and volume in panic. "You _should not_ have said that!"

Real-Jesse was starting to look slightly pale. "Um... why not?" she asked, voice beginning to turn a bit faint.

" _A decision has been made,_ " the people spoke again, once again in perfect unison.

"Okay, so remember how we said earlier that the zombies moving in perfect sync was incredibly creepy?" Lukas asked, in a strangely calm voice.

Aiden glanced over at the blonde, slowly nodding a little bit. "Yeeeeeee _eeeeessss_...?"

"Forget that. _This_ is incredibly creepy. Those zombies moving in unison is downright adorable compared to this."

Jesse regarded the screen, biting her lip slightly. "... well, he's not wrong..."

" _PAMA has questions._ "

Cassie proceeded to unleash an about-thirty-word-long string of swears that ended on something about a 'motherfucking piece of robotic crap' that none of the adults bothered to scold her about.

Onscreen, Petra made a soft sound, the screen panning over to show one of the red-eyed people grabbing her by the forearm, before her eyes hardened and she drew her fist back, punching them right in the face. Their head snapped to the right... before smoothly rotating back to face them again, red eyes completely blank as they stared at Petra.

"Oh Notch," Olivia squeaked, backpedaling a few paces in an attempt to keep a distance with the screen. "Oh Notch."

The Blaze hybrid let out a little yelp that sounded _very_ un-Petra-like. Jesse automatically moved in front of the others, slowly continuing to back up as the red-eyed people began to close in on them.

" _You will come to PAMA,_ " the five of them spoke in a _very_ spooky sync.

" _No_ way _are you even_ considering _this, Jesse,_ " Petra said, in a very shaky voice (Jace wrapped his arms around Real-Petra tightly, the redhead tightening her own grip on Jace and biting her bottom lip anxiously). " _Since when do we take orders from... from..._ " Right now Petra was so shaky that she appeared to be getting a blank on the term she was trying to remember.

" _Mind-controlled people?_ " Cassie finished for Petra, flatly.

Petra nodded a bit at that, eyes still flickering from person to person. " _Yeah. What the redhead said._ "

Real-Cassie blinked. "... uh, Petra-"

Onscreen, Ivor glanced at Petra, expression changing slightly into one of confusion. " _Petra,_ you're _a redhead._ "

A short pause as Petra processed that.

" _Shut up, Ivor._ "

Half of the audience couldn't help but snort at the _amazing_ rebuttal Petra had just made. Really, it was just _so_ articulate. Very impressive. Harper managed a weak smile, but she was obviously more focused on the screen right now.

Onscreen, Jesse took another hesitant step back, shooting the red-eyed people a nervous smile as they closed in on her.

" _It probably helps,_ " the narrator spoke up, mildly, " _that you're actually partially amused by that little interaction just now. Honestly, I'd say that if the situation was different, you might've started laughing._ " A short pause. " _Pity that it_ isn't _a different situation._ "

"For once, I agree with the narrator," Maya said, pointing at the screen a bit.

" _Uh- sorry, but, uh, we were actually_ kind of _on our way out-_ " Jesse began, smiling anxiously.

Petra nodded eagerly at that, her own nervous smile on her face, picking up quickly. " _Sorry, we've gotta run, but, ah-_ "

" _W-would you look at the time..._ " Lukas chuckled nervously, ears and tail flicking around and hitting everything in a three-foot radius. (It didn't take a genius to tell- wow, Lukas was nervous.)

" _No need to show us the way out!_ " Ivor near- _chirped_ , a rather forced smile plastered across his own face.

" _We're- um- we're not very, uh, fond of goodbyes,_ " Cassie added in an ' _incredibly-forced-cheerful_ ' voice, Winslow letting out a loud hiss at the red-eyed people currently approaching them.

Said red-eyed people continued approaching, completely emotionlessly.

"Well, uh... that didn't work," Hadrian said, rather flatly.

"No _duh_ Sherlock!"

Onscreen, Jesse's smile suddenly fell. " _Wait!_ " she shouted, all eyes migrating to her. " _Wait... we'll..._ " She squeezed her eyes shut. fists trembling as she clenched them even tighter. " _... we'll come with you._ _Just..._ please _... don't hurt them._ "

All eyes migrated to Jesse automatically, the petite girl twisting her hands together anxiously as she watched the screen. Reuben looked over, gently nudging his nose into her leg. She looked down, before managing a frail smile and reaching over, petting him gently.

Onscreen, Petra's eyes widened, her left arm starting to spit out sparks. She wasn't the only one to have a reaction like that- Lukas's tail had started bushing out, Ivor was fidgeting with his sleeve anxiously, and Cassie... well, actually, besides some new claw marks on her beanie (Real-Cassie winced), she just looked incredibly nervous.

" _Jesse, no!_ " Petra hissed. " _Why would you say that?!_ "

" _Petra,_ please." Jesse looked back, hands trembling slightly from how wound up she was. " _I don't want you guys getting hurt._ "

Petra paused, the Blaze hybrid's eyes still going, before she let out a loud huff, crossing her arms. "... _f_ _ine. We'll go along with these freaks. For now,_ " she muttered reluctantly.

" _Your cooperation is... wise,_ " the red-eyed people all chorused, the screen switching back to show them all quirking their left brow in the exact same way.

Harper shook her head, but didn't say anything.

Knowing PAMA, they'd physically _drag_ the gang there if they had to. Jesse's cooperation just ensured that no one got hurt.

Honestly, it might've been the best option.

The screen switched to show the five red-eyed people corralling the five of them through the town, Jesse, Cassie, and Petra glaring at the red-eyed people in front of them as a few others watched from the sidelines. Ivor looked slightly worried, while Lukas's face was deceptively calm. (His tail and ears were still going in overtime though.) " _You will follow us to PAMA-_ "

" _Yes, we're following,_ " Jesse snapped at the PAMA-people (hey, that was actually kinda catchy), " _doesn't it look like we're following?_ "

" _I just hope you know what you're doing,_ " Petra whispered to Jesse as the screen zoomed out to show many- _dozens_ \- of PAMA-people, and a skeleton, and some zombies- well, all of them had red eyes. They were walking along a sort of 'trail', with glowing redstone all over it _"We don't have any reason to think whoever's at the end of this march is gonna be in our corner."_

"Well, but considering the situation," Soren spoke up, thoughtfully, "it's not really a good idea to resist right about now. We don't know anything about PAMA, not really anyway, and these people are definitely tougher than a regular person. You could easily just get hurt."

Gill frowned at the screen. "... I guess that's true," he mumbled, after about three minutes had passed.

" _I'm playing it safe,_ " Jesse said softly, looking over at Petra, " _and going along with what they want for now. I... I don't want you guys to get hurt._ "

" _If it makes you feel any better, Petra,_ " Ivor said, in a low voice, " _I'm not sure we could resist them, even if we wanted to._ "

" _Not really,_ " Cassie said flatly, not even bothering to keep her voice down, " _but at least we're all unharmed right now. Which is more than I can say if we'd tried fighting back._ "

Petra scowled at the both of them. " _I've resisted worse,_ " she told them, quietly.

"Well, I mean, compared to the Witherstorm..." Mevia said, trailing off a bit. "Actually, I see her point."

" _Not without getting hurt. And I want to avoid that until we know exactly what we just got ourselves into,_ " the spider hybrid told Petra, softly.

The red-eyed people stopped, leading them onto the podium, a huge machine at the back of the podium, before moving back to stand guard at the staircase. Presumably so that the five of them couldn't just run away.

Harper's face turned very, very pale.

Onscreen, Jesse looked around a bit, curiously. " _Wonder what we're here foAH!_ " and she suddenly jumped back a bit, red and green eyes widening in shock. She wasn't the only one to have the reaction- Petra was starting to emit a huge spray of red-hot sparks, Lukas's tail was standing on end and bushing out again, Ivor was staring up with wide eyes, and Cassie had backed up several steps, Winslow clawing furiously at her beanie and spitting angrily.

The screen switched to show a huge, green... _screen_ lighting up, starting to power on with a funny sound in the background. On the ground, in front of the screen, were dozens of the PAMA-people and monsters, staring up at the group as if they were guest speakers or something.

"What. The hell. Is that?!" Em exclaimed, trying to scramble backwards in her seat.

"That's, uh..." Nell frowned at the screen a bit. "That's a little weird, brah."

"You said it, Nell," Sparklez whispered, faintly.

" _Wh... what is that thing?_ " Lukas asked, his tail sweeping through the air, flicking and curling and undulating in a nervous fury. His blue-green eyes were wide with near _terror_.

Aiden leaned forward a bit, eyes narrowing in concern. He accidentally dragged Cassie with him, but she didn't look bothered by that right now. Honestly, right now, she just looked more scared.

Also perhaps a little bit as if she was in pain because Winslow had basically dug his claws into her arm and was hissing away.

A face seemed to... almost _slam_ into being on the screen, albeit a very simplistic one. Two vertical lines for the eyes, and a horizontal line for the mouth.

Petra slowly shook her head, the Blaze hybrid's gold eyes as round as dinner plates. " _I have no idea,_ " she replied, sounding as faint as anyone had ever heard her.

" _You don't suppose it's... friendly, do you?_ " Ivor asked, sounding equally faint right about now.

Cassie scowled at Ivor a bit. " _What, you mean the giant computer thing that's chipped very citizen of this place and brainwashed 'em into doing its bidding? Yeah, it's probably filled with rainbows and kittens and crap like that._ "

" _Cassie._ "

" _Sorry._ "

A few members of the audience chuckled faintly at the byplay between Cassie and Ivor just now, but most of them were busy being _completely wound up_. Isa in particular was clutching Milo's arm hard enough to make him flinch a little bit.

Now the face was smiling at the lot of them, and Lukas said, in a slow, nervous way, " _Well, I guess, it_ is _kind of friendly_ looking... _in a massively, hugely-intimidating sort of way._ "

The spider hybrid abruptly nearly _choked_ at that. Real-Jesse had also started giggling, Lukas rubbing the back of his head with a sheepish smile at the amused looks he was now getting.

" _I think you could be surrounded by a billion enemies and Lukas can just make one odd comment and make you die laughing,_ " the narrator commented calmly.

A short pause.

" _At least the enemies would have less work to do._ "

Real-Jesse _burst out_ laughing at the sardonic comment, falling over and dragging Lukas with her. Not that he really _cared_ , right now he was just giggling really hard as well. Petra was actually biting her knuckles in an attempt to keep herself from laughing, and Jace had his head buried in Petra's shoulder in an attempt to stop himself from laughing. Ivor had 'coughed', but you could definitely see him smiling right about now. Harper was grinning, the first positive reaction she'd had for a bit now.

Mevia was cackling away, doubled over and almost doing a slight faceplant in the floor from how hard she was laughing. Otto was shaking his head with a smile, while Hadrian was laughing openly. Isa was repressing a _huge_ amount of laughter, while Milo had extracted himself from Isa's grip and dove behind the couch again, Reginald doubled over himself and shaking quite a bit.

Soren was gasping for breath in between laughs, while Gabriel was carefully hiding a grin and Magnus was pretty much dying of laughter. Ellegaard had laughed so much that she pretty much had the _hiccups_ right now, while Cassie was giggling so hard that she was actually making Aiden next to her vibrate a bit. (Not that he really minded.) Gill and Maya had migrated into a hug, both of them pounding each other on their backs to try to stop the laughter (and failing miserably).

Lizzie had tears of amusement rolling down her cheeks, while Stacy had turned around and buried her face in the couch, laughing so hard that she was nearly _sobbing_. Stampy was chortling into Dan's shoulder, Dan having vibrant purple hair right about now. Sparklez was biting his lip so hard that he was actually drawing blood, but you could see how hard he was trying to repress his giggles. Em was just shaking her head with a smirk, while Nell was cracking up so hard that she'd actually fallen off the couch. Slab and the other gladiators were laughing so hard and so loudly that Jesse actually looked around a bit, half-expecting an earthquake.

Benedict was making a sound suspiciously akin to laughter, while Reuben was letting out his own piggy laugh and Winslow was just _sniggering_.

" _Yeah, I'm gonna guess a 'no' on the 'friendly' thing as well,_ " Jesse mumbled onscreen as they frantically tried to recover from that, " _whatever it is... I have a feeling it's behind all this._ "

" _My apologies for the violent nature of this visit,_ " the computer spoke, immediately making Harper's grin fall. The computer's screen began to flicker from face to face as their 'emotions' changed.

Hopefully this would turn out well.

" _I am PAMA. Greetings._ "

* * *

 **A/N: Ohhh, this chapter turned out kinda nice, actually x3 What do you guys think?**

 **Sorry, yes, I know the chapters are getting shorter. It's actually just because I can't think of reactions to certain situations... any suggestions?**

 **RQTC: Have you ever eaten coffee candy?**

 **Yes. I have a bag of it right next to me right now, actually.**

 **LunarStarsMoons: Ah, I see. / Yep... / (is bowled over) xD**

 **sailor . mikuchan: Ahhh xD**

 **DarkPrincess2001: Yep! Nearly 150 x3 We're actually rather ahead of the original Hybrid story in terms of chapters, actually...**

 **Jack: (laughs) / Yep :3 / (laughs) This is only the first episode so far, so yeah xD**

 **BeliTheGhoti0304: (laughs)**

 **Infernius Flashfire: Oh, nice! / Hmmm... two.**

 **Darkbeast Dend: Mmhm.**

 **AquaK13: Indeed xD / HAHAHA YEP xD / x3 / Ooh, nice! / Ahahaha, right? I'd been diving away from the computer all day. / Thanks! :3**

 **RapidSammi: (laughs) Yeah, it's pretty great.**

 **Toni42: Alright, thanks Toni-kun :3**

 **S4SH4L4SH4theGaMeR101: I already played the game, but thanks xD**

 **InsaneAcrobat: Yay! / Oh gosh xD / Actually, since my mom and I share iCloud accounts, her buying it allowed me to download it on MY phone. x3**

 **J.M.M: I get sleepy when I get caffeine instead of hyper.**

 **giriri: (laughs) Yep.**

 **Savannah-the-Caracal: Yeah, he's doing it, I'm fairly sure.**

 **RebekahTPE: (laughs) / Very true, but at least I can figure out the reactions more accurately. / Indeed. / (laughs) That's good, I guess. Then you'll probably like Composite.**

 **andie: Why don't you like Azira again? / Go right ahead. x3 / That's good!**

 **Darkbeast Dend: In terms of Minecraft, or in general? 'Cause that might be Markiplier or Pewdiepie otherwise.**

 **the indecisive bird: Ahhh, is that so? xD / (laughs) True. / (laughs) / Indeed. xD**

 **LegoGirl794: Well, not really...**

 **Rabbits rule: x3 / Ahhh xD / 0-0**

 **PoptartCrumbs: Nahh, you're fine! / Haha, yeah, that was fun x3 / I'm glad you like it!**

 **Welp, that's all for today! BAI!**

 **x.X. A.L. X.x**


	142. Not Useful

" _We have much work ahead of us,_ " PAMA continued, the 'facial expressions' of the computer continuing to change, " _but maybe it can even be... fun!_ " And PAMA smiled.

"It's... kind of... cute?" Ellegaard said, tentatively. "Sort of?"

"In a weird, machine-y, computer-y way," Magnus agreed, absentmindedly pulling Ellegaard to him a bit.

" _Er, um, s-sorry if this is a dumb question,_ " Jesse called, raising her voice (presumably so PAMA could hear her better), " _but- am I talking to PAMA right now? What_ is _PAMA?_ "

" _Some might call me a computer,_ " PAMA immediately began speaking again, " _a thinking machine, though there has never been a computer quite like me. My job is to be useful._ "

Harper shuddered again.

" _Using redstone chips,_ " PAMA said, 'smiling', " _I have connected to the people of this town and helped them be useful. Coordinated. I have made their world perfect._ "

"Well... _perfect_ is a bit of a strong word," Olivia said, slowly.

" _Thanks to me, there is no wasted activity. No wasted thought._ "

" _Talk about a control freak,_ " the narrator murmured, Jesse glancing up at the sky before back down at PAMA.

" _Um, sorry, hang on, I've seen these people you're talking about, and, I've gotta say... your idea of perfect is a little..."_ she trailed off, as if searching for the right word to use.

"Warped?" Lukas offered.

"Weird?" Em asked, flatly.

"Creepy?" Gabriel asked hesitantly.

"... _off._ "

PAMA's 'face' suddenly went deadpan. A loud staticky 'bloop' rang out, and a '...' appeared on the screen place of its face (hey, that rhymed). " _Processing information..._ " PAMA intoned.

Lukas just looked downright bewildered at that. " _Processing information...?_ " he wondered, softly.

Ivor shrugged at the blonde, frowning at the computer. " _It did say it's a_ thinking _machine... thinking must take time?_ " he suggested, in his own soft voice.

"You'd be right about that," Harper said, in a low voice. Jesse glanced over at her- and then did a double take as she took in the sight of Harper looking almost _nauseous_ right now. Ivor was looking over at the white-haired woman with a concerned frown.

Suddenly, PAMA's face back on, but it was no longer a smiley face. No, it... it was more of an angry one.

"Oh _crap_ ," Axel said, face going a bit pale.

" _Oh joy. I think we might've ticked off the computer,_ " Cassie remarked sarcastically.

" _No, ya think?!_ " Lukas hissed back angrily, his tail slowly bushing out as he glanced at the red-haired girl.

" _I have consulted my databases,_ " PAMA spoke over the now-bickering duo, voice echoing loudly in the almost _pure silence_ , " _my list of everyone and everything in this world. And my conclusion is that you are not from here. I would like to ask you some questions-_ " And the face changed to a more pleasant one. " _To expand my databanks. How did you get here? I am very excited for the acquisition of new knowledge._ "

Harper suddenly gasped, drawing everyone's attention to her. Her face had gone so pale that she looked a bit like she was about to be violently ill. "Oh no. Oh no no no no don't answer _any_ of its questions!" she gasped.

"What? Why not?" Petra asked, frowning at the dark-skinned Old Build- Ancient Architect.

Onscreen, Jesse remained quiet for a second, before shifting slightly. " _Um... we... walked... here,_ " she said at last, slowly.

"... well, she's not _wrong_ ," Aiden said quietly.

PAMA's face flickered into an angry one.

"Well, it's not the answer the computer wanted to hear," Nell mumbled, "because _man_ does that thing look unhappy right now."

" _That is not a helpful answer. So far, your performance in question-answering has been inadequate. This makes me sad. Now, I must use alternative methods to retrieve my new information,_ " PAMA blared.

" _I don't like the sound of that,"_ Onscreen-Cassie said softly, eyes widening as Winslow let out a little whining sound, " _I_ really _don't like the sound of that._ "

" _Jesse!_ " Petra suddenly shouted, the screen doing a swish pan to see a villager grabbing her and starting to haul her away from the rest of the group.

"Petra!" Jace squealed, eyes widening in fear.

Lukas whirled around on the spot, his own eyes wide. " _Petra!_ "

Another villager grabbed Lukas, pinning his arms behind his back, while another one seized Jesse and fought all of her arms down. Ivor also got his arms pinned behind his back, while another one grabbed Cassie, Winslow letting out a frightened hiss and burrowing back under her beanie.

"Oh no, oh no, oh no," Olivia was chanting, hands over her eyes as she tried to burrow down into a little ball. Axel's arms were tight around her shoulders.

" _We could have just talked this out, you know,_ " PAMA spoke calmly.

" _No no no wait I'll tell you whatever you want to know just_ please don't hurt them!" Jesse yelled at PAMA, shaking her head furiously as her voice rose a whole octave and cracked a bit in fear.

Harper let out a little mix of a groan and a whimper as Olivia peeked out of her hands again, cautiously.

Oh no.

Hadrian hummed. "Hmm. You'd do anything for your pals, wouldn't you?" he asked, mildly.

Real-Jesse was a bit busy twisting her hands together anxiously, but she nodded in response to the question. "Of course I would. Why wouldn't I?" she replied, biting her lip anxiously as she stared at the screen.

Hadrian exchanged a glance with Mevia. To his surprise, though, she just gave him a sort of blank look at the answer. When she saw his look of confusion, she just shrugged a bit. "We've seen that with Jesse, haven't we?" she whispered back.

The villager holding Petra came to an abrupt stop, turning the Blaze hybrid back around. " _I am looking forward to hearing this new information,_ " PAMA spoke, in that monotone robotic voice, " _Please do not lie._ "

Jesse and the others shared a panicked look.

" _This world reached peak efficiency quite some time ago,_ " PAMA continued, " _unfortunately, this meant that I had no more job to do. No more things or people to help._ "

"'Help'. Yeah f**king right," Cassie growled.

" _Until YOU arrived, that is. Tell me- what is YOUR world like?_ "

The spider hybrid tilted her head slightly, biting her lip thoughtfully. " _It's... um... greener than this place._ "

Cassie Rose shot her a 'really' sort of look.

"Well... she's not wrong," Soren murmured.

" _What? It is!_ " Jesse whispered to Cassie upon spotting the look the redhead was giving her. She looked back at PAMA, blinking her green and red eyes rapidly and swallowing nervously. " _Imagine, um, grass and trees instead of sand and clay._ "

PAMA smiled again. " _That sounds lovely. That really does. I think I would like to see this world for myself._ "

"Oh _hell naw-_ " Magnus shot upright, overbalanced, and fell off the couch altogether, making the audience wince a bit sympathetically. Ellegaard got up off the couch to help him back up, grabbing his extended hand and beginning to pull him up.

" _If I could send my townspeople, my friends, through to other worlds, we could continue to grow and expand._ "

Ellegaard dropped Magnus again.

" _It would be lovely. However you entered this world, there must also be an exit._ " PAMA's face went _completely_ deadpan- almost _angry_ \- in a matter of _seconds_. " _Where is it?_ "

" _PAMA, really- I promise, if I_ knew _where the portal was, I'd tell you,_ " Jesse said, voice filled with anxiety. " _But I_ don't _._ "

PAMA stared at Jesse for a few, long moments. " _Your logic is sound, and your tone is genuine,_ " the computer spoke, the screen switching to show Jesse, Ivor and Cassie staring up at PAMA anxiously, " _but the information is..._ "

The few seconds pause between this statement and what they were about to say next had the _entire audience_ holding their breath as they stared at the screen. Jesse in particular was pretty much wringing her hands at this point.

" _... not useful._ "

Onscreen-Jesse and Ivor exchanged panicked looks at that, Cassie starting with her eyes widening.

"That's... not good," Gill said, softly.

" _My job is to be useful,_ " PAMA intoned, " _I have completed my job here, and must be allowed to expand and continue to be useful._ "

With each repetition of useful, Harper's face was turning paler and paler.

Ivor noticed, and reached into his pocket, pulling out a potion bottle of something that looked like water. If Harper had been looking closely, though, she would've noticed the faint wisp of blue curling around in the bottle. "Here, drink this," he whispered to her.

Harper looked down to see Ivor pushing the bottle at her, and slowly took it up, gray eyes almost _glowing_ with anxiety. Without even checking the bottle, she tilted it back and took a sip.

Immediately, her color went back to normal, and her shoulders abruptly relaxed. She looked down at the bottle, before back at Ivor, eyes slightly wide as she regarded him silently.

"... thank you... Ivor," she said at last, voice sounding almost mild right now.

He gave her a thumbs up, making her smile weakly but gratefully at that.

" _Unfortunately,_ " PAMA continued speaking, drawing the duo's attention back to the screen, " _our conversation has not been helpful._ "

Jesse abruptly nearly stumbled as one of PAMA's minions nearly _shoved_ her along, Lukas struggling to twist out of the PAMA-people's grip as Petra was towed along to the machine Jesse had spotted earlier. " _Let me_ GO!" Lukas yelled, fangs shooting out as he glowered at the one holding him.

"No, no, no, no, no," Jace was chanting, his arms in a death hug around Petra. (She had him in a death hug as well, so I guess it was fair.) "Not Petra, _not_ Petra!"

Olivia's head was buried back in her hands again, while Harper looked horribly upset even through the calming potion she'd literally _just_ consumed, and Ivor was paler than pale could get. He was even paler than _normal_ , if that was really possible. Real-Jesse looked as if she might burst into tears any second now, while Lukas was biting his fist.

Onscreen, Petra let out a yell as a lot of mechanical sounds suddenly started, and the spider hybrid looked around to see that the blocks of redstone on the corners of the platform were slowly rising into the air. The citizen that had been holding Petra shoved her against a wall, a gray thing that looked a bit like a dispenser but not quite slowly rising into the air. Petra's eyes widened, her breathing quickening in fear as she stared up at it, barely even seeming to notice as two citizens pinned her arms to the wall to keep her from running.

" _Run!_ " Dan nearly screamed at the screen. "Get out of there!"

Jesse looked from one of the 'spires' of redstone that was on the platform to Petra, who had managed to tear her eyes from the machine to look at Jesse, eyes widening in horror. "Jesse!" Petra nearly _screamed_ , "Je-"

The machine slammed down in front of her head.

" _NO!_ " Jace literally _screamed_ , jerking half-out of Petra's hug in a hot panic, eyes wide. " _NO_!"

Petra was frozen in place, staring at the screen with horrified eyes. Jesse had a hand up to her mouth, tears beginning to bead in the corners of her eyes, while Lukas's mouth was hanging open slightly. Olivia was gripping her hair now and looked almost like she was about to _tear it out_ , while Axel was just gaping at the screen silently.

Soren was actually shaking a bit, a sort of muted terror shining in his eyes, while Gabriel was gaping at the screen, completely taken aback by this turn of events. It was a damn good thing that Magnus hadn't actually gotten up off the floor yet while Ellegaard had been furiously apologizing, because he probably would've just toppled right off the couch again. Ivor had a hand to his mouth, eyes wide with terror, while Harper had slumped back into her seat, a slightly haunted expression coming over her face.

Maya was frozen in place, hands clasped to her chest, while Gill was gripping the couch arms so hard he was nearly about to rip them. Aiden's arm had tightened around Cassie in shock, while Cassie was just hugging Winslow to her chest like a stuffed toy. Isa had shoved her hands up to her mouth, eyes wide with horror, while Milo was leaning back into the couch with a slightly open mouth. Reginald was frozen in place, eyes wide.

Sparklez was literally gaping at the screen, stunned. Stampy had his arms around Dan in a tight hug, while Dan was just sitting back in his seat with his hair looking acid green. Lizzie was gaping at the screen in silent shock, while Stacy was just shaking her head slowly. "That... wasn't real... right?" she asked, in an almost inaudible whisper. Nell was just sitting back silently, for once, while Em's eyes were wide.

Slab was actually just _gaping_ at the screen in surprise, while Clutch and Facemeat were exchanging completely bewildered looks. Hadrian, for once, didn't seem to have _anything_ sarcastic to say, while Mevia's hand had actually gone to her mouth a bit, and Otto just looked bewildered.

Onscreen, Jesse just gasped soundlessly, eyes widening as her shoulders started trembling.

The machine slowly slid back up, revealing Petra's formerly gold eyes to be a dull, monochrome red. " _Welcome, Petra,"_ PAMA intoned calmly, " _yay._ "

"Oh my Notch," Olivia gasped, hands dropping to her sides, "Petra's... chipped?"

Onscreen, Jesse was just staring wordlessly as she was pushed along, Petra regarding Jesse in a stiff, unnatural pose that the real Petra would _never_ have stood in, red eyes glowing slightly. Lukas was shoved against the wall of the machine as well, with a pained gasp as a villager snatched his his arm and slammed it against the wall. He tried lashing out with the other one but just got that one slammed against the wall as well.

Jesse shook her head, shaking her out of it. " _LUKAS!_ " she screamed.

" _J-_ "

The machine slammed down over his head.

Jesse let out a sound that sounded like a mix of a whimper, a cry, and a gasp of pain. Lukas looked as if he'd just gotten punched in the solar plexus, and for a few seconds, the room was silent.

The machine slowly slid back up to show that Lukas's eyes were no longer that shade of blue-green, no longer the same ocelot hybrid that they'd all been getting used to.

Lukas was gone.

There was a few moments of literal pure silence. There wasn't even the sound of breathing.

And then Aiden spoke.

"You..."

Everyone turned to look at him to see him glaring at the screen, looking almost as if he was about to _punch it._

"Dirty. Stuck-up. Sadistic," Aiden began listing, in a strangely calm (yet strangely _not_ , if that makes sense. That didn't make sense, did it? Alright, I'll shut up then) voice.

And then it very quickly went downhill.

" _Sh*t_ eating, _cock-sucking-_ " Aiden deteriorated into a very, very, _very_ long, profanic string of insults. Jesse was staring at him with a both very faintly (VERY faintly) amused and shocked look (both from what had just happened to Lukas, and also the fact that Aiden knew all of these insults), cheeks beginning to turn red with embarrassment at some of them.

Cassie was just staring at Aiden like she could kiss him right about now.

" _Perverted, spineless, heartless, mindless, d*ckless-_ " Aiden went on and on for literally a _minute and a half_ , more and more of the audience just slowly turning to stare at him with _supremely_ surprised or embarrassed looks. Harper had even paused the episode to just stare at the guy in shock. Lukas in particular was turning bright red at them, his arm tightening around Jesse slightly.

" _-prostituting ASSHOLE!_ " Aiden finished screaming at the screen, before flopping back onto the couch, looking tired out from his profanic screaming.

Cassie patted him on the shoulder.

Harper cleared her throat after a moment or two, her cheeks flushed red. "Err... well, while we're at it, should we- ah- take a quick... break to process what just happened?" she asked, hesitantly.

Jesse slumped a bit, wrapping her arms around Lukas in a tight hug. "I think that would be best," she said softly.

* * *

 **A/N: ... well. Aiden sure can cuss.**

 **Don't chip Lukas, PAMA, or you get a very long profanic string of insults delivered to you, courtesy of Aiden. x3**

 **RQTC: Did I forget something? Probably did. Don't you hate it when that happens?**

 **Responses to reviewers:**

 **LunarStarsMoons: Ooh, Poison! / x3 / Ah. xD**

 **Infernius Flashfire: (laughs) / Hehehehe xD / (laughs) You're becoming like an extra-concentrated ghost or something now, lolol**

 **RapidSammi: N'awwww, thanks :3 / I've already played through the whole episode, so xD**

 **J.M.M: Mm, cool.**

 **DarkPrincess2001: (laughs) Huh.**

 **someone: ... then why did you comment if it was stupid...?**

 **BeliTheGhoti0304: x3 / (laughs) ADVENTURE! / (laughs)**

 **S4SH4L4SH4theGaMeR101: x3**

 **Emily the Avenger: (joins you in clapping)**

 **AquaK13: Ahhh, is that so? xD / (laughs) / Eh, go ahead and be noisy, I don't mind x3 / Hm, then get the Kopiko brand. They're tasty! :3 / Bai!**

 **Savannah-the-Caracal: Cool :3 / Ah, is that so? Good for you :3**

 **Darkbeast Dend: (laughs)**

 **Jack: (chuckles) I did it again this chapter. I could've fit it in next chapter, but I thought it'd be a good way for them to just take a break. / (laughs) / Indeed, it was a bit of a shock. And then Aiden got mad xD**

 **andie: Why do you find it distracting? I don't think anyone else finds it distracting. And I should know, I asked a bunch of people.**

 **giriri: Indeed.**

 **That's it for this chappie! BAI!**

 **x.X. A.L. X.x.**


	143. We Don't Like You, PAMA, Go Away

"Hey Toni, can I burn my Literature book?"

Jesse, who was now sitting on a couch with Lukas (who had his head in his hands), glanced over to see Toni looking up from a book, blinking twice at Gommie. The girl had her hands on her hips- well, one hand on her hip. The other one was holding a book.

"... what?"

"Shakespeare is horrible. I'd like to burn the book that has Romeo and Juliet in it. Great plot and all, but it's not quite what I had in mind when it comes to the language."

Toni blinked twice at Gommie, completely unaware of Jesse sitting two seats away from him. (Well, of course, he was a ghost or something or other.) "Aren't you still using it in class?"

"Yes. But I want to burn this book."

"No."

"Burn this book with me."

"No."

"Burn this book."

"NO."

"BURN THIS BOOK."

* * *

" _Burn this book... burn this book... burn this book..._ "

Aiden blinked at the weird, echoing voice that had just sounded from... what _sounded_ like the other end of the house.

"Did you hear that?" he asked Cassie, whose head had come up out of the novel she'd basically buried her nose into a few minutes earlier. No wonder she had her glasses.

"Yeah, sounded like..." Cassie trailed off, as if trying to think of the right word for what she was thinking of.

"NO!"

The two of them jumped half out of their skin (Soren nearly hit himself in the nose with his book, while Slab jumped, clonked his head on a shelf, and knocked about fifteen books to the floor) and twisted just in time to see the slightly-short Becky heroically leaping out of her chair, abandoning her ghostly book on the seat, before racing out of the room to be the savior of the book that was about to be burned.

Or something like that, I dunno.

Aiden exchanged a look with the few others meandering around the room, before simply shaking his head and returning to reading his book.

Cassie glanced over at Aiden, before burying her head back into her book.

She wasn't sure what she was more surprised about- that anyone was willing to hang out with her, or that Aiden had cared enough to deliver that huge string of insults to PAMA.

Or that he even _knew_ that many insults. I mean honestly.

* * *

Jesse watched blankly as the vision/ghost/whatever the heck they were dissipated, before bending down a bit and looking at Lukas, rubbing his back slightly. "Lukas..." she trailed off weakly, unsure of what to say, because _really_ , what are you supposed to tell someone who just watched themselves get mind-controlled by a computer?

"... I'm sorry."

Jesse blinked blankly at that. "What are you sorry for?"

"I just..." Lukas let out a little huff, reaching up and clenching fistfuls of his hair slowly, before slowly releasing it again, letting out a long shaky breath. "I just have this _awful_ feeling that I'm going to hurt you, and I don't want to, but I _do_ , and-" he stopped himself, seeing as he'd started trembling. "... I'm sorry," he repeated again.

Jesse stared at Lukas for a moment, before simply sighing a little bit and wrapping her arms around the blonde in a tight hug. "You don't have to say you're sorry about anything."

Lukas pushed her away a bit, eyes flickering slightly as he regarded the black-haired girl. No, she wasn't kidding. "But-"

"Let's not talk about this right now, okay?"

"But I-"

"Lukas, please?"

"But Jesse-"

Jesse was just so wound up right now from everything that had just happened onscreen, and so anxious about what was coming next, and worried for Lukas and Petra, and for her and Cassie and Ivor and so confused about everything that she didn't really _think_ and just did the first thing that came to mind to shut Lukas up.

Which just so happened to be to lean forward and kiss him full on the mouth

Lukas's eyes widened as she just abruptly leaned forward and put her mouth on his mid-sentence, but he quickly relaxed a moment later, wrapping an arm around Jesse and pulling her in a little closer, letting his eyes shut, and it was a damn good thing that everyone else had decided they needed to take a break from the living room in _general_.

I will say this, it definitely calmed Lukas down a little bit.

* * *

This area of the house was more secluded. Not as secret as some of the _other_ corners Petra had poked around in, but for someplace she just needed to be alone in, it wasn't bad.

So of course, someone would find her.

"Petra?"

The redhead looked up to see Reuben snuffling, poking her leg with his nose, Jace poking his head around the corner meekly.

"Hey, Jace," she said tiredly, running a hand through her hair, bandana resting in her lap for once. "You alright?"

"Are _you_ alright?" Jace asked, sincerely.

"Yeah, of course." Petra shrugged, keeping her face relatively blank. "Why wouldn't I be?"

Jace moved over, sliding down the wall to sit next to the redhead. "Well, for starters, you pretty much hightailed it out of the room when we decided to take a break. Second, you're not wearing your bandana, and you _always_ wear your bandana."

"Couldn't it just be that I just wanted to take the darn thing off?" Petra mumbled, frowning at him halfheartedly.

"Not when you told me that this bandana was the first gift anyone ever gave you and you hate taking it off unless absolutely necessary."

Petra winced a bit at the mildly stated but firm statement. Of _course_ Jace would remember that. She'd told him forever ago. She thought he would've forgotten the whole thing by now, but apparently he had a pretty good memory.

"... is it that obvious that I'm bothered?" she asked, after a good two minutes.

"I don't know how _obvious_ it is to the others, but it's pretty clear to me." Jace shrugged nonchalantly, as Reuben kept nudging Petra's leg gently. "If it helps any, Lukas isn't doing great, either."

Petra winced as she remembered she'd just torn out of the room without checking up on Lukas. "Oh. Is he okay?"

"Jesse's staying back to try to calm him down." Jace suddenly smirked a little. "If anyone's gonna be able to manage that, it's her."

Petra let out a little huff of laughter, half-surprised at that. Leave it to Jace to try to make a slight joke to calm her down even in _this_ situation. "Very true. I'd be more surprised if Jesse _wasn't_ able to calm him down, honestly."

"He's got it baaaaaad," Jace teased, and Petra just outright laughed at that.

"Yeah, he does." She slipped an arm over his shoulders, her own shoulders relaxing slightly. "I've got it pretty good, though."

"Hey, that's my line," Jace joked, and Petra shook her head and gave him a little kiss on the cheek. A few seconds of placid silence passed.

"I didn't know you could flirt, by the way."

Jace discovered that Petra could, in fact, get _quite_ flirty when she wanted to embarrass him. Even if there wasn't anyone else in the room with them except for a little pink pig.

* * *

Eventually, everyone trickled back into the living room. Jesse and Lukas were already cuddling on the floor, although Jesse had a cookie and was munching away on it quite happily. Jace returned with his cheeks a rosy red and Petra grinning smugly for some reason or another.

When everyone had gotten re-situated on the floor, Harper picked up the remote as if it were a nuclear bomb or something equally delicate and carefully pressed the button.

The screen loaded for a moment, before coming on to show Ivor leaning over towards Jesse. " _Jesse,_ " he said softly, his usual voice having risen into a sort of _squeak_ , " _this situation is looking a little dire, don't you think?_ "

" _A_ little _is putting it a_ bit _too calmly, Ivor,_ " Cassie hissed back, expression tinged with panic.

The townspeople halted Jesse right in front of Petra, who stared at Jesse blankly with those red eyes, before speaking in a voice that was... hers, but _not_. There was a robotic blare over it, making everyone in the audience involuntarily shudder at the _sound_ of it. Onscreen-Jesse didn't look like she liked it very much either. " _Don't worry, Jesse,_ " PAMA-Petra spoke. " _It doesn't hurt._ "

"That is _so_ creepy!" Gill shuddered.

PAMA's attention turned to something else, and Jesse turned to see Lukas approaching her, his expression totally blank. His tail and ears weren't even moving at _all_. He just looked... empty, almost.

Maya pulled her Ocelots jacket over her face.

" _Welcome, Lukas,_ " PAMA intoned, Jesse's eyes widening in horror at the ocelot hybrid, " _Yay!_ "

And then PAMA's attention went back to Jesse. " _Your turn, Jesse._ "

The spider hybrid yelped as Lukas grabbed ahold of one of her upper arms, and Petra seized the other. She tried to use her extra arms to fight her way out without hurting them, but Petra's leg shot out and slammed into Jesse's arms, making the spider hybrid flinch in pain but do nothing to retaliate.

"Jesse's not gonna hurt her friends, but..." the blood drained from Olivia's face. "Lukas and Petra don't have any qualms about hurting Jesse right now. Not with PAMA in their heads."

Lukas winced a little.

" _Get out of their heads, PAMA!_ " Jesse shouted, as the two others slammed her into the wall that the machine was hovering above.

" _But their heads are full of so much lovely information,_ " PAMA stated matter-of-factly, before a 'smile' flickered onto its face. " _It makes me happy. What adventures you've had. A killer mansion..._ "

Cassie winced a bit and shifted uncomfortably.

Suddenly, the computer made a rumbling sound, the "..." coming onscreen as PAMA started processing the information.

"Does that mean PAMA's going to be able to figure out that they're all hybrids?" Soren asked suddenly, the thought hitting him like a ton of bricks out of the blue.

Harper groaned and put her head in her hands. Ivor reached out and patted her on the back sympathetically.

" _Well, crap, it's gonna figure out the three of us are hybrids..._ " Jesse grumbled, a deadpan look coming over her face, before she blinked a bit. "... _every time PAMA gets new information, it gets a tad distracted while it starts 'processing' it,_ " the spider hybrid whispered to Ivor and Cassie.

Ivor nodded in agreement, eyes narrowing a bit. " _Yes, like a computer version of thinking._ "

" _There's gotta be a way for us to distract it long enough for us to escape,_ " Cassie mumbled, narrowing her eyes at the computer screen thoughtfully.

" _A city in the sky..._ " PAMA intoned.

Isa's eyes widened.

The "..." appeared onscreen again, before PAMA's face came onscreen, an almost _delighted_ look on its face. " _Towns and mountains, eaten by a living storm..._ " More processing noises.

Jesse gazed at PAMA for a moment, before a slow smirk came across her face. She looked around at Ivor, almost looking _amused_ right now. " _D- Ivor, remember one of my favorite activities back in the lab?_ "

"Wait- I think Jesse has an idea," Stacy said, sitting up and leaning forward rapidly.

Harper peeked back up.

Ivor stared uncomprehendingly at the spider hybrid for a moment, before suddenly an identical smirk made its way over his face. " _Ah, yes. Riddles, logic puzzles, and paradoxes. Your favorites._ "

"Oh.." Harper's eyes widened as she sat back up, leaning forward a bit. "That could work...!"

" _Yeah!_ " and Cassie's eyes lit up in excitement. " _Let's just ask PAMA something really confusing, get it all busy busy, and then hightail it out of here!_ "

" _Okay, so,_ " Jesse bit her lip in thought. " _We need a paradox- a self-contradictory statement..._ "

The screen zoomed in on her red eye, before zooming back out to show her hanging upside-down from the ceiling. Ivor looked up from where he was on the floor. " _Hey, Jesse, I've got a pretty good one._ "

She beamed at him, flipping over slightly so she was actually _looking_ at him, rather than dangling upside down and staring at him. " _I wanna hear it!_ " she said, cheerfully.

Ivor smirked a bit at her enthusiasm, before calmly stating, " _Is the answer to this question 'no'?_ "

Jesse thought about that, trying to figure out any loopholes, before beaming. " _That's a good one!_ " she chirped. " _I've got one, too!_ "

Ivor smiled at her enthusiasm this time, before turning around a bit and putting his hands on his knees patiently, giving the tiny spider hybrid his full attention. " _Alright, then, let's hear it._ "

Jesse beamed, before stating slowly, " _Trust me: trust no one!_ "

"That's a pretty good one," and Ellegaard tilted her head before nodding. "Both of those would work excellently for the current situation."

The screen zoomed out again, to show Jesse blinking slightly as Cassie nodded, eyes practically glowing with excitement. " _Yeah- I think that would work on PAMA!_ "

" _What would work on me?_ "

The screen switched to show PAMA frowning down at them.

The three of them stared up at PAMA for a moment, before exchanging secretive grins with each other.

Harper was so wound up right now that she was biting her nails.

Please, please, _please_ work.

" _Uhh... nothing!_ " Ivor called out, giving a nonchalant shrug.

" _That did not sound like nothing,_ " PAMA said, still giving the group an angry look. " _That sounded like... suspicious whispers. Suspicious whispers make me... suspicious._ "

"No, sh*t, Sherlock," Hadrian muttered sarcastically. Otto raised his elbow to elbow the man in the purple suit, thought about it for a second, and then put his arm back down.

" _Hey, PAMA!_ " Jesse finally called out, enunciating her words carefully. " _Is the answer to this question 'no'?_ "

Ivor felt a small smile sneak over his face at the fact that Jesse had just used a paradox that he'd come up with.

... well, onscreen-him, but it's still him so it still counts.

PAMA's suspicious look changed to a befuddled one, before the "..." reappeared on the screen, beeping noises sounding as it tried to process that. " _So if the answer to the question is 'no', then that means the answer to the question is yes. But if the answer to the question is yes, then that means the answer to the question is no._ " A question mark bleeped onto the screen.

" _It's working!_ " Ivor and Cassie chorused in excitement, barely able to keep their voices down.

The audience exchanged relieved looks, a collective sigh of relief going throughout the room. (Minus Hadrian, but Hadrian's Hadrian. ... and what the hell just happened in that sentence.)

" _So the answer to the question would be no, which would make the answer to the question yes. But by making the answer to the question yes, the answer to the question becomes no._ " Smoke suddenly started hissing out of the screen, a confused look coming over PAMA's face. " _Error. This data is contradictory._ " And the screen started spazzing out, the faces turning upside down and glitching all over the place. " _Does not not not not compute. Error. Diverting power._ "

Petra and Lukas both released their grip on Jesse's arms, the spider hybrid letting out a little sigh of relief as the villagers holding Cassie and Ivor also released them.

" _Nice work, new guys!_ " Jesse's head snapped up and around to show Harper standing on a house nearby, hands at her sides.

"Harper!" Jesse and Ivor chorused in surprise.

Real-Cassie crossed her arms a bit, but didn't say anything.

Onscreen-Cassie scowled a bit at Harper.

" _But I'd get out of there fast if I were you,_ " Harper continued, her smile going a little more serious, " _PAMA's a quicker learner than you'd think!_ "

Jesse nodded and started rushing towards the steps while PAMA was occupied, Ivor and Cassie being quick to follow. Abruptly, a loud beeping sound rang out. " _Paradox status: on hold,_ " PAMA stated- before the screen shifted to show that it was staring down at Harper with this _gigantic creepy grin_ on the screen. " _Gasp! My Creator! Have you finally agreed to merge with me?_ "

"Wait... 'Creator'..." Ivor's head suddenly snapped up, eyes widening a little.

Oh, _that's_ what Harper had meant last night when she said she knew what it felt like to have one of your own creations get out of hand.

"Did you..." Otto suddenly reached up and touched his bottom lip thoughtfully, eyes widening a little bit as he glanced at Harper.

Harper shrugged a bit, the faintest inkling of a sheepish smile coming over her face as she nodded at him.

Yes. Yes she had.

Harper had turned away, arms crossing in anger. She rolled her eyes before snapping, " _Oh, don't you start that again! Come on, you three! This way!_ " And she took off, jumping down from the building and racing away.

Jesse, Ivor, Cassie, and Winslow had taken advantage of PAMA's interest in Harper to race down the stairs, and now Jesse unfastened the cloak, fiddling with the clasp before throwing the cloth back to Cassie. " _Ivor! On my back!_ " she ordered him as Cassie caught the cloth, before wadding it up and shoving it back into her pocket.

Ivor practically vaulted onto Jesse's back as she switched so that all eight of her limbs slammed into the ground, his legs abruptly snapping into place, before Jesse reached into her pocket and winged an Ender Pearl to Cassie. " _Don't waste it,_ " she instructed the redhead, who nodded, before glancing back- eyes widening.

"Uh oh," Axel said slowly.

" _GOGOGO-!_ " and Jesse pelted forward like a rocket, Ivor yelping as he nearly was thrown backwards from the force of her speed, all eight limbs propelling them across the ground at high speed as Cassie went bolting along the path, dodging out of the way of a villager.

Jesse skidded a bit, before throwing herself and Ivor sideways just in time for Petra and Lukas to slam into the ground they'd been standing on, Lukas catching himself while Petra just landed.

Ivor glanced over his shoulder, before throwing himself forward and flattening himself on Jesse's back as a fireball pelted over them.

"Oh Notch, oh Notch, oh Notch," Lizzie was practically chanting, biting at her nails anxiously, while Olivia was hiding her eyes again.

Jesse raced right up a wall, lunging out of the way of some villagers as she did so and into a room, before yelping as she abruptly came to a halt. The screen spun to show one of the townspeople marching right at Jesse-

Cassie came swinging into the room and slammed her feet right into the townsperson's side, knocking them sideways to the floor and giving Jesse a moment to compose herself, jumping out a different window and landing on a roof, Cassie following less intuitively and nearly toppling off of the roof herself, before surveying the crowd of villagers approaching them.

The screen switched to show a few townspeople hopping down from somewhere higher, making Jesse swivel her head to see them beginning to approach them.

"How the hell did they get that high up?!" Mevia exclaimed in shock.

Jesse scrambled backwards, before leaping into the air behind her, doing a rapid spin-around in midair, and slamming into the ground on all eights, Cassie doing a parkour roll (with Winslow letting out a yowl under the beanie, making Real-Cassie wince a bit), before the three of them raced towards the staircase- only to see that an army of zombies were now lurching towards them, blocking the way out.

"You've _got_ to be joking," Gill groaned. Jesse had turned rather pale.

Jesse skidded to a halt just in time, before reversing her path and scuttling the other way- and skidding to a halt not three seconds later, the townspeople continuing to approach them in a robotic march. The spider hybrid glanced from the zombies, to the approaching townspeople, before racing perpendicular to the approaching forces-

Only to skid to a stop once again above a large chasm.

"No no no _no nonono_ ," Stampy babbled out, clinging to Dan tightly. (When had Dan's hair turned green?)

Cassie whipped out the Ender Pearl Jesse had tossed to her earlier, looking over at the spider hybrid questioningly. Jesse nodded, giving Cassie an awkward thumbs up. " _I'll be fine- you get down there fast!_ " And with that, she crawled straight over the edge into the chasm, Ivor letting out a squeak and tightening his grip on Jesse's shoulders, the mobs all halting at the edge of the chasm.

Lukas let out a relieved sigh. "At least you guys are okay. I mean, if you can get back later, you'll be able to free us no problem."

"I sure hope so," Cassie said, quietly.

An Ender Pearl suddenly clanged against Ivor's back, making him yelp- and then Cassie appeared right above Ivor, slamming right into him and making him topple forward with a yelp, and the force of that was enough to make Jesse's back legs come off the wall, and the three of them all sprawled into a pile on the ground with a loud " _OOF!_ "

The audience winced sympathetically at that.

Jesse groaned from where she'd sprawled on her stomach, squirming to a sitting position and spitting out a mouthful of sand. " _Ouch,_ " she said flatly.

Cassie took off her beanie, shaking a hissing Winslow out of it and wincing as she rubbed her head. " _Well, that... that could've gone a lot worse, I guess,_ " she said, after a moment.

"True," Slab mumbled.

" _Mmph._ " Jesse spit out another mouthful of sand, shaking her head. " _Blegh. I think I've eaten more than enough sand for a lifetime._ "

" _Ha!_ " and the three of them jumped as Harper abruptly skidded to a halt next to them, " _maybe you've all got a shot after all, Jesse, Cassie, and, uh, new guy. Better stick with me, though!_ " And she went tearing off again.

"How did you even get _down_ there?" Isa wondered.

Harper frowned thoughtfully at the screen. "... actually, that's a good question."

" _Wow. She is_ amazing," Ivor said cheerfully, as he got back to his feet.

Ivor huffed as several members of the audience started giggling, Real-Harper simply arching her eyebrow at the man.

Ivor's smile dropped a moment later, as the groans of zombies came onscreen. " _Oh no-_ " And the three of them turned to see the red-eyed zombies lurching towards them steadily.

"Oh are you _serious_?" Dan groaned, hair a shade of red.

" _Run?_ " Cassie asked the two of them tiredly.

" _Run,_ " Jesse agreed, and that's exactly what they did.

The screen blacked out.

"That was... hoo," and Axel's grip on Olivia released, allowing the shorter girl to gulp in a HUGE breath of air, "that was kind of... exciting."

"That's an understatement," Gabriel muttered, slumping back into the couch. Several other members of the audience muttered assent at that, attempting to relax a bit.

* * *

 **A/N: Did I mention I published Composite on here?**

 **(checks) No I did not.**

 **...**

 **I published Composite. xD**

 **Awww, some fluff. Break up the heartbreak and doom and gloom with fluff! (throws fluff everywhere) FLUFF**

 **I also posted my gameplay of Season 2 on YouTube, and it sucks, but I posted it xD**

 **RQTC: Anyone ready for some awesomeness to ensue when the Season 2 characters get brought into Hybrid: Cinematic Mode? (grins) I can tell you right off the bat, I've got plans.**

 **Responses to reviewers!**

 **LunarStarsMoons: (giggles) / Yep xD / (laughs) Very true. / Yes, actually, that wasn't planned but I guess that happened. / (laughs)**

 **Kaos Ruin: Ehhhhh... do you mean the end of Episode 7? 'Cause I think I do :3 / (laughs)**

 **S4SH4L4SH4theGaMeR101: (giggles) / Yep, that's where I got it from! I didn't write 'em all because most of them make me blush my head off, but I did write some of it in there. xD**

 **giriri: I didn't know about the first half, but that is where I got the insults from x3**

 **Emily The Avenger: (laughs)**

 **RapidSammi: Hehehehehehe xD**

 **DarkPrincess2001: I think half of the MCSM audience has claimed Lukas, tbh xD**

 **AquaK13: You have a lot of babies xD / Indeed. xD / Hehe xD / That's not the question but okay xD**

 **LittleAngelbun: (laughs) / Okey. :3**

 **Toni42: (laughs) Indeed.**

 **CrystalTearsofFaith: Hey dude! / I'm glad you're back! :3 / Hehehehe xD / Okey! / (laughs)**

 **Infernius Flashfire: (coughs and then laughs)**

 **Jack: YEP! / Indeed. / HAHAHA YES!**

 **giriri: Yep :3 / FFN is Fanfiction. It didn't save the response replies when I uploaded the chapter lol xD**

 **EnderKitty68: (laughs) Naw, I think I did too.**

 **Darkbeast Dend: Full on 9.**

 **homeworkoverload: (cackles) / Hm... I have no idea how that's going. There are other characters, so I'll let you know when auditions for the thing are open (if I ever do decide to animate it, because it's so difficult x3) / But good idea for the release date! I'll do that :3**

 **InsaneAcrobat: Naw, it's fine x3 / Thank you! / I've played through the whole thing three times now hahahaha xD**

 **That's all for this time! Bye-bye!**

 **x.X. A.L. X.x.**


	144. The Big Difference

The screen came back in to show Harper leading the way, Jesse racing across the ground on all eights with Cassie and Ivor full-out sprinting after them, sending up tiny dust clouds. Abruptly, Harper suddenly leaped into a hole in the ground, and the spider hybrid yelped as she swung a full ninety-degree turn, skidding to a halt in the nick of time. Half a second later, Ivor charged straight in, letting out a loud _oof!_ as he belly-flopped to the ground. Not even a _half_ -second later, Cassie followed suit and flopped right on top of Ivor. Ivor gasped for breath as he got squashed again, Winslow letting out a sudden yelp of complaint and making Cassie swear explosively as the lump of cat under her beanie spasmed a bit.

Ivor and Real-Cassie winced in perfect unison.

" _Ouch..._ " and Jesse winced.

Ivor flopped over onto his back, giving Harper a sharp look. " _A_ signal _would've been nice,_ " he complained up to her in a pained, yet somehow still rather sarcastic groan.

" _Gotta tell you guys_ ," Harper said, Jesse quickly hopping down into the hole and being careful not to stomp on anyone, " _that was some pretty smart work distracting PAMA. Now we just need to get off the grid. Get back into hiding- that way we can figure out what to do next._ "

Ivor rolled his eyes from where he was now kneeling, Cassie crouching next to him and readjusting her now-rather-tattered beanie. " _Some plan,_ " he grumbled.

Real-Harper frowned.

Harper's eyes widened a little, before she shot him a glare. " _You watch that sass, now,_ " she scolded.

Several of the younger members of the audience got the giggles at that.

Onscreen, Ivor sheepishly cleared his throat. " _Ahem. Yes, ma'am,_ " he replied meekly.

The Order glanced at a steadily-reddening Real-Ivor in surprise. They'd half expected him to just snap right back at her.

" _We don't need,_ " Cassie said coldly, in a sort of snap as she glowered at Harper, " _any help from_ you."

Real-Harper winced at that, and Aiden frowned and glanced over at Cassie in concern.

What on earth had caused all this?

" _Rose?_ " Cassie looked around to see Jesse dusting copious amounts of sand off her arms. " _We- kinda do. That machine's got our friends, and I've got no idea on how to stop it. Unless you've got an idea?_ " The spider hybrid gave a faint smile as she kept swatting sand off of herself, before frowning down at herself. " _Okay, if we get out of this alive, I never want to see sand ever again._ "

Isa couldn't help but snort a bit at that, making Milo give her a slightly appraising look at the unelegant noise. He'd never imagined that the Founder could make that sort of sound.

Onscreen, Cassie's hard glare softened, and she averted her gaze to the floor. Jesse tilted her head, staring at the redhead in confusion. A moment later, Cassie noticed, glancing back up at Jesse. " _Later,_ " she mouthed.

Jesse stared at Cassie for a moment longer, before glancing away again, seeming to let the matter go.

For now.

" _I might still be able to save them,_ " Harper said, putting her hands up in slight surrender.

Lukas's arm tightened around Jesse a bit in shock, while Petra actually tried to get up, forgot that Jace and Reuben were still on her lap, and ended up knocking the three of them sideways into Lukas and Jesse, which knocked _them_ to the floor.

This little moment made it _that_ much harder for the audience to not laugh.

Onscreen, Harper's shoulders sagged a bit, an exhausted look coming over her face. " _But I_ really _need your help._ "

Otto frowned, glancing at Harper. Now that he looked at her closely, she looked almost... _too_ exhausted for just being away for quite a few years. Even with 13 or 14 years on that count... her hair had been _black_ back then. Now it was pure white.

Maybe she'd bitten off a little more than she could chew.

He wished he'd actually taken the time to go and visit her now.

Jesse glanced up at the groan of a zombie, before back down at Harper, her brow furrowing a bit in concern. " _What... kind of help?_ " she asked at last, slowly.

Harper took a deep breath, glancing up as well, before looking back down at Jesse with a much more blank look on her face. " _We need to get to my secret lab,_ " she said, a bit more matter-of-factly than moments before.

Jesse frowned, glancing back at the zombies roaming stupidly past this little hole they were hiding in. " _Well, let's get there FAST. These zombies aren't just_ stronger _than any I've ever seen, they're also_ faster."

"Yeah, you're..." Gill frowned at the screen. "You're definitely not kidding."

Harper hesitated for a moment, brow furrowing thoughtfully, before looking back up at them. " _We'll need to split up. You head to the lab, while I lead these mobs away, got it?_ " At the looks she was getting, she pointed. " _I'll use the back route. Throw 'em off our trail._ "

" _Listen to me for a second here._ " Cassie stood up, since she was on a lower spot of the hole than Harper was, and stepped closer to the woman with her eyes narrowing. With Harper crouching on a raised spot of land, the two ended up at the same eye level, giving Harper an excellent view of Cassie's rapidly reddening eyes. " _If you try to get out of helping Jesse and our friends out, I will_ gut you like a fish."

Real-Harper turned rather pale and a bit green. Ivor patted her on the back sympathetically.

Onscreen, Harper winced a bit under Cassie's now-bloodred gaze.

The spider hybrid looked between the two, before giving a weak cough to break the awkward silence. " _O-okay... you're sure you'll be fine?_ " And she looked over at Harper, expression becoming more concerned.

" _Yes, of course._ " Harper stood up, pointing in front of her. The group all turned to see this interesting rock structure towering in the distance. " _Just start walking that way,_ " she hopped out of the hole, and started running in the other direction. " _And look for the 'big difference'- you'll see it!_ " And she went sprinting off into the distance, all the mobs chasing after her.

"I hope you don't die," Isa said quietly.

"Me too."

Everyone looked around in surprise when _Mevia_ was the one who responded with that. Heck, even _Mevia_ seemed surprised at the response herself.

Onscreen, Jesse poked her head out of the hole to stare in Harper's direction with confusion, before looking back down at the other two. " _Either of you have_ any _idea what she meant?_ "

They both shook their heads.

" _Fantastic,_ " the narrator mumbled.

Jesse glanced up, before hopping out of the hole, dropping to all eights, and scuttling along the desert at high speeds, Ivor and Cassie jumping out of the hole and following her.

The screen cut to show the three of them sprinting along (or, well, scuttling along for Jesse), Ivor panting a bit. " _She is... intriguingly cryptic, isn't she?_ " Ivor huffed out.

Magnus's eyes suddenly lit up, and he elbowed Gabriel in the ribs, making the Warrior glance at him. Magnus jabbed a subtle finger in Harper and Ivor's direction, grinning widely as Ellegaard turned to look at him, before wiggling his eyebrows a bit. Now _Soren_ had leaned over to see what the others were looking at.

Slowly, identical grins spread over their faces.

Onscreen, the spider hybrid just gave him a sort of shrug, before looking back ahead- and narrowing her eyes. " _Waiiiiit a second..._ "

Ahead of them, there seemed to be a small... _border_ between part of the landscape and the actual landscape.

" _That looks a bit like a... painting? Is it a painting?_ " the narrator asked, Jesse glancing up at the narrator before back at the landscape.

The spider hybrid abruptly came to a screeching halt, while Ivor kept running towards it- before hitting it at full-force and stumbling back with a pained yelp, grabbing at his now certainly throbbing forehead. Cassie came to a stop as well, before skidding a little too hard, overbalancing, and toppling over with an explosive swear.

The audience winced a bit. That was going to hurt a bit.

" _Okay, apparently it is,_ " the narrator finished.

" _It's... like an exact copy,"_ Ivor managed, straightening back up as he clutched his throbbing forehead, before frowning at it a bit. " _Or is it? Seems just a bit... off._ "

"Ohhhh, it's like one of those- um- find the difference pictures," Nell said abruptly, snapping her fingers. "Y'know, those ones for kids. Man, that's really cool, bro."

Harper blinked at Nell, as if uncertain to take that as a _compliment_... or an insult or something. "Er, thank you."

Onscreen, Cassie turned around, looking around behind them. " _I, uh... I don't see any mobs yet._ " Cassie squinted, using her hand to shade her eyes. " _I don't think._ "

"I guess it's a bit too bright for her to see properly," Stampy mumbled, frowning at the screen.

Jesse whipped back upright, regarding the painting carefully, before edging sideways to get a good look at the rest of the landscape. " _Hmm..._ " And she took another step back, looking from the painting to the landscape, before lifting her hand to point at a cactus. "That _cactus isn't in the painting._ " The spider hybrid trotted towards it, Ivor following behind her.

A loud, rather explosive expletive rang out behind Jesse, making the spider hybrid look over her shoulder- and then let out a loud groan. The camera spun to show what Cassie had just sweared at.

Monsters. _Dozens_ of zombies and skeletons. Coming at them, and coming _fast._

"Oh _come_ on!" Em protested. "Can you not be in mortal danger for like _five_ minutes?!"

The spider hybrid pretty much sprinted the rest of the way to the cactus, skidding past it far enough to see a trap door. " _Okay- let's see what this does!_ "

Harper winced. "Ahhh, you might not want to open that with all those mobs there..."

" _You're_ the one who told them to come here!" Ellegaard exclaimed, voice rising a bit in pitch.

Onscreen, Jesse flung open the trap door to find a lever, one of her lower arms shooting out and jerked upwards hastily.

There was suddenly a loud rumbling sound, and the three of them whirled around to show blocks trembling, before dropping away to reveal this huge, gaping hole with ground at the very bottom, quite a ways down.

"Oh. You won't die. Immediately."

Jesse's more relieved expression turned into one of dread. (Lukas winced and wrapped an arm around her shoulders tightly.)

"Did you really have to tell her that...?" Otto murmured, frowning at Hadrian with a rather deadpan look in his eyes. (Next to Hadrian, Mevia's expression was much the same.)

Onscreen, Cassie put her hands on her hips. " _Huh. Guess she didn't lose her skill with redstone._ " Her expression softened slightly. _Slightly_ , mind you, not much, but it _did_ soften, and that was progress.

The three of them bolted for the whole a minute later, Jesse coming to a screeching halt at the edge and looking over it, biting her lip anxiously as she scanned the bottom of the hole. Ivor came to a stop next to Jesse, looking over his shoulder at the mobs and then back at Jesse so quickly that it looked a little ridiculous, even with his dark blue eyes filled with worry. " _Hope you've got an idea for what comes next._ "

" _Working on it...!_ " Jesse's eyes suddenly snapped to fix on something, and she pointed down into the hole. The screen spun to show a tiny pool of water in the very center of the pit, right at the bottom. " _Um- I can see water, we can aim for that!_ " she reported.

"Well, if you're gonna do it, do it fast!" Maya exclaimed, anxiety written all over her face.

Onscreen-Jesse didn't need to be told twice. (Or, well, if she'd been able to _hear_ Maya that would apply better. You get my point.) She leaped straight off the edge, squeezing her eyes shut instinctively as her hair whipped around, hitting her in the face a few times, air rushing past her, before-

 _SPLASH_. She let out a little gasp as her head bobbed out of the water, hair having gotten _completely_ soaked in the short amount of time she'd been in the pool, before scrambling out rapidly as Cassie proceeded to splash down, climbing out quickly with a soaking-wet Winslow sitting in her arms and looking none too happy, before Ivor hit the water with a slight yelp. He clambered out a moment later, shaking his hair quickly to get some of the water out of it.

Winslow proceeded to shake himself off, spraying Cassie with water and making her chuckle faintly.

The onscreen-girl was joined by half the audience.

Onscreen, Jesse looked around the sort of cavern they'd just landed in. Seconds later, a skeleton came crashing down, smashing to dust not even a full moment after hitting the ground. It was followed quickly by a couple of zombies and another skeleton.

Ivor frowned. " _Looks like PAMA's throwing everything it's got at us._ "

"Well, at least none of them are landing in the water," Sparklez pointed out, smiling weakly in an attempt to lighten the mood.

Jace winced a bit, making Sparklez turn slightly pale as he realized something. "Oh, I- I just jinxed it, didn't I?"

"Errr.. yeah." Lizzie winced a bit. "Yeah you did, Jordan."

Onscreen, a zombie suddenly bounced off of a cobweb that was on the ground, landing on top of it. It was limp for a moment, before standing back up and lurching towards them rapidly.

"Oh _crap_!" Petra exclaimed, eyes widening.

"Kill it!" Axel squeaked.

"Shove it into the water!" Harper shouted suddenly, eyes widening as she remembered something.

"Wh-? Why?" Soren asked, glancing over at Harper in confusion.

" _Oh- crap, brace yourselves!_ " Jesse yelled, the spider hybrid starting backwards as the chipped zombie bore down on her, before all six of her arms lashed out and sent them all flying backwards- straight into the pool of water. Abruptly, sparks and little bolts of electricity shot everywhere, making the zombie sort of spasm, before the chip on the back of its head popped up, shooting away and rolling to a stop several feet away with metallic clanks. The zombie slowly floated to the surface... the eyes once again looking empty.

"Hey- the chip came off!" Olivia exclaimed, eyes widening.

Lukas heaved a relieved sigh- so the chip _could_ be taken off.

Onscreen, Cassie's eyes widened a bit, a rather fluffy and damp Winslow sitting in her arms. " _Its eyes changed!_ " she pointed out. " _The second it hit the water!_ "

Jesse regarded it with slightly wide eyes for a moment, before giving Ivor a grin. " _Hey. Hey, Ivor. Dare ya to poke it,_ " she teased the older man gently.

Petra couldn't help but just outright snort at that, while the rest of the audience were either now giggling or repressing huge grins at the petite little girl, who was just grinning cheerfully. Leave it to _Jesse_ to crack some sort of joke in this sort of situation.

Onscreen, Ivor just gave the spider hybrid a rather amused look. " _No thank you. Even though it_ does _look completely shut down."_

Harper let out this long, relieved sigh. "It is indeed."

* * *

 **A/N: HA TAKE THAT PAMA WE KNOW YOUR WEAKNESS.**

 **Anyway, this is gonna get really fun in a couple of chapters x3**

 **RQTC: Have you ever just wanted to dance around your room to take a break? xD**

 **Yes. All the time.**

 **Responses to reviewers!**

 **LunarStarsMoons: (grins) / There's a Hamilton song titled 'Burn' I think xD / (laughs) / Oh, and the Order's found out about it. Ohhh, Ivor's in for a _world_ of teasing.**

 **Toni42: (grins)**

 **Dr . MKNoble: It's a whole new app!**

 **LittleAngelbun: Indeed it will (grins)**

 **pensuka: I'm not saying anything... x3**

 **S4SH4L4SH4theGaMeR101: (grins) / Oh dear xD / Neither can I! :3**

 **AquaK13: Oh no xD / I'm glad you liked it, ehehehe xD / Shake it Off with parody lyrics, or...? xD / (grins) Yeah, that'll be pretty cool. / Bai!**

 **Kaos Ruin: Aaaaaaaaaahhhhh (grins) He probably won't curse in that moment.**

 **CrystalTearsofFaith: As long as you don't start shipping 'em romantically xD / Well, but then it'd get into all the other worlds. / Huehuehuehue xD Glad to hear that!**

 **InsaneAcrobat: (grins) Baby Reuben hybrid. / (grins) / It's the original Hybrid's new/updated sequel. I wouldn't start a sequel for HCM while I'm still writing HCM xD**

 **Jack: (grins) / That's good!**

 **BeliTheGhoti0304: I don't think you're the only one there xD / (laughs) I'm glad you're happy, and I don't think you're wrong there xD**

 **Emily The Avenger: As long as you show up, I don't care if you're late :3**

 **J.M.M.: (grins)**

 **andie: I'm glad! :3**

 **giriri: (laughs) / Oh, well, I'm glad you like it!**

 **Darkbeast Dend: (grins) / My favorite season is autumn.**

 **homeworkoverload: Aw, it's fine. It'll probably go pretty public if I can generate enough hype for it x3 / (grins) / (laughs)**

 **sailor . mikuchan: (grins) / Alright, it's fine. :3**

 **Infernius Flashfire: (grins) / (laughs)**

 **Rabbits rule: (laughs)**

 **Savannah-the-Caracal: The full impact of it hits later. Imagine being in shock. / (laughs)**

 **Poptart Crumbs: That's good :3**

 **That's all for this time! Bai!**

 **x.X. A.L. X.x.**


	145. Just Figured I'd Ask

" _Huh._ " Onscreen-Jesse put her lowest set of hands on her hips, " _The water must've busted the connection or something. Like washing away the redstone._ "

"Yeah, that might be it..." Olivia narrowed her eyes, leaning towards the screen with a thoughtful look fixed on her face. You could practically see her mental gears turning.

Ivor's eyes lit up, a relieved look coming over his face. " _Which means PAMA's control CAN be broken after all!_ "

A small round of cheering from the audience seated around the television. Real-Ivor looked extremely relieved. Lukas looked as though he were near passing out from how relieved he was, and Petra leaned back a bit with a sigh.

" _I've never been so happy to see a normal zombie in my life,_ " Cassie sighed in relief, the zombie crawling out of the water-

Before puffing into smoke as Cassie casually walked forward, lifted her foot and stamped straight down on the zombie's head, the abrupt pressure crunching straight through its already-brittle skull and killing it instantly. " _So if we just chuck water all over Petra and Lukas's chips,_ " she reasoned, pulling out her axe casually as more monsters started landing on the cobweb, " _we can get them back to normal too._ "

Jesse flicked her middle arms, shooting a pair of webs and catching a zombie and a skeleton before slingshotting them straight into the water, Cassie waiting for the crackling electricity to die down with her axe at the ready. Another flick of Jesse's wrists, and the cobweb that the monsters had been landing on vanished as she retracted the thing into her hand, balling it up and chucking the ball of string off to the side.

" _Not that it'll stop the spiders, or Lukas since he knows how to ride 'em, or Petra, but hey- at least there aren't more of those super-mobs invading, right?_ " Jesse sighed in relief, as the electricity finally died down and Cassie went ahead and wreaked havoc on them.

" _Well, that's fantastic... but now what?_ " Ivor asked, slightly flatly, as he reached up and absentmindedly wrung out his hair.

" _We should probably block up the entrance, in case some chipped spiders or Petra or Lukas-_ " Cassie's face tightened at that, but then it relaxed, " _get down here._ "

The three of them paused, looking at each other blankly. " _I dunno about you, but I don't think I have enough blocks to tower back up to the top AND cover the entrance,_ " Jesse said at last.

"Oh, you don't have to do that," Harper intervened. "There's a lever nearby that'll cover up part of the entrance- enough for you guys not to get bothered for a bit."

Everyone in the room let out a relieved sigh at that.

Cassie looked around the area. " _Hmm... well, if Harper's stayed even RELATIVELY the same, hopefully it won't come to that._ " She spotted something, and began to walk over to a lever.

Jesse hastened to follow her over to where she was standing, while Ivor quickly scurried after them both. Cassie reached the lever first and quickly toggled it, a loud rumbling sounding the literal _second_ she flipped it. They all looked up in time to see some pistons shifting aside, before a huge wall of sand began to fall from the ceiling, hundreds of sand blocks toppling from the ceiling and forming a huge wall that blocked entry.

For now, anyway.

" _Alright, that's most of the mobs,_ " Jesse said, dusting her hands off before turning smartly on her heel and beginning to walk down the hallway the three of them had dashed into, " _now, let's go see about that 'secret lab'._ "

" _I just hope whatever's there can help us,_ " Ivor said quietly, turning around and following the black-haired girl, " _it would make helping Petra and Lukas a lot easier if there's something u..._ helpful _at this secret lab._ "

Real-Petra and Lukas exchanged startled looks, before leaning over to stare at Ivor. The black-haired man had his dark blue eyes fixed on the screen, however, and 'missed' the look he'd been given. (And the many others who were just openly staring at him now.)

Onscreen, Jesse's head turned, and she blinked at the potionologist in surprise. Onscreen, Ivor glanced at her before doing a bit of a double take, staring at the spider hybrid a bit blankly. " _What is it?_ " he asked, sounding more tired than anything else.

" _Sorry, it's just... I didn't know you cared that much,_ " Jesse said, sounding honestly surprised. " _I mean- I know you care about_ me _quite a bit, from all my memories and stuff, but- I didn't really get the impression that you interacted with the other two that much._ " A small smile came over her face, soft and sad and bittersweet. " _I... didn't really know._ "

Ivor stared at Jesse for a moment, before glancing back to face the front again. " _There's some things that even you don't know about me,_ " he said softly.

There was a really long, awkward silence, until Cassie cleared her throat a bit. " _Well- even if the lab's a bust, what we just learned about water disabling PAMA's chips is really useful,_ " Cassie said, in an attempt to perk the mood back up. Not even a full second after she finished her sentence she made a face. " _Ugh, PAMA's completely f**ked up the word 'useful' for me._ "

Several people made a face at the word as well. She had a point.

" _Hey, that kind of reminds me, what's your deal with her? The woman back in town who..._ " Jesse frowned a bit, thoughtfully. " _Who PAMA called... their 'Creator'?_ "

Cassie was silent for a moment, before sighing a bit. " _Well- you remember me leaving, right?_ "

The spider hybrid glanced over at Cassie. " _You and your aunt? Well, yeah, barely. Why?_ "

" _Well..._ " Cassie frowned. " _She died. Six years later. She wasn't the healthiest person, she got_ sick _, if she- if that- if she'd just- convinced my aunt to stay, maybe she would've been able to get to a doctor or a healer or something in time and maybe she'd still be alive. Maybe the_ Old Builders, _"_ she nearly _spit_ the words out as if they were pure poison on her tongue, " _would still have_ seven _members instead of just_ six." And she kicked at the ground moodily.

Harper opened her mouth, paused, and then shut her eyes a bit, turning back to the screen silently as she blinked tears out of her eyes.

It wasn't as if she hadn't tried.

Hadrian glanced over as Otto surreptitiously wiped at his eyes, before glancing at his other side to see Mevia- not exactly _crying_ or anything, but definitely looking quite uncomfortable.

Soren crossed his arms and silently exchanged a sad glance with Isa, who's arms had tightened around Benedict.

The two of them wished they had stayed now.

Onscreen, Jesse simply stared at Cassie, before reaching up and squeezing the girl's shoulder. " _I'm so sorry,_ " she said, softly.

Cassie huffed a bit, crossing her arms. " _Yeah, well... it doesn't really matter anymore. I'm just not great at forgiving people,_ " she spoke curtly, indicating the end of the conversation.

There was a few moments of awkward silence once again, before Ivor spoke up quietly. " _I must say, that woman has been a most intriguing person so far. I'm still not entirely sure what to make of her._ "

The mood suddenly lightened around the Order's couch, the four old friends exchanging mischievous looks.

Onscreen, Jesse was mirroring their grin, crossing her arms almost delicately as she smiled smugly at Ivor. " _'Intriguing', Ivor?_ " she asked, lightly and very teasingly, " _why, what_ ever _do you mean by that?_ "

" _I- what?_ " Ivor's cheeks started to turn faintly pink, and now the rest of the audience was starting to get the hint, giggling at both Onscreen-Ivor and Real-Ivor, whose own cheeks were steadily reddening. Harper's dark mood had disappeared, and she was raising an eyebrow at Ivor with a grin. " _It's nothing. I just mean that I can empathize when it comes to your creations getting out of hand. N-nothing more._ "

"Your stutter says otherwise," Lukas grinned.

Ivor's cheeks just darkened even further.

" _A-hem,_ " and all of them looked into the air, Ivor nearly jumping six feet into the air as the camera swish-panned to show Harper leaning against a wall that was in slight shadow, arms crossed as she grinned at them. " _Careful with all that spluttering. You'll swallow your beard._ "

Onscreen-Jesse immediately started _howling_ with laughter, while Cassie doubled over cackling and even _Winslow_ seemed to snigger. The audience wasn't doing all that much better, what with Jesse having buried her head into Lukas's chest in an attempt to stifle her giggles and Lukas hiding his huge grin with his jacket sleeve. Petra bit her lip, a sound that sounded _suspiciously_ like giggling having started up in her throat. Jace had his head buried in Reuben, who was practically _sniggering_ himself, while Axel was flat on his back laughing and Olivia was shaking her head, a huge grin spreading over her face.

Soren had a grin that was bigger than a Chesire Cat's, while Magnus was howling with laughter and Ellegaard was very close to falling off the couch with how hard she was giggling. Gabriel was attempting to hide his grin and failing miserably, while Ivor's face had essentially turned fifty shades of red and he was now hiding it with his sleeve to the best of his ability. (Which wasn't that good.) Harper was just regarding Ivor with an amused grin due to the calming potion still being in her system, although if you looked closely there was a tiny hint of a blush on her face.

Maya was pretty much _cackling_ , while Gill was just gasping for breath and Aiden had actually toppled off the couch with Cassie, neither of them actually caring (or noticing the awkward position they were in) due to how hard they were laughing, Winslow sniggering away from the back of the couch. Milo had dived behind the couch again, while Isa had her face buried in a clucking Benedict's back and Reginald was just nearly _crying_ with amusement.

Dan's hair was a vibrant shade of pale(ish) purple as he cracked up, Stampy's hood tugged over his face as the boy chortled and Lizzie just started singing (with Stacy, through a state of violent giggles), "Ivor and Harper, sittin' in a tree" because, y'know, the two of them were SO mature. Sparklez had actually bit down on his bottom lip from how hard he was trembling with laughter, doing his best to hide it.

Em was biting her knuckles in an attempt to just keep from _cracking up_ , while Nell had gotten a fit of the hiccups. The gladiators were laughing so hard that for a few moments people thought there was a herd of elephants coming through the room. Mevia was watching Ivor and Harper with an interested look as she cackled away, while Hadrian was slapping his knee so hard that he might've been leaving a bruise. Otto was shaking his head so insistently that you could pretty much SEE the laughter in his face.

" _I- what-? What did you hear? It was nothing!_ " Ivor managed onscreen, looking as if he might _die_ on the spot with embarrassment.

Harper just chuckled, coming over to them as she gently pushed herself off of the wall. " _Nice to see you, Jesse._ "

The spider hybrid let out a giggle as she straightened back up, dusting her knees off. " _Yeah, um, this is Ivor,_ " and she indicated the hotly-blushing man with an amused grin, " _and, um, I think you already know Cassie._ "

"Yeah." Cassie's amused grin suddenly faded, Aiden's smile fading a bit upon seeing that and straightening back up. "We do."

" _Ou_ _r friends that we left back there,_ " and Jesse's smile abruptly faded, " _are Petra and Lukas._ " She paused for a moment, before cocking her head to one side. " _Um- I'm sorry, your name is...?_ "

Harper inclined her head politely, shooting Cassie a slightly worried glance. " _You can call me Harper._ "

Onscreen-Cassie just developed a _fascination_ with the cave ceiling.

" _You could also explain why you lead PAMA's forces straight to my secret lab,_ " Harper added, a frown coming over her face.

" _You're_ the one who told them to _go_ there!" Olivia exclaimed.

" _Seems to me I've got a whole lot of angry computer-controlled monsters out there waiting to tear some new holes in my lab,_ " Harper finished up, putting her hands on her hips and raising her eyebrows at them.

The spider hybrid chuckled sheepishly. " _Ahaha... sorry about that. I didn't expect that there'd be a bunch of them following us. At least only spiders and our friends can make it through now..._ " Her smile faded to a slightly more disturbed expression at that thought, before shaking it off. It, uh...

It probably wasn't the most pleasant thought.

Harper maintained her annoyed expression for exactly five more milliseconds, before waving it off. " _Ah, it's not your fault. I'm just a bit steamed. Didn't know PAMA would actually be able to follow us._ " She gave the three of them a more wary look. " _What're you doing in this world, anyway? You here to try to steal my secrets?_ "

" _Of course not!_ "

" _No!_ "

" _Hell no!_ "

Ivor, Jesse, and Cassie all chorused at the same time, sharply and almost _desperately._

"That was, uh," Facemeat blinked. "That sounded a little desperate."

"It probably was," Jesse said softly. "Right now, she's the only one who might be able to help us. If she doesn't trust us... well, we're in trouble."

"... I did _not_ think about that," Ellegaard mumbled quietly.

Harper straightened up, regarding them for a moment, before shrugging and turning around again, presumably to lead them down the tunnel. " _Just figured I'd ask. Better safe than sorry and all that._ "

Mevia blinked, before glancing over at Harper. The other woman glanced over at the blue-haired woman when she felt her gaze on the back of her neck, blinking a bit. The two of them proceeded to share a very awkward mental conversation; especially because they _hadn't_ had one in so long.

Mevia: _You just... trust them? Just like that?_

Harper: _Yes, of course._

Mevia: _Is that exactly smart?_

Harper: _They're one of the only chances to save everyone from PAMA. I don't think there's much other choice right now._

Mevia: _And that's the only reason?_

Harper: _What do you mean?_

Mevia: _Being stuck with computer-controlled beings for so long. You must be lonely._

Harper: _So are you._

Mevia didn't respond to that. Mentally or verbally.

* * *

 **A/N: So... some person on YouTube sent me to a porn site for ME to do porn...**

 **... so that was an interesting way to start off my day, to say the least.**

 **Sorry for no updates for, like, a week- my schedule got abruptly more hectic than I would've liked. Oh well, I only have two weeks or so of... hectic-ness until it comes to a stop -3- I am both happy and sad about that.**

 **RQTC: Does anyone think Mevia is somewhat nice in this story, and if so why do you think that?**

 **Responses to reviewers!**

 **PoptartCrumbs: Right?! xD**

 **LunarStarsMoons: (grins) / Hehehehehe xD / This song is lovely x3 / INDEED WE DID / Hahaha same here to be honest.**

 **ChibiMCSM Crew: Aw, I'm sorry to hear that.**

 **Infernius Flashfire: (grins slightly) I ain't sayin' nothing. / (laughs) I don't think they mind at all, since in several chapters- but wait, that'd be spoilers.**

 **CrystalTearsofFaith: I'm glad you think so! :3 / (laughs) That was a very interesting image that came to mind. / Yeah, that would've been kinda nice.**

 **S4SH4L4SH4theGaMeR101: (chuckles)**

 **Toni42: Huehuehue xD / I'm glad you liked it, Toni-kun. :3**

 **You-Know-Who: You will meet Cassie when you meet Cassie.**

 **BeliTheGhoti0304: speaking of which (proceeds to drink half a bottle of water) / Yeah but that's fun for me for some reason xD / Hehehehe xD / Ah.**

 **Savannah-the-Caracal: (grins) / That should be around... next chapter.**

 **Emily The Avenger: (hugs back)**

 **RapidSammi: x3**

 **AquaK13: What's this? Aqua has nothing to comment? :o / Huehuehuehuehue, I know how ya feel. x3 / Bai!**

 **homeworkoverload: (grins) indeed they are~ / Yeah, that's gonna be a slight problem. / That might happen. Who knows? (shrugs) / 0-0**

 **RWBYSTRQ: Well, I'm glad you like it! I'm sorry it took me this long to update, but I'm very happy that you liked it! :3**

 **Rabbits rule: I just like the regular Sans. He's super PUNNY for a skeleton. And it takes a lot to RATTLE HIS BONES. xD**

 **J.M.M.: (nods)**

 **Darkbeast Dend: Umm, I do a lot of stuff in my free time.**

 **EnderKitty68: (laughs) Yep.**

 **D: Okay, I'm sorry, but I can't even read your review. In the future, if anyone reviews this way, I'll simply have to ignore them. I love responding to you guys and seeing how you guys LIKE THE STORY. This is not a place to try to have a conversation with me, if you would like to do that please PM me. I like seeing how I've affected people with the story, and I do like talking to you- but not in the comments sections of my stories. Furthermore, I can only respond to reviews that I can READ. Reviews like this are nearly impossible for me to decipher, and I'm here to RESPOND to you, not decipher what you are saying. You guys are all amazing for reviewing, but you need to keep in mind the actual intention behind the review section. Those of you who are reacting to the story or actually saying how you like the chapter, keep it up, and thank you for the wonderful feedback! :)**

 **azzh: Updated. :)**

 **Welp, that's all for this time! G'bye!**

 **x.X. A.L. X.x.**


	146. Uh, Hi Ron

" _You all are the first people I've seen come out of the portal network in forever,_ " Harper continued, the other three being quick to follow her (although Cassie _did_ noticeably lag behind a bit more than the others), " _so you'll have to excuse me if it made me a little... anxious."_

The spider hybrid abruptly turned her body so that she was regarding Harper in a more scrutinizing manner. " _... yeah, I forgot. Cassie's aunt was an Old Builder... so you're...?_ "

Harper let out a sound that was a mixture of a huff and a laugh, but her teeth were showing and she was definitely smiling a bit. " _Huh. Forgot you people called us that. Never was my favorite name._ "

"None of us liked it very much," Otto mumbled, frowning at the unfortunately familiar name.

"None _of you really liked it,_ " Cassie corrected the white-haired woman onscreen.

Otto blinked.

" _... my aunt might've thrown a pie at someone who called her that once,_ " Cassie murmured, thoughtfully.

Onscreen-Ivor made a rather loud 'coughing' sound and covered his mouth quickly. The 'coughing' fit went on for a good several seconds, in which Onscreen-Cassie scowled at him and tried to elbow him in the ribs.

The real audience was starting to follow in his footsteps.

" _Yeah, it makes you guys sound ancient,_ " and Jesse made a little face, before her expression went back to dead serious. " _But, um... if you're an 'Old Builder',_ " she tentatively put the word in air quotes, " _can't you help my friends get free of PAMA?_ " Her middle arms crossed across her chest, while her lowest set of arms steepled the fingers together anxiously.

Harper winced at that. " _I'm afraid that's a_ little _out of my abilities right now. PAMA's just too powerful._ "

Hadrian, Mevia, Otto, Soren, _and_ Isa all exchanged sharp looks at that.

If _Harper_ \- a member of the, well, uh, you know- couldn't handle PAMA, was calling PAMA too _powerful_...

Then this thing was _definitely_ out of control.

Harper was silent for a moment onscreen, and Jesse tilted her head at the woman innocently. " _... is... something wrong?_ " she asked, tentatively, red eye glinting oddly in the light.

" _There's no exit portal out of this world._ "

Everyone's heads onscreen snapped around to face Cassie, who was still walking along behind them casually.

"Wait- there's no- that's not possible-!" Mevia spluttered, eyes widening.

The red-haired girl looked up onscreen, looking surprised at her comrades' surprise. " _When there is a portal leading back to the portal network, a certain item of importance, whether emotional or otherwise, will be 'humming'. For me, that's my glasses. For Harper, it'd be her aviator hat thingamajig. My glasses haven't been humming since we got here._ "

Ivor glanced over at Harper in interest. "Was that a feature you installed yourself?"

Real-Harper glanced over at him, a frail sort of smile on her face. "We _all_ worked on it, but it was designed in case there was already a portal crafted back to our world- in case one of the others had already come into it and worked on it themselves. Just to save time. I'm... oddly glad that _some_ of us didn't terminate the enchantment. _"_

Was it just Jesse's (the real one, mind you) imagination... or did Hadrian, Otto, Mevia, Isa, and Soren exchange guilty looks?

Onscreen, Ivor looked back around at Harper, although there was more curiosity dancing in his expression than accusation. " _Is that true?_ " he asked, softly.

" _Yes... it was impulsive, but it was the only way I could think of to make sure PAMA didn't spread to other worlds,_ " Harper said quietly, wincing a bit and turning back around to face the front.

Maya suddenly winced. "Oh... yeah, that was probably a smart choice, considering PAMA's desire to 'make everyone useful'..."

The entire audience winced in turn.

Onscreen, Jesse frowned slightly, before turning to stare at Harper. " _Why didn't the Old Builders stay at the lab, by the way? The scientists got a bit more..._ " The screen glitched, showing a scene where Jesse's wrist was attached to a sort of bracelets with electrodes fastened to it.

Except with tongues of electricity shooting up it and lighting up the whole room, Jesse doubled over on herself and screaming in pain.

Lukas's eyes tightened, and his arms tightened around Jesse in sympathy. The petite girl simply reached up and tightened her grip on his wrists, trying to steady her breathing and not doing so well.

"... _brutal, without you guys around,_ " Jesse finished, her face having tightened up a bit.

Harper was silent for a moment, before she reached up and rubbed her head. " _Well... I never actually liked the stuff they were doing in the_ first _place with the hybrids. I would've just been happy to see them survive beyond day one, to be honest. We had to head back to our world to do some..._ other _things..._ "The sharp tone in her voice snuck out as quickly as it had come in, " _but we took one to keep studying personally and w... the others,_ " she corrected herself, " _just told the scientists to keep up the work and report back to us. But..._ "

Harper paused, before continuing, in a much slower voice, much more _frightened_ , " _we-_ they _-_ _were a bit hasty... and the head scientist that was promoted was..._ "

" _A complete psychopath who enjoyed children's pain?_ " Jesse responded, probably a bit more sharply than she was intending if her wince and glance-away was any indication.

Harper winced herself, hesitating at her next words. " _... something along those lines, yes._ "

Jace frowned upon noticing the way Jesse had paled a bit- no, scratch that, now that he was looking closer, Jesse was looking quite a lot like Snow White would when she'd been confronted with the woodsman trying to kill her. "Do you know this 'head scientist' that the two of them are talking about?" he asked, in a soft voice that had the situation been any more loud in any way, shape, or form, the entire audience would've missed. However, in this nearly dead-silent tunnel onscreen, _everyone_ could hear it.

And they might've been pretending otherwise, but _everyone_ was listening.

Jesse's hands were trembling and loosening from where they were fastened around Lukas's wrists, the blonde managing to shake off what had happened to him and Petra and leaning around to stare at Jesse in concern.

It took a minute- or two- or three- but slowly, Jesse's mouth managed to open. "Of course I know him." Her voice was strangled and frail, as if someone had just stomped the life out of her.

And not a minute later, they found out why.

"He's my father."

The entire room seemed to be frozen in shock from the revelation that the person who'd caused all the bruises on _their_ Jesse's back, all of the pain, fear, trauma that she just could _not_ let go... was the exact same kind of person in this alternative path to the future they were watching.

Cassie broke the silence a moment later.

"Well I am _definitely_ murdering this git when I've got a chance."

"Cassie," Otto scolded the redhead, mildly.

The redhead dropped her eyes to the floor, a bit shamefacedly at the gentle rebuke.

"At least let the rest of us have a swing at him before you finish him off."

Now _everyone_ was looking at Otto, who had a look of... almost _mischief_ dancing in his eyes as he regarded the screen. With that usual smile still fixed on his face... well, Otto actually looked a bit _scary_ for once like that.

The tiniest smirk snuck over his face at the sight of everyone's stunned stares. "I'm a stickler for rules, not a pushover."

Hadrian exchanged a look with Mevia, who simply glanced at him before glancing away again.

They might've forgotten that.

Lukas tightened his arm on Jesse's shoulders, wrapping his arms around the petite girl in as tight a hug as he dared. A few moments passed before she turned around in his grip and buried her own head in his shoulder, tremors running through her body so insistently that it was almost a steady vibration now, the only thing keeping her even remotely upright being the blonde with his arms around her (and was her choker glowing...?).

"Don't let go," she whispered, so softly that Lukas almost missed it.

He smiled slightly, a sadness tinging his expression.

He'd be able to keep his promise here, but when they went back...

"I won't."

Onscreen, Harper looked back up at Jesse, apology written all over her face. " _We didn't get any reports or complaints about the head scientist until after the last report, about ten or eleven years ago. The remaining scientists alerted us that the new hybrids they'd created had escaped, and that they'd had to activate the memory chips... but also that the head scientist had been mistreating you to the point where it was just blatant_ child abuse _. That... that was when... some of us realized how badly we messed up._ " She was silent for a moment, before continuing much more quietly, " _It was the reason that some of us just couldn't stay anymore._ "

Harper, Soren, and Isa automatically exchanged glances.

"... _and the memory chips?_ " Jesse's voice wasn't condemning, it wasn't cold. It wasn't even _remotely_ angry.

She just sounded so, so tired.

" _Well... I_ suppose _that after ten years of no upkeep or actual usage save for repressing the memories, they started to fail. Your memories_ should _all return in time, but... it depends on how strong the memory chip is still going. It could take_ _years for you to fully recover your memories._ " Harper glanced over at Jesse in worry.

The spider hybrid didn't even look upset about _that_. Just a little resigned. " _Of course. Why am I not surprised._ " She noticed the way Harper was glancing over her shoulder at her and immediately smiled, shaking her head a bit and straightening up. " _Don't look like I'm about to bite you or something, I'm not mad about that. You didn't really have anything to do with it, not directly anyway._ "

Real-Harper's shoulders seemed to relax a bit.

" _Oh, but speaking of direct involvement..._ " Jesse's expression changed, to a more worried one. " _PAMA. What is it?_ "

Harper abruptly ground to a halt, Ivor nearly running straight into her back as the entire group came to a halt, Cassie setting Winslow on the ground. " _I swear, I made PAMA with good intentions._ "

"Oh... boy." Aiden abruptly flopped backwards a bit, arm slipping off Cassie's shoulders (the redhead frowned). "I... you made... PAMA."

Real-Harper's shoulders tensed right back up. "... yes."

"... holy _crap_ you made PAMA!" Gill yelped all of a sudden, jumping backwards and managing to upset the couch altogether. "You made the thing that just chipped Lukas-!?"

Lukas and Petra looked remarkably as though they'd just gotten slapped.

"I didn't _think_ it would get this bad!" Harper exclaimed, squirming around to glare at Gill a bit, "I never expected PAMA to go _this_ far, although at _this_ point I sure did. But when I made PAMA-!"

"But you _did_ make it," Em pointed out.

"No _duh_ Sherlock," Mevia snapped back, making the brown-haired girl scowl at the blue-haired woman.

"Guys, yelling at each other isn't going to do anything!" Jesse exclaimed, voice barely rising enough to allow them all to hear her. "Why don't we just watch the episode? I'm sure Harper is about to explain herself or something onscreen, and we don't want to miss anything. Alright?"

Stacy had looked as if she was about to jump right into the argument herself, but at that all of them looked up at Jesse before turning back around to face the front. "Yes, Jesse," they chorused quietly, sounding a bit as though they were naughty children that had just gotten a good scolding.

The rest of the audience hid their grins.

" _It was designed to help automate things. Make everything more efficient. Use monsters to help with farming or mining..._ " Harper continued onscreen, looking back at them with a slightly worried expression.

"That... actually, that does sound more efficient," Ellegaard mumbled.

" _I'm guessing that PAMA decided that the townspeople themselves weren't efficient enough?_ " Ivor asked softly, a frown creasing his brow.

Harper nodded at that, beginning to walk again as a slightly sour look came over her face. " _Right in one. Started making_ them _'useful'. That happened about... five or six years ago? Since then, I've just been trying to stay one step ahead... trying to figure out how to stop it._ "

"Being an adult really doesn't seem as cracked up as everyone seems to make it out to be."

Everyone looked 'round at Jesse, who looked surprised at the fact that everyone was looking at her- evidently she'd accidentally said the thought aloud.

"I mean, think about it. Gabriel finds it hard to ask for help, Magnus locks himself up in a tower all day so people can't kill him, Ellegaard probably locks _herself_ into a big building when she really wants to think, Ivor was alone for over 10 years, Soren has his, um, Wool World, Isa is lonely and tired all the time, and Harper's basically been trapped by herself in a world where she's alone and has had to try to figure out everything herself," Jesse said, counting off on her fingers.

There was a short silence, before Ivor's lips quirked up. "Well, she's not _wrong_."

" _When we were back in town,_ " Onscreen-Cassie spoke up, frowning slightly, " _PAMA seemed to_ really _want to capture you... why's that?_ " Her arms were still crossed, but at least she was addressing Harper.

Harper glanced over her shoulder at the redhead. " _When PAMA chips someone, everything that person knows gets absorbed into its database,_ " she began to explain.

" _Right, like how PAMA started talking about our adventures once Petra and Lukas got... well... you know,_ " Jesse said, looking down at the ground a bit.

The white-haired woman nodded and continued, " _If_ I _got chipped... PAMA would know how to build an exit portal._ "

Nell's eyes widened. "Oh... bro that is so _totally_ not good."

Onscreen, Cassie abruptly came to a screeching halt, straightening up with her green eyes starting to flicker red. " _Oh_ hell _no._ "

The spider hybrid frowned, red eye glowing a bit as she took that into consideration. " _Oh. Yeah, I definitely see why you'd try to avoid that at all costs. Seeing Olivia or Axel get chipped..._ "

" _Or Soren..._ " Ivor mumbled, eyes widening as he slowly thought. " _Or Gabriel or Magnus or Ellegaard..._ "

The entire Order exchanged surprised looks at that.

The three of them- Ivor, Cassie, and Jesse- all shuddered rather violently at the thought of people getting chipped.

Harper hesitated, before narrowing her eyes and nodding. " _I_ do _think I can help you..._ "

Everyone was now paying the utmost attention to the screen again.

" _With PAMA, your friends, getting out of here... but to do it, we're gonna need to go to my lab._ "

Jesse blinked at that statement. " _What's in your lab?_ " she inquired, curiously.

Harper's expression turned into a sort of thinking face. Her lips twisted a bit to one side and a thoughtful, sort of dazed look entered her eyes. (Actually, it looked a bit like Ivor's deep thinking expression.) She looked as though you'd basically have to knock her down to get any sort of response. " _Well, it's a bit... complicated."_

Jesse turned her head, mouth dropping open. The screen slowly zoomed out to show a floor made of glass, with water flowing in little streams along the sides. The walls were a vibrant reddish-gold, which made the colorful lighting of the room that much more beautiful.

"Holy crap," Maya whispered in awe. "That's beautiful."

"Yeah, and the redstone looks really complicated, too," and Olivia leaned forward, eyes sparkling with interest. _Sparkling_ , I tell you. It was surreal.

" _Before we head inside, we'd better activate the defense system- don't want any of those chipped-up creeps following us inside._ " Harper strolled over to a lever in the wall, flipping it decisively and making a cauldron shoot up out of the floor (Winslow hissed and bolted off). " _Grab my bucket for me?_ " she added, glancing over her shoulder. " _Ron's got it._ "

The entire audience blinked at that.

Harper felt her cheeks start coloring a bit in embarrassment.

"'Ron'...?" Petra questioned slowly.

Onscreen, Jesse blinked again. " _'Ron'?_ " she echoed Real-Petra, brow furrowing a bit in confusion.

" _Hello friend Harper!_ "

The spider hybrid let out a sound that was somewhere between a loud hiss and a shrieking cat and leaped straight onto Ivor with a hug, the man staggering and managing not to just topple right over. Cassie had a face that looked torn between amusement and concern from where she was standing near a sort of contraption with a creeper head resting on it and a bucket of water hanging from one of its arms. " _I am happy to see you, my friend!_ "

"... Harper, what is that exactly?" Hadrian asked in a light, casual voice, turning to look over at the white-haired woman with this _utterly confused_ look on his face.

Harper cleared her throat a bit, feeling her cheeks flush even redder. "... Ron."

Onscreen, the spider hybrid gently eased herself back to the ground, still looking a bit shivery from the sudden scare just now. " _O... kay._ "

* * *

 **A/N: Three things I need to talk to you guys about. One is good(ish) news, the other is not so good news, and the third is more like scolding.**

 **1) You can now post Phantasmagoria background characters in the comment section of HCM.**

 **Remember, the contest for entering background characters and possibly getting one featured in Phantasmagoria ends on August 5th! (Though I might extend it a bit longer.) Now you can enter them in the comment section of HCM. Just in case you forgot, you need to fill out this form:**

 **Name:  
Age: (16, 17, or 18)  
Appearance:  
Height:  
Weight:  
Personality:  
Quotes: (Two or three things the character would say)**

 **So feel free to enter the contest? Note, you CAN enter up to two background characters in the contest.**

 **2) Due to a complete lack of courtesy in a certain reviewer's review last chapter, the next chapter of HCM will be pushed back again, simply because I am getting angry and when I get mad about something I don't work as effectively. This is also related to the next thing I need to talk to you about.**

 **3)** ** _EVERY STORY EXCEPT FOR HYBRID: CINEMATIC MODE AND COMPOSITE IS CURRENTLY ON HIATUS. THEY WILL NOT BE UPDATED UNTIL ONE OR BOTH OF AFOREMENTIONED STORIES ARE COMPLETED._ Over 6 months ago, I first made this announcement, and I am beginning to get downright irritated with the fact that people ignore the fact and ask me to update another story. Furthermore, the review section of this story is NOT the correct place to ask me about it; the review section of THIS story is to talk about THIS story. If anyone tries to comment on a different story or asks me to update a different story, you have clearly not read any of the multiple A/Ns I posted in this story and I will simply ignore you from this point onwards. At this point I simply don't have the patience or time to deal with this sort of blatant ignorance of what I have clearly stated multiple times. Sorry if this comes off as rude, but this is literally the end of my patience when it comes to this course of action.**

 **RQTC: Have you ever told someone not to do something and then they turn around and do the thing you JUST told them not to do?**

 **Yes. Multiple times.**

 **LunarStarsMoons: Shoo, bug. You are not welcome. (swats at it) / x3 / Haha, I'm glad xD / Oh, good! Glad you think that :) / (laughs) I mean, I don't know anything about them, so...**

 **homeworkoverload: (cracks up) I see that you too, like the many people laughing their butts off in this room, also are very mature. xD / Oh, the beach is... kinda fun? Idk xD / Ooh, I'm glad you like Mevia a bit now! / (laughs) I have no idea what you're talking about, but okay.**

 **azzhoeandie: (laughs) / Ahh, I'm glad about that! :3**

 **AquaK13: (laughs) Yeah, sorry about a very late update. I was late for a very important (up)date. xD / Shit now I just have an image of Ivor selling tomatoes in my head xD / (laughs) / hahahahaha nice, dude. / AHAHAHA GREAT PUN (high five) / Oh, is she really? I never watched Drake and Josh, but that's cool! / Hahaha, I guess so. x3**

 **ChibiMCSM Crew: I'm glad that you like it! :3**

 **RapidSammi: (laughs) (quietly joins in singing with you) Well, I'm glad you find it funny x3**

 **EnderKitty68: Hahaha that'd be an interesting fanfiction idea on its own xD / Some people don't like that, but I'm glad you like it! I feel like it lets people imagine the reactions a bit better. / Thank you, and I will!**

 **CrystalTearsofFaith: Ahh, I see. / Hehehehe xD I'm not saying anything, but I'm glad you like Mevia a bit. / I loved writing this! It might take a very long while to actually finish it, but we'll see. xD**

 **Emily The Avenger: (cracks up along with you)**

 **Infernius Flashfire: Ahh, I'm glad you think so x3 / Alrighty :3**

 **InsaneAcrobat: Halloo! Glad to have you back :3 / Ah, I see. And that's true, I can see what you mean, but it doesn't stop me from giving me a headache whenever Hadrian comes around. xD Him and his deals.**

 **Jac: (laughs) / No, it's just that they've been friends for so long that they can kind of 'read' each other very well. / (laughs) And Jesse, and the rest of the audience... / Very true.**

 **Toni42: I agree, Toni-kun. :3**

 **Shadow: No. They've been friends for so long that they can 'read' each other very well.**

 **Rabbits rule: (laughs) Indeed it was. / That's good! / Oh boy. Um, Sans, Underfell!Sans, Underswap!Sans, Error!Sans, Flowerfell!Sans, and there's probably more but I can't think of their names.**

 **giriri: I don't feel comfortable with telling you that. / (chokes) Oh my god that was so funny xD**

 **pls dont kill me: First off, as long as you are polite when speaking to me, then I'm not going to get angry or annoyed. xD It's only when you are rude that I'll be annoyed. / Secondly, technically it's not half of a thousand since it's only 455 words. xD / Thirdly, this IS a 'reaction' story- the characters are REACTING to my old AU/fanfiction, hence the long paragraphs of reactions. Sorry if you don't like it, but I kind of have to keep it in, otherwise some characters show up a lot and others kind of just pop in randomly, and I try to avoid doing that if I can. But thank you for the input! :)**

 **D: Okay, I'm sorry, but that was extremely rude. I try to be a nice person, but be rude to me for no reason and I'm going to get mad at you. First off, don't tell me to 'get some new eyes' due to not being able to understand your review because your grammar was atrocious, spelling was abysmal, and your message was such a long run-on sentence that it was literally painful to read. If I cannot read your review, it is most likely _your_ fault, because I've gotten some pretty hard-to-read reviews before but yours was like deciphering a code. / Secondly, I have stated multiple times throughout the course of this story's A/Ns that ALL STORIES INCLUDING THE ONE YOU MENTIONED ARE ON HIATUS, so clearly you didn't read that or just ignored it. Besides, I didn't 'finish it' 'years ago', I took a HIATUS on it _LAST YEAR._ I'm glad that you _like_ the story, but if you want me to update you need to ask me in the comment section of THAT story, or actually READ the A/Ns in this story, because I have stated more than FIVE TIMES that all other stories except for this one and Composite are on hiatus. I'm _so_ glad that you paid _such close attention_ to what I wrote, because it doesn't hurt my feelings _at all_ to hear that I spent time writing out a notice and people completely ignore it. Thanks a ton, kid.**

 **To everyone else, I am _so sorry_ about this rant here and about the delayed chapter, but the fact that someone could just blatantly ignore something that I've stated multiple times throughout this story just _pissed me off_ beyond belief. And when I'm pissed, my productivity levels hit bedrock.**

 **Well, anyway, that's it for today. G'bye!**

 **x.X. A.L. X.x.**


	147. Choose Wisely

There was a good, five-second beat, before everyone onscreen slowly swiveled to stare at the Old Builder. Even Winslow. " _Um... Harper?_ " Onscreen-Cassie asked, slowly.

Everyone in real life had also turned to stare at Harper, whose cheeks were slowly turning redder than a poppy. Well, except for Soren, who seemed quite unsurprised, which might've been surprising in itself until you remembered his 'Wool World'. Cassie didn't look _that_ concerned either, but then if you considered the fact that she'd pretty much _murdered_ people to try to get out of her world...

... yeah, no wonder they looked so blank about the whole thing right now.

"Er... Harper...?" Mevia asked, slowly. (As if _she_ could talk.)

Harper managed to mumble something along the lines of 'I got lonely okay' before sinking into the chair, looking as if she'd rather like to sink straight through it into the depths of the earth. Or, well, as deep as you can go without hitting lava or bedrock.

Ivor patted her on the arm a bit.

Onscreen-Harper shot all of them a slightly sheepish look. " _Hey, don't you judge me. Being alone gets lonely,_ " she replied defensively to the odd looks she was currently on the receiving end of.

Cassie immediately glanced away, a sort of shadow falling over her eyes. " _You're telling me,_ " she huffed, quietly.

Aiden squeezed Cassie's arm sympathetically.

The spider hybrid gave the tiniest shrug at that explanation, seeming to accept it, before reaching out and grabbing ahold of the bucket, tugging out of the item frame- before nearly fumbling it and dropping it, having apparently misjudged the weight of the thing. However, she managed to keep it from spilling water everywhere at the last second, steadying the bucket.

" _Happy to help, friend!_ " 'Ron' chirped.

Jesse blinked at that for a moment, before the spider hybrid simply shrugged again and moved back in Harper's direction. Harper smiled, taking the bucket from the girl. " _Thanks. See, I needed a way to confuse PAMA in case it ever found a way down here._ " She gestured at the cavern around them. " _That's why all this is way more complicated than it needs to be._ "

"Yes, usually if possible, I try to go for the simplest, most basic route," Real-Harper nodded in agreement, the blush on her cheeks clearing up slightly. Not _much_ , mind you, but enough that she no longer looked like a cocktail cherry. Now she just looked like a regular cherry. "But with PAMA, if I did that, it would've figured it out in no time. So I decided to make the system down in the secret lab much, much more complicated than necessary."

" _Oh. That makes sense,_ " Jesse said, thoughtfully. Harper nodded a bit before moving over to the cauldron on the floor, upending the bucket and splashing water into the cauldron. Immediately, a section of floor glowed brightly, illuminating the corner they were standing on- the spider hybrid looked down and shifted a bit in surprise- and streams of water came pouring down from the ceiling. A set of pistons that had been blocking the doorway slid neatly to the side.

Ivor tilted his head, leaning over slightly to get a better look at Harper as she moved to a little pool of water nearby, presumably to refill the bucket. " _Wow. What a builder,_ " he said, softly.

A round of giggles rose from the audience at that, Ivor's cheeks starting to turn slightly pink. At that moment, he and Harper were quite the nice pair, red and pink. Might as well throw some hearts in there and we could pretty much call it Valentine's Day.

" _Hmm, I think you find more than just her_ building _impressive,_ " Cassie hummed, giving Ivor a teasing grin and crossing her arms as she regarded him.

Onscreen-Ivor opened his mouth, looking over at Cassie with a scowl and looking fully like he was about to lecture her about it. He proceeded to pause, before shutting his mouth and turning away again, his cheeks turning the same shade as his real counterpart. " _Shut up._ "

The giggles intensified.

The spider hybrid smirked a bit at that, as if trying not to outright laugh, before turning to look in Harper's direction, the woman still stooping down and collecting water. " _So, you know about PAMA's weakness to water, then?_ " she asked mildly, gesturing around at the water pouring from the ceiling.

" _Yeah, I do. I'll admit you figured it out way faster than I did, though,_ " Harper replied, giving the spider hybrid a wry smile.

"Well, I mean, it was kind of an accident the way we found out..."

Lukas nodded sagely at the soft comment, patting the petite girl in his lap on the back. "Very true." He wasn't exactly _smiling_ , which was understandable in the current circumstances, but... he was definitely looking a bit happier than a few minutes before.

" _Once PAMA caught on to its weakness to water, it started eliminating as much of this world's water as it could find. This water that's down here? It might be all that's left._ "

Olivia's smile from Ivor's crush on Harper faded. "... that's... kind of sad."

Nell's own smile fell a bit, the girl pulling her feet up so that she was curled up on the couch a bit. "Yeah, brah..."

Onscreen, Jesse's face fell into a bit of a frown- just as the whole tunnel suddenly rumbled and shook.

Everyone's eyes widened.

"Um... is that what I think it is?" Ellegaard asked, voice sounding more than a little faint. (Magnus automatically looped his arm around her waist for support.)

"I think so," Isa said, quietly.

Aiden didn't say anything, but he was biting his lip, and his hand had just tightened on Cassie's forearm so much that he was cutting off the circulation to her arm. She didn't seem to notice, though.

Onscreen, Cassie proceeded to swear so badly that it would've made a sailor's ears bleed, but no one bothered to scold her about it. Even on the audience's end, nobody gave her a funny glance. (Actually, I'm willing to bet that half of the people in the audience were thinking along the same end as she'd been.)

" _I hate to take a leaf out of Cassie's book, but..._ " Ivor proceeded to mutter a fifteen-word list of swears that sounded suspiciously like there were a couple foreign ones in there.

Harper looked _horrified_. " _I still need to activate the other cauldrons!_ " she cried, before automatically looking at the other three. " _Hold them off to buy me more time!_ " She started towards another cauldron with water bucket in hand, before pausing and looking back at them. " _And whatever you do, don't get caught- I'm not about to get left alone again._ "

Jesse blinked a bit in surprise that, both real and onscreen.

For Harper to be desperate enough to have the company of someone she didn't even know, a teenager who hated her guts, and a former experiment of hers who she hadn't seen in over a decade...

Well, she must've been _really_ lonely.

Onscreen, Cassie whipped out her axe, backing her and Ivor (who was noticeably unarmed) into a corner. " _Jesse, you can keep them back more effectively than I can- I've got your back!_ "

Jesse nodded, uppermost right arm whipping out her sword as she turned to face the tunnel entrance. The screen changed to show the corner they'd rounded to get here, before zooming in rapidly to show a red-eyed Petra, Lukas, and several chipped spiders marching around the corner in a strange, almost spooky synchronization.

Em grimaced a bit at the sensation of chills crawling up her back. That was _seriously_ creepy.

" _You could've made this much easier for yourself,_ " PAMA droned, via Petra.

Real-Petra was doing her best to loosen her grip, since Jace looked as if he were being strangled, but her arms seemed to be locked in place and she was barely able to breathe herself.

The spider hybrid glanced at the spiders, brow furrowing slightly, before shifting her attention back to Petra- and then diving to her left abruptly, landing on all eights and doing a quick backflip into a standing position off-center of where she'd been. A fireball blasted through where she'd been half a second ago, which Cassie used her axe to slam straight into a waterfall, where it immediately fizzled out.

Jesse looked from Cassie back to Petra and Lukas, just in time to see the ocelot hybrid mechanically unsheathing his claws, while flames started dancing up the blade Petra was holding.

"Oh _come on_!" Stacy groaned loudly, summing up the sentiments of every human being in the room (and possibly Reuben, if his slightly annoyed/anxious expression was any indication).

" _Why did PAMA have to be so darn_ smart," Jesse groaned, glaring at them. " _Get out of their heads, you- you- you_ oversized hunk of metal and redstone!"

"Oh wow, Jesse actually insulted someone," Axel joked, feebly. "She must really hate this thing."

That got a _few_ chuckles, but Petra was turning paler by the second and Lukas looked like a marble statue from how pale and still he was.

" _Your friends,_ " PAMA-Petra spoke calmly, " _have been made useful. You, too, will be made useful._ "

The spider hybrid simply let out another sigh, tensing up and getting into a more defensive position. " _You asked for it, PAMA,_ " she said quietly, eyes beginning to glow red.

Lukas glanced at Jesse for a moment. Paused.

And then Petra swung her flaming sword at Jesse, and the spider hybrid dove out of the way in the nick of time, the ocelot hybrid walking past Jesse to engage in combat with Cassie. " _Petra, snap out of it!_ " Jesse shouted, but there was no command to it- only a sort of _pleading_ , because this was her _friend_ she was trying to stay alive from, not some other unknown enemy.

PAMA-Petra responded by almost lopping off Jesse's head with the flaming sword, the spider hybrid doing a sort of sideways flip out of the way and narrowly avoiding getting decapitated. " _I know all your moves now, Jesse,_ " PAMA-Petra droned.

" _There!_ "

Jesse's eyes flicked over in time to see Harper dump another bucket of water into the cauldron, Lukas casually sidestepping the column of water that came pouring down from the ceiling, splashing all over Ivor and Cassie and soaking the two of them. Ivor spit out a little spout of water as Cassie furiously blinked water out of her eyes and Winslow hissed angrily. " _Er... thanks?_ " he thanked Harper (albeit in a rather confused way) as he poked his head out of the water, black hair shiny with water.

"Well... at least they won't get chipped now?" Milo offered, weakly.

"That's an optimistic way of looking at it," Mevia muttered under her breath.

" _I did_ not _need a bath right now,_ " Cassie crabbed halfheartedly, smacking a spider with her axe and sending it flying backwards. The spider hybrid glanced back to see it flying at her, before whirling around on the spot and slamming the spider to one side with the sword, sending it soaring straight through one of the waterfalls. Immediately, it spasmed, arcs of lightning lighting up the area around it, before the redstone chip came off with a rather loud _pop_ ping sound, and it looked up at Jesse.

" _Help the red-haired girl and the black-haired guy in the corner NOW!_ " Jesse hissed at it (the audience could tell via the subtitles), a strange humming starting up as well. The spider immediately scuttled off to go help Ivor and Cassie in whatever way it could, while Jesse spun on the spot again and _barely_ managed to block a fiery hit from Petra's sword, which literally sent sparks flying as it grated against Jesse's blade. The force of the blow made Jesse skid backwards a step, making her stumble backwards-

"Look out, brah!" Nell gasped, hands flying to her mouth.

Jesse skipped back a step and lashed out with her sword, which Petra responded to by sending a fireball right at Jesse-

The spider hybrid threw herself to the ground, catching herself on all eights, just in time to catch the sound of something sharp swiping over her head. She looked up and twisted around a bit to see the fireball flying off in a different direction, while Lukas staggered a bit, claws swinging through where Jesse had been, off-guard.

"That was- that was _close_ ," Lizzie gasped.

"You said it," Real-Jesse whispered weakly, her fingers running over the choker on her neck in an attempt to calm herself down.

It was not working.

Onscreen, Jesse immediately threw all her weight onto her upper six legs and used her back legs to kick back reflexively, hitting him in the legs and knocking his legs out from under him, whereupon he immediately toppled straight forward, Jesse rolling aside in the nick of time as the ocelot hybrid tumbled straight into Petra, managing to knock the _both_ of them off-balance. Petra staggered before regaining her balance, but didn't move to help Lukas as he scrabbled to get purchase and get back to his feet.

Jesse rolled back a bit again, panting and desperately trying to drag air into her lungs as she clutched at her chest and used her sword to push herself back up to her feet, eyes filling with anxiety as she regarded her friends.

" _Here goes another one!_ " Harper shouted from where she was standing near another cauldron, an empty water bucket in hand.

Several more waterfalls came cascading down from the ceiling, Jesse dodging sideways in the nick of time to avoid getting soaked. There was now so much water pouring down from the ceiling, that it was starting to create a veil in front of the now un-blocked doorway.

" _End of the line, Jesse,_ " both Petra _and_ Lukas now spoke simultaneously, in the PAMA-affected voice that sent chills crawling up everyone's back every time someone spoke, as they steadily advanced on the spider hybrid. Jesse looked desperately at Cassie, but Cassie had her hands fall trying to handle some of the spiders that were crawling at her and Ivor and Winslow, even with the help of the non-chipped one.

Jesse turned back to face the two of them, face almost _white_ with fear.

Lukas tightened his arms around Jesse, feeling his heart beginning to pound so hard that he could hear every palpitation in his ears. Petra was biting her lip as she stared at the screen, hands actually _trembling_ from how wound up she was.

And there wasn't _anything_ being said- in fact, the audience was perfectly silent right now- but the audience could practically see _exactly_ what the poor girl was thinking right now. Two of her best friends, who were also some of the _only_ friends she'd had for a very, very long time. An ocelot and a Blaze. Two people who knew exactly what the black-haired girl had gone through. Two of the few people for whom Jesse would pretty much do anything, and when I say 'anything', I mean _anything._

And now she had to choose between the two of them.

* * *

 **A/N: There are a select few scenes in the original Hybrid that I feel like I lose some creative freedom writing in this format, and this is one of them. Agh.**

 **Sorry about a very late update, haha. x3**

 **RQTC: What is the best Minecraft: Story Mode fanfiction you've seen so far? (No, I'm not fishing for compliments. Tell me _genuinely_ what you thought was the best.)**

 **For me, it's a tie between Toni42's _Movie Mode_ , ChoyofBonk's _Decibels_ , SilverSilence14's _Of Plagues and Pals_ , or TealEmpress's _Portal Party._ Yeah, four way tie. These stories are FANTASTIC, and so are the authors actually writing it. (Meanwhile I'm here cringing at some of my old work- and some of my recent work, for that matter.)**

 **Guys, seriously though- feel free to make up background characters for Phantasmagoria! The contest still isn't over yet! Even if you don't think you'll win, who knows? However, _please_ take it seriously. I actually am planning on making this comic for professional purposes and just for fun, and I put the contest not to get joke characters but to get _actual_ characters and to include the people who support my (not-professional) work in something that I do.**

 **Responses to reviews!**

 **LunarTheMooncake: (laughs) Nice. Love the song. / (laUGHS) Yeah, very true. xD / Haha, thanks. I just don't take insults from people who don't even have correct grammar well. / Alright, fantastic! / Ah, I see.**

 **CamronXTheXGamer: (laughs)**

 **ChibiMCSM Crew: Er, probably not, I'm super busy. Sorry :/**

 **BeliTheGhoti0304: Next chapter, but you were right xD / Lololol nah, there's a lot of people who could be named Ron. / Nah, go ahead if you want! I'm accepting almost every character (except for blatant joke characters) / (laughs) / Probably more, but I can't be bothered to go check through the A/Ns. / (laughs)**

 **andie: 0-0 Well, not really. They just keep being a parasite if you ignore them... / (laughs) No spoilers. / (laughs) Um... yes. Yes, I think you are slightly addicted.**

 **LegoGirl794: (laughs) Sans/LegoGirl, you are cleaning up my floor. / Thank you for the character submission!**

 **Toni42: :3 I'm glad you understand... that being said, I hope you like this chapter!**

 **Kaos Ruin: (laughs) I love your character! She sounds pretty cool. :3 / Alright, thanks!**

 **ChloSky: I'm glad you like it so far, Chlo! / (laughs) I'm actually going to go straight into the sequel using this story, since I'm lazy and don't feel like making a second story. Hahaha xD And I will possibly be working alongside Composite _along with_ HCM, so when we catch up to where we are in Composite, then updates will come out at the same rate as Composite. But no trouble! Thank you for asking politely :) / Aw, thanks :3 / I like your unicorn lolol**

 **Rabbits rule: Ahhh, cool. xD**

 **AquaK13: Harper appreciates the hug :3 / (winces) No, she definitely goes back to her world... but- ah, but that'd be spoilers. ;3 / Indeed. / It's fine, it's not your fault x3 / Ooh, cool! Thank you for the character :) / Hahahaha xD**

 **PoptartCrumbs: (laughs) Right?**

 **gorloxianfang: (laughs) Well, welcome to the ride! And hm, I'll see what I can do with that. Thank you for submitting a character!**

 **giriri: Can you repost it here? I don't really have time to go back through every review, since there were so many... / 0-0 No need to get _that_ violent... / (laughs) / Yeah, Ivor's pretty great :3 / Yep, that's a nice song. That I think I mentioned the day it first came out, somewhere back in the story... lololol / I know that full well. I just wrote 'giant crab in Moana' because it sounded funnier.**

 **homeworkoverload: Thank you for the submission! It looks fantastic :)**

 **S4SH4L4SH4theGaMeR101: Agh! Tell your friend I feel bad for him (winces) / He's not her father in the Hybrid universe... but it's the same person, with the same personality. So sort of? / (laughs)**

 **LickLickLick: ? Ariza is me. And no I'm not. And if you review in the future please use a less... awkward name.**

 **ahnjoseph87: Ah that sucks. And no need to apologize, you're not the one who did it x3 / Hm, cool. Thank you for being detailed! :)**

 **InsaneAcrobat: 0-0 That would be... interesting, to say the least.**

 **Guest: Pffff-**

 **Guest: You will see. No spoilers :3**

 **J.M.M: :3**

 **Toniza ship: 0-0**

 **is joke: ... I wouldn't have taken it seriously anyway. In the future, please submit an actual character and not a joke.**

 **LittleAngelbun: (laughs) Aw, I'm flattered! That might just be due to me updating almost daily most of the time, though, lol**

 **x.X. A.L. X.x.**


	148. Fault

Onscreen, the spider hybrid was looking frantically between the blonde and the redhead. The ocelot, and the Blaze. Blonde, redhead. Ocelot, Blaze.

Lukas, Jace, Petra, and Jesse were all pretty much holding their breath at this point as the spider hybrid backed away, putting her sword away as she continued looking between the two frantically.

Finally, she squeezed her eyes shut, dancing on the balls of her feet anxiously.

" _I'm sorry,_ " she whispered.

And then she charged forward.

She body-slammed _straight_ into Petra, the nearest person to her, knocking the both of them straight into a waterfall that had been right behind the Blaze hybrid, several massive sheets of water soaking the two of them in a tremendous splash of water that got almost _everywhere_.

Real-Jesse felt her heart break a little.

The Blaze hybrid spasmed violently with a blood-curdling _scream_ of pain as electricity shot everywhere, arcing violently over her, before the chip on her head popped off and flew straight into a waterfall, Petra collapsing to the ground again as steam and smoke poured off of her in copious, smoggy clouds. The fiery sword in her hand immediately died down, and her eyes opened, no longer that dull red but back to a clear, if a bit dim gold.

" _Jesse?_ " Petra asked feebly, spitting out a full mouthful of water. " _That... that was_ awful."

Jace let out a weak little sigh of relief at Petra's being saved.

Onscreen, Jesse jumped back to her feet, looking fully like she was about to charge at Lukas as well, when she heard a loud shout. She whipped around to see Ivor trapped behind a furiously fighting Cassie as she slammed spiders away from her as best as she could, pointing furiously over the redhead's shoulder. Jesse whirled around again in time to see Lukas marching towards Harper, who was holding a full water bucket as she backed away from the blonde.

"Oh no," Petra whispered.

Jesse was determinedly not looking anywhere in Lukas' direction, which was easy since she was practically sitting in his lap.

Slowly, a determined look came over Harper's face, and the woman drew her arm back and chucked the bucket over Lukas's head, where it landed with a clank and a small splash on the ground, most of the water remaining intact inside the bucket.

" _I'm coming!_ " Jesse shouted, running towards the two of them, and it was near impossible to tell if she was directly addressing Lukas or yelling it to both of them.

Lukas's eyes glanced at Jesse. Immediately, his head snapped so he was looking away, and he moved _fast_. Slinging Harper over his shoulder like a bag of potatoes, he jumped onto a chipped spider and locked into place as he held onto a struggling Harper, the spider creeping rapidly towards a wall on the left.

"No!" Ivor shouted.

"Oh no," Olivia whispered, burying her head back in her hands, "oh no no no no no."

" _NO!_ " Jesse yelled, skidding a bit and running towards the wall.

" _Use the headset, Jesse!_ " Harper suddenly barked in a commanding tone, making Jesse automatically skid to a stop and look up at her, nearly white in the face, " _and don't forget to fill the last cauldron!_ "

"What? What do you mean? What headset?" Magnus asked, frowning at Harper.

Ivor and Harper both hushed him in perfect sync.

" _And one last thing,_ " Harper added, chucking down something small and red. Jesse automatically lunged forward and caught ahold of it. Upon closer inspection, it appeared to be a rose. " _Get the rose to Harry!_ "

Jesse blinked at Harper in _utter_ confusion. " _Harry-?!_ "

Otto narrowed his eyes at the screen, thoughtfully.

" _Jesse?!_ " Cassie nearly shrieked as she dove out of the way of a spider, batting at it frantically with her axe, " _do something!"_ A little ways away, Ivor was helping a very weak-looking Petra to her feet.

Jesse glanced to Cassie, before nodding frantically. " _O- okay!_ " And with that, she bolted for the bucket, scooping it up and racing towards the final cauldron. In a single, somewhat sloppy movement, she dumped the whole bucket of water into the final cauldron, slopping a ton of water over the edge of it and onto her feet, but she didn't seem to care, not right then, she was looking frantically at the still-mind-controlled spiders that were creeping towards her.

She backed away a step or two, before dropping to all eights, dashing like a madman back for the wall of water that now blocked off the doors, and shooting through them like a bullet, making a terrific splash as she dashed through.

Skidding to a halt just a foot away from the curtain of water behind her, she turned and looked over her shoulder. All of the spiders had come to a stop in their tracks, staring at Jesse blankly through the wall of water. Turning back forward, Jesse darted through the double doors, whirled on her heel as she unfurled to her feet in a smooth motion, and slammed the doors shut behind her.

Jesse was staring at the doors, carefully removing her hands from the door as if they might start burning at any second. A moment later, they dropped to her sides as she just kept blankly _staring_ at the door, tears beginning to well up in her eyes and overflow down her cheeks, her red eye dulling noticeably as she just continued staring.

Real-Jesse finally chanced the tiniest glance back at Lukas. The blonde's face was chalk-white as he continued watching the screen, his blue eyes not wide or upset or anything.

Just completely blank.

Carefully, Ivor carefully put a hand on her shoulder, leaning around slightly to get a better look at her. " _Lukas and Harper?_ " he asked in an almost uncharacteristically soft voice.

Onscreen-Jesse didn't even jump. She didn't start or look at him. She just simply shook her head a little, tears continuing to pour down her face as she stared blankly at the door.

Real-Aiden's temple throbbed a little bit as he clenched his teeth in an effort to keep himself from tearing up. Stampy was just shaking his head sadly at the screen, whispering a soft "oh no" over and over again. Anyone who'd been looking at Dan right then would've had to wonder when his hair had turned dark blue. Petra was avoiding both Jesse _and_ Lukas's gaze, while Mevia was leaning her chin on her hand, staring at the screen with an expression that was almost akin to sadness.

" _Darn it,_ " Petra gasped, from where she was curled up into a little ball on the floor. Her red hair was slick and shiny from being so wet, and she looked pale and shaken. It didn't help that curls of steam were wisping off of her steadily, either.

There was a short silence in the room, Jesse continuing to stare blankly at the door with tears pouring down her face.

Lukas's arms slowly tightened around Jesse in a hug.

It must've been _hell_ for her to make that choice, between two of her oldest friends, between two people that she platonically loved and two people she didn't want to ever see get hurt, not ever. He honestly couldn't blame her for making the choice she did.

He told himself this, over and over again, mentally repeating it until it was a mantra in his head- _it's not her fault, it's not her fault, it's not her fault_.

And yet for some strange reason, he still couldn't shake off the feeling that Jesse had _had_ a choice, could've picked either of them to save, and she just hadn't saved him.

" _Jesse, I'm- I'm remembering something from when I was chipped,_ " Petra suddenly blurted, voice still a bit weaker than it usually was, " _that seemed very important to PAMA._ "

Everyone's heads snapped to give their full attention to the screen.

The spider hybrid turned slightly to look at Petra, her red eye glinting slightly.

" _Tall... glowing red lights, but I can't quite make out what they_ are _..._ " Petra pressed her hand to her forehead, eyes crinkling up and lips pinching together as she tried to think, desperately. She looked as though she were about to cry. " _It's like a fuzzy dream, kind of- kind of giving me a_ headache _, but, but I can try to remember it more clearly if you need me to-_ "

" _Hey, take it easy_ ," Jesse said immediately, walking over and crouching down. " _You... you've been through a lot. You're gonna need to take a break. When you're ready to think about it, go ahead, but..._ " She squeezed her eyes shut a bit, forcing more tears out of her eyes and taking a weak little breath. " _Don't if it's going to hurt you._ "

"I'm sorry, Lukas," Real-Jesse said meekly, from where she was currently sitting and staring at her hands. Her eyes were suspiciously wet and she felt a bit as though she were about to cry.

Lukas shook his head a little bit, breathing in shakily and shaking off the thought. It _wasn't_ Jesse's fault. If anyone's, it was PAMA's. Jesse always meant the best when she did anything. "No... no, it's fine, Jesse. Logically, it might've been a better choice."

When he felt her shift a bit in confusion from where he was hugging her, he added, "Petra was clearly closer to you in position than I was, and was also positioned better in relation to a waterfall. You might not have had the best chance of getting me through a waterfall, but Petra was almost certain. So I don't blame you."

The last few words sounded hollow to him, and judging by the way Jesse didn't relax any, she must've felt the same way.

" _Thanks, Jesse,_ " Petra said gratefully, as Ivor and Cassie helped Jesse contrive to get Petra back onto her feet.

The spider hybrid took a deep, shuddering sort of breath. " _O-okay, we might be down, but we're not out. Harper told us to find her- headset, whatever it is. We just have to find whatever the heck it is before PAMA chips Harper and starts downloading her mind._ "

"Yes, what _is_ this headset that you were talking about?" Hadrian asked, looking back at Harper.

"Putting it simply, the transmigrational headset-"

"Transmigra-what?"

"Allows the wearer to take control of one of the chipped creatures that PAMA is controlling," Harper continued, ignoring Facemeat's question in favor of explaining. "It only works on zombies and skeletons due to those creatures having weaker 'minds', so to speak, but those are only from the trial runs _I've_ done of it so far, so it's hard to say if that'll change when Jesse gets there."

"Oh..." Ellegaard's eyes lit up a bit, although it was still a bit dim from what had just happened. You could see her mental cogs churning as she puzzled over this. "How does that work...?"

" _What's so important about this Harper person?_ " Petra asked, blinking a bit at the rest of the group.

" _She's an Old Builder,_ " the spider hybrid replied simply. " _She helped build the portal network, which hopefully means that she can help us get home. She also built PAMA, so she might be able to help us help her defeat it._ " Jesse blinked a bit at her own statement. " _I don't think that made a_ lick _of sense, but okay._ "

This got a few weak chuckles from the audience.

Onscreen, Petra nodded a bit, rubbing her head slightly as if she had a bit of a headache. " _Yeah, that's... a pretty good reason to rescue somebody._ "

" _Also Ivor has a crush on her,_ " Cassie contributed.

Immediately, the mood perked up a bit as everyone chuckled a bit. Even Jesse managed a faint smile at the comment, and it got a small chuckle out of Lukas.

Ivor's face turned a rather nice shade of hot pink. " _What? No. Shut up._ "

All of the girls in the room giggled a bit, making Ivor's face turn an even brighter pink.

Now the audience was all definitely chuckling a bit, even Jesse, because in a time like this... well, everyone needed a bit of laughter right now.

" _A-anyway,_ " Onscreen-Jesse began, trying not to chuckle while she was saying this, and immediately her expression went _dead_ serious, " _we're going to try to get her free, work with her to shut PAMA down, save the people in Crown Mesa, and save-_ " She immediately winced. " _Lukas._ "

Jesse's tiny smile died on her lips.

Real-Petra let out a sad sigh. "I'm sorry, Jesse. First yelling at you in the portal network, then making you choose between you and Lukas..."

"Oh, no, Petra, it's... not your fault at all. It's mine," Jesse said softly.

Ivor and Cassie immediately winced in sync at that.

The entire audience looked at Lukas, expecting him to immediately deny that.

It'd be an understatement to say that they were surprised that he didn't.

"How is this your fault?!" Petra suddenly snapped, eyes abruptly blazing with anger. If her expression was anything to go by, she was sick and tired of Jesse blaming herself for things that were out of her control, things that Jesse could have had no way of fixing. Things that Jesse just blamed herself for _every single time._ "If anything, it's mine. _I'm_ the one who insisted we go through that stupid portal, remember?!"

"I didn't try to stop you..."

"You couldn't have known what was going to happen!"

"Neither could you," Jesse simply replied, with a devastating bout of logic.

Petra paused, and Harper took the opportunity to quietly state, "Well, I _am_ the one who built PAMA."

"Well, it's as you said. You built it with good intentions. Even the best intentions go awry sometimes," Mevia said, not unkindly, if a bit bluntly.

Ivor nodded. "Considering I accidentally created a world devouring monster that nearly killed everyone in the whole world..." He smiled, a bit bitterly. "Well, I think you got off a bit easy there."

"Well, the sport _did_ have a choice."

Everyone's head snapped to see Hadrian, shrugging slightly. "She had a choice to save someone, and she picked someone."

"Are you saying she picked the wrong person?" Petra shot to her feet, accidentally dumping Jace on the ground clumsily with Reuben spilling out of his lap, a loud oink emitting from the small pink pig. Her eyes were now blazing with anger as she outright _glowered_ at Hadrian.

"You're on thin ice right now," Ivor warned the older man, eyes hardening slightly. "I'd suggest you tread carefully."

"No, not at all." Hadrian shrugged nonchalantly again, which probably didn't do anything but make Petra even _more_ furious with him. It probably didn't calm Ivor down any, either. "But I don't think I'm the only one when I say that I fully expected her to pick Blonde Guy and not you."

There was silence in the room as everyone looked at each other.

No one could deny it.

"Well, Jesse _didn't_ pick Lukas, she picked _me_ , _so_ _deal with it!_ " Petra _shouted_ at him, almost _snarling_ at the older man.

There was a little sobbing sound, and everyone looked around to see Jesse leaping to her feet and running for the door of the living room. Reuben let out an alarmed squeal and galloped after her.

"Jesse, no-!" Petra protested, clapping her hands to her mouth and wincing at what she'd probably accidentally just caused Jesse to do. "Aw, crap... I don't think I should've shouted..."

Lukas watched Jesse run out of the room.

A part of him wanted so very, _very_ badly to jump to his feet and chase after her, chase after her and catch her and give her a big hug and tell her everything was going to be alright, to keep her from fleeing the room that quite a few of them were probably coming to dislike. To tell her that it _wasn't_ her fault, not in the slightest.

But he didn't.

He just let her leave.

Because a different part of him didn't believe that last part.

That part of him didn't believe it one bit.

So he just sat and watched her go.

And felt his heart break, just a little bit more.

* * *

 **A/N: Sometimes I think I just want to make people hate me, so I write stuff like this.**

 **RQTC: Have you ever loved someone but hated them at the same time?**

 **Oh, yes. I love myself for writing this but at the same time I hate myself for writing this. I don't even know where this idea came from.**

 **LunarTheMooncake: (laughs) I'd probs do the same for Movie Mode, tbh. / Yea x3 / Yeah, very true xD / Ahahahahaha, very true. Those are just a bit cringey. I also don't like the (very few) M-rated ones.**

 **S4SH4L4SH4theGaMeR101: Oh, I beta read one of those :3 And I write two of them xD / Lololol I was gonna say**

 **LittleAngelbun: (can't help but laugh) / x3 / Ooh, I'm glad you like 'em!**

 **Emily The Avenger: (cracks up) Very true.**

 **Guest: Aw, thanks! I'm glad you like it!**

 **CamronXTheXGamer: x3 / Aw, I'm glad you like 'em!**

 **Le Realest Red: I love that too but I feel it'd be narcissistic for me to say I love it so much because I'm in it xD**

 **RapidSammi: Nah, don't worry about it. I feel this chapter makes it worse, lol.**

 **andie: Nah, I just laugh a lot at anything. I've laughed at a stupid meme for no reason. I just laugh a lot. xD / ... (starts whistling) / Ooh, that's tough. I actually probably wouldn't change anything.**

 **Darkbeast Dend: Aw, glad you like it. / Spider! 'Cause Hybrid, lol xD**

 **Toni42: Ehhh xD / Yeah, Decibels is fantastic! And lol I can't believe so many people liked Hybrid, I look at the writing now and it's just crINGE xD / Yeah, I wasn't too happy.**

 **Infernius Flashfire: (laughs) Cool.**

 **EnderKitty68: I'm glad you like it! / (laughs)**

 **Savannah-the-Caracal: Hm, I see. / No.**

 **NoItsBecky: Ooh, nice :3 / (laughs) What are you talking about, your stories are great.**

 **Rabbits rule: Wow, that is... a lot xD / Oops. Nope. Lukas not the guy who got picked. / HEY JESS ABOUN TOLD ME SOMETHING- lol jk. He just told me you have nice hair. ;3**

 **AquaK13: Nahh, it's fine xD / Lololol xD / Hm, glad you like 'em! Those are all pretty good. Which Different Outcomes, by the way? Mine or Scorching Streaks of Paint?**

 **Kaos Ruin: Nice :3**

 **PoptartCrumbs: Yeah, they're all pretty good!**

 **homeworkoverload: Ooh, thanks for the second character! And ah, that sucks (winces about the braces) I've been there, fam.**

 **DarkPrincess2001: Lol ice x3**

 **giriri: Okay, thank you. :3**

 **CrystalTearsofFaith: (laughs) Ah, it's fine. / Same here, right?! / Yeah, it's pretty great :3 / Oh, I'm glad you like it! / (laughs) I actually thought about doing an art school AU for MCSM. I'm still thinking about it, but I really love the idea! / Oh! Thank you so much! This looks very lovely and detailed! x3 Thanks for the detail!**

 **BeliTheGhoti0304: (chokes at the lyrics) / (points at chapter) / That's a big tie, but I get why! (Not on Hybrid though lol that makes me cringe) / Alright, cool :3**

 **Reach: Ah, I see. I've heard of it, but I don't think I ever quite read it.**

 **Guest: I'm glad you like it so far! :3**

 **Well, that's all for this time! See ya, sayonara, and g'bye!**

 **x.X. A.L. X.x.**


	149. Something's Wrong

One.

Two.

Three.

Jesse was mentally counting her laps as she circled the entire house... mansion... well, whatever it was. Over and over again. It was getting a bit too repetitive, but it was the only thing that kept her mind off of what had happened-

Oh no, now she was about to start crying again.

One. Two. Three.

Reuben was snuffling along in her arms, almost as if he were encouraging her to keep going, which she did. Probably because it was the only thing keeping her from bursting into floods of tears.

Four. Five. Six.

The laps were quite quick the way Jesse was doing them, especially since she alternated between walking and jogging in an effort to keep her mind on anything and _everything_ except Lukas's voice, still ringing in her head over the crunching of grass underneath her shoes, hollow and empty and almost _cold_.

" _It's not your fault._ "

He'd said it. And she should've felt better.

But she could tell from the way he said it that he didn't really believe it.

Seven. Eight. _WHAM_!

Jesse was _not_ a very large individual, and so in running into the mystery person standing there she proceeded to very elegantly fly backwards and land right on her butt. At least Reuben was still snug in her arms.

"Oh. Jesse, there you are."

The black-haired girl blinked a bit, looking up at one of the last few people she'd ever expected to come chase after her. "Mevia?"

The pale-blue haired woman let out a long sigh, crouching down to get on Jesse's eye level. (Or, well, a rough approximate of it, anyway.) "I _said_ you'd be outside but does anyone listen to me? _Nooo_ ," she grumbled, making Jesse smile a bit.

A slightly awkward silence came over the two of them. Mevia wasn't quite meeting Jesse's eyes, and Jesse didn't know enough about Mevia (or, well, anything now that she thought about it) to try to start a conversation or anything along those lines.

Oh, but-

"Is... Lukas still angry?" Jesse asked weakly.

Mevia glanced sharply at the green-eyed girl, who was now staring at her knees, Reuben insistently snuffling and nuzzling her shoulder. "He... definitely didn't seem happy when I left," the blue-haired woman replied, careful to keep any emotion that might betray her out of her voice.

Jesse let out a little groan and buried her head in her knees. "I knew it."

The blue-haired woman spent a few moments pondering how to put this to Jesse delicately. Then she realized that her nickname was Mevia the Enforcer for a reason and she wasn't exactly fantastic at being delicate, despite being a woman. Otto was better at matters like that. So she just said it bluntly.

"Your boyfriend's an idiot."

Jesse lifted her head, blinking at Mevia in surprise. When Mevia saw that Jesse hadn't _quite_ understood, she made a flailing gesture with her free hand, rolling her eyes a little bit. "You know. Your boyfriend. The blonde guy. Lukas."

"Oh, but he's not my-" For some reason, Jesse decided the battle was futile before she even got that far with it and let it trail off in a soft sigh. "He's not an idiot."

Even Reuben snorted derisively at that.

"Yes he is. He's clearly blaming you for something that you cannot take the blame for." Mevia was very aware of how flatly and bluntly she was saying these things. She really was.

She also was trying to get a point across, and if she danced around the issue all day she was going to get nowhere.

The young girl simply sighed a little again. "But... I mean, I _did_ have a choice. Hadrian was right about that..."

Mevia's shout of " _for Notch's sake_ " probably hadn't been heard by a few people in the Far Lands. Probably.

Well, maybe that witch heard it. Actually, she probably did hear it and was wondering what the heck that had just been. As it was, Mevia's shout sent about fifty parrots flying off with a loud squawk.

"Are you _freaking_ -" Mevia punctuated the statement with a very long sigh, before deciding to get to the main point of her argument. "... this is not your fault."

"But-"

"No. No butter, no scones, no tea. No buts."

Jesse couldn't help but grin slightly at Mevia's way of saying 'no buts', as the pale-blue-haired woman continued lecturing the more petite girl. (And significantly younger. Let's not forget that.) "Hadrian's an insensitive idiot for saying that. Yes, it's true," Jesse winced at the very blunt statement, "but at that point in time he could've done without saying it. Lukas is an idiot because he's not taking the obvious thing into account."

"What would that be?"

"That you didn't think about it. I highly doubt you actually came to a well-thought-out reason for saving one or the other and just tackled the nearest person to you."

Reuben grinned as Mevia continued, in her very straightforward and (slightly painfully) candid manner, "This is not your fault. You just happen to have an idiot as a boyfriend." Mevia paused. "Well, not a _complete_ idiot. An idiot in this situation."

Jesse _still_ didn't feel fantastic about this, but... she _did_ feel much better now that Mevia had delivered her little speech. "... okay."

There was a short pause where Mevia was looking at Jesse and Jesse was just looking back at her, Reuben looking between the two of them.

"... alright, I can see I'm not getting anywhere with this, so how about we stop talking about this and I can teach you how to fight?" Mevia asked abruptly, standing up and looking down at the petite girl still curled up on the ground.

"Wh-? You can fight?" Jesse asked automatically, standing up, Reuben still cradled in her arms.

Mevia sighed, giving her eyes a slight roll. "Does it really look like I can't fight? Yes, I can fight. I'm quite good at it, actually. I'll go easy on you, since you're still basically a kid and since you took a bit of a beating earlier with some of the others."

"... okay." Jesse managed a small smile, setting Reuben down next to her. "Thank you."

"Don't mention it."

The two of them started for the armory, one slightly taller woman (but significantly older) and one very short girl walking alongside each other in silence.

"... wait, how did you know Petra, Gabriel, Isa, and Reginald were training me earlier?"

"Petra seems like she's got a very quick and very uncontrolled fighting style. Mostly to fight off mobs, not other people, so her style is a little more wild and uncouth than the others, harder to predict and easy to end up with lots of bruises if using a practice sword. Gabriel's fighting probably deals more on brute strength, rather than finesse, so he tends to push harder with the blade and causes more strain on your muscles, making it harder and harder to keep up your attacks or defenses, and you were trembling quite a bit when you came back. Reginald seems to have an almost mechanical style, as if he's used to fighting in sync with others, and he's quicker to show defense than offense, since what he's supposed to do is protect the Founder. And with Isa- well, Jesse, I've seen Isa's fighting in action over a hundred times, give me credit for recognizing her handiwork once again," Mevia rattled off, almost automatically.

"... that describes their fighting styles almost down to a T," Jesse said meekly.

Mevia let a smile twitch over her face. "Well, Hadrian and I have a habit of analyzing people as frequently as possible in new situations."

"... you should be an analyst."

At that, Mevia just openly laughed.

* * *

Lukas was fiddling with a loose thread on his jacket sleeve. He knew he probably shouldn't, since he'd end up pulling the thing apart, but it was almost hypnotizing the way he'd gotten intrigued in it.

"You have to talk to him about this..."

That was Maya. Her whisper was low enough that if it had been anyone else but Lukas, they probably would've just heard muttering. As it was, Lukas had some pretty fantastic hearing.

"Why exactly will he listen to me again?" That was Aiden.

"Well, you were his best friend..." Gill. Were they were talking about him?

"Yeah, _were_. Until I pitched him off of a city and kicked him out of the group. I'm sure he'd _love_ to talk to me now."

Yep, they were _definitely_ talking about him.

Lukas didn't show that he was listening, but he shifted around to get a better look at the thread. Chancing a glance up, he could see Aiden gesticulating wildly with Maya and Gill whispering to him. Ivor was watching with some detached interest from where he was.

"Well, first off, you're going to have to talk to him _sometime_ -"

"Unless he ignores me or avoids me, and frankly in his case I couldn't blame him if he did that-"

Ivor got up and started speaking to the three teenagers, his voice low enough that Lukas couldn't _quite_ pick it up. Lukas would never understand how Ivor could keep his voice so soft one minute but then blare out like a broken trumpet the next.

The next thing he knew, Ivor and Aiden were sitting on the carpet a few feet from him, Ivor's face completely unreadable and Aiden's face rather impassive. He could see the way Aiden was chewing on the inside of his cheek a little, though, and he could almost instantly tell that Aiden was nervous.

But about what?

"Lukas, you're being an idiot about the whole thing with Jesse."

The blonde almost _jumped_ out of his skin and turned to stare at Ivor, who was still completely unreadable. Aiden was staring at Ivor too, looking a little taken aback by the statement himself. "Well, you didn't have to put it like _that_..." the brown-haired boy murmured, softly.

"If it's subtlety with Ivor you want, he's not like that. He will get straight to the point even if it's a little mean. Actually, he's a bit like Ellegaard in that regard," a passing Soren remarked, before he returned to his seat and flopped down, a book nestled in his hands.

Lukas decided not to comment on how everyone in the room appeared to be listening to the conversation, and the fact that Ivor was looking almost faintly amused at being compared to Ellegaard, and decided instead to focus his attention back on the other two sitting across from him. "How so?" Even _he_ winced (internally) at how cold his voice was.

"Lukas, you're pretty much blaming her for something that's not her fault. If there's anyone to blame, it's PAMA. Not Harper, not Petra, and _definitely_ not Jesse," Aiden picked up, quietly.

"As if you're one to talk," Lukas muttered back bitterly, before blinking in surprise as Aiden visibly flinched at the comment.

Holy crap, had he just _said_ that?

"Alright, what is wrong with you?" Ivor asked, tiredly.

"What do you mean what's-" Lukas didn't even get halfway finished with the statement as Ivor started listing reasons, staring right at Lukas the whole time.

"You're acting like a total asshole, you've been distant with everyone, and you didn't get up and run after Jesse almost immediately. You're blaming her for something that's not her fault at all. And you _know_ full well it's not her fault."

 _I know it's not her fault,_ Lukas wanted to say. _I don't know why I'm feeling like this._

What came out, instead, to his _utter_ mortification, was a bitter, "Isn't it?"

Everyone in the room had _completely_ abandoned the pretense of pretending to do something and was now just _staring_ at Lukas. Em and Nell had been holding a small conversation, but were now gaping at him in perfect unison. Soren had dropped his book, Maya had whipped around from where she'd been about to quietly exit the room, and Petra and Jace had conked heads as they'd spun around to stare at him. He could feel a hot red flush rising to his cheeks, he was just so _utterly_ embarrassed.

"Of course it's not!" Jace finally spluttered out, looking befuddled. "Lukas, what's wrong?"

 _I don't know what's wrong, I have no idea what's going on!_ Lukas wanted to scream. _I'm not the one saying these things anymore! What's going-_

Wait.

Episode 6.

The chaos. Things shattering. Those shadows he'd vomited up. Jesse's new choker.

 _Those shadows_ _he'd thrown up._ _Jesse's choker_.

She'd gotten a lot of it out of him. And he'd felt better this morning, so he hadn't questioned that she'd gotten it all out.

But had she really?

How much of it was still left in his system?

Why hadn't this started happening until _after_ she left the room? Why hadn't he started acting like _not_ him until after she'd jumped up and run away? Because she'd been practically sitting in his lap. Why hadn't he gotten angry about anything sooner? Because there hadn't been any reason until to get angry. Not at Jesse. Not at her. Not enough to make her run away.

Not enough to make that choker come out of contact with him. Not until now, anyway.

"Lukas?"

His mind snapped back to the current dilemma. Aiden and Ivor were staring at him with concern, Ivor's brow furrowed slightly, Aiden's lip between his teeth in that signature moment of worry that Lukas had gotten used to over the years.

"Are you okay?" Aiden asked him, hesitantly. As if he was afraid of Lukas lashing out at him again.

Lukas managed a tight, stiff shake of the head as he struggled to get to his feet without his body and voice rebelling against him. _Get up, dammit._

"I don't think so."

* * *

"Awwww!" Jesse let out a half-laugh, half-groan as she collapsed back onto a heap on the floor, letting the wooden sword clatter out of her hand. "I don't think I'm ever going to beat you."

"Oh, you're doing fine."

"You said you're going easy and you whacked me fifty times! Over that, really!" Jesse panted out, but she was still grinning. This was oddly therapeutic, being whacked by a sword. (Technically it was supposed to be the other way around, but Jesse hadn't managed to land one hit on Mevia. For such a significantly older woman, she could _really_ move.)

"Well, you're still doing better than most people would."

"I shudder to imagine what you're like with an actual sword in your hand," Jesse eked out, flopping onto her back, but she couldn't help but just grin at Mevia.

Mevia let her wooden sword drop, a grin coming over her face. "Yes, well, you really _aren't_ doing that badly. Really," she said, when Jesse gave her a flat look, "if you had some armor, in a _real_ fight with me, you might be able to survive long enough to run away."

Jesse just groaned a bit, before rolling over onto her stomach and managing a weak grin up at the blue-haired woman. "This is oddly therapeutic."

"What, being smacked with a wooden sword over and over again?"

"Well, it sounds bad when you put it that way," Jesse managed, although she couldn't help chuckling a bit with depleted lungs. That was almost exactly how _she'd_ put it, mentally.

Mevia scoffed a little bit, shaking out her short blue hair a little bit. "Don't tell anyone that, I'd be a terrible therapist."

"Well, I don't know about that."

"I'm blunt, I just spent the past half-hour whacking you with a wooden sword, and I'm not empathetic at all," Mevia replied, in her usual brusque manner. "I would make the worst therapist in the world."

"Well, it made _me_ feel better," Jesse chuckled a bit, pushing herself back to her feet and letting out a long breath. "Shall we go again?"

Mevia didn't get the chance to even begin to reply, when suddenly the door to the armory was thrown open. Mevia's relaxed expression tightened, and Jesse automatically glanced over her shoulder to see who it was.

It was Lukas, his hand still tight on the doorknob. So tight that he was practically strangling it as he stood in the doorway, shoulders trembling.

"Lukas?" Jesse frowned, turning around to face him with concern written all over her face. And she obviously couldn't see her own face, but... she knew. "Are you okay? What's wrong?"

Lukas didn't respond immediately, just staring at Jesse for a moment. His shoulders were trembling violently as he stepped forward, almost hesitantly. And his eyes... were those _tears_ in the corners of his eyes?

"Lukas?" Jesse frowned again, setting her wooden sword down, before walking forward and putting her hands on his shoulders, feeling them abruptly relax under her hands. "What's wrong?"

His eyes flicked down to her neck. Now that he was glancing down, Jesse couldn't help but remember that thing- an almost choker-like object- with the thin chain around her ne-

Oh Notch.

Oh _Notch_ no.

His eyes travelled back up to her own green eyes, which had suddenly widened in horror and realization.

Oh no.

Oh no.

Oh _no_.

" _Help me_ ," he whispered.

And then his eyes rolled back into his head, and for the second time in 24 hours, Lukas collapsed to the ground in a dead faint.

* * *

 **A/N: Lukas stop fainting**

 **Okay, but Mevia was nice, we realize "oh Lukas being an asshole is not entirely Lukas's fault", and Jesse's swordfighting skill has... sort of progressed.**

 **Also, completely off-topic, but I went to Hot Topic (lol) the other day and got soooo much stuff. I'll show y'all once it's out of the wash x3**

 **Another completely off-topic topic, but happy belated birthday to the wonderful guest reviewer Rabbits rule! (thanks for telling me Aboun) I should've posted the chapter two days ago or yesterday. My apologies.**

 **Ooh, one last thing! The Phantasmagoria background character contest is still on, and going on until the END OF AUGUST. So please submit characters as fast as you can!**

 **RQTC: What aspect of my stories do you _not_ like?**

 **Everything. xD**

 **Also when the heck did we get almost 80,000 views like _w a t_**

 **Responses to reviewers!**

 **LunarTheMooncake: Ahh, sorry fam. xD / (shrugs back)**

 **PoptartCrumbs: Yeah, I oddly love angst, too. xD / (laughs) I know what you mean, dude, I _completely_ know what you mean. Which reminds me that I never uploaded my Radar fanart, did I -_-**

 **Jack: Sorryyyyy xD**

 **Toni42: Oh dear xD I'm sorry about that. But... well, I just _had_ to once I got the idea. **

**AquaK13: Agh, sorry xD / It will live. Maybe. ... it might not live. (Jk, jk, Lukesse will live on. I think. Maybe.) / Ahhh, yeah, little kids can be so annoying but wonderful at the same time xD**

 **Kaos Ruin: Aw, I'm sorry xD / I was like panicking internally when I had to pick. Like, Telltale, why do you do this to me?!**

 **andie: ? / ... have you not been reading this story dude xD / Idk. xD / I _definitely_ don't know. / Well, the way Hadrian _said_ it was pretty insensitive. Also, he just generally has a tone to his voice that makes you want to punch him in the face. / ... ummm... / Yeah, precisely. I actually have one line that I'm keeping in that summarizes how OP Cassie is xD / Yep, chapters are sort of pre-made. I change some things, but definitely won't be changing much in Episode 8. / Um, I'm glad you like the story, but please don't comment on other readers's reviews, as I think the review is directed more towards me and not towards the entire fandom in general. (Unless they address the entire fandom, in which case carry on! xD)**

 **EmLee: He knows it's not her fault, and he knows full well, but he can't help feeling like it is, just a little.**

 **homeworkoverload: (cracks up) You can totally play, but he didn't really do anything wrong. Just was a little insensitive at the wrong time. / Aww, but braces will make your teeth look lovely, so it pays off in the end. / (laughs)**

 **LegoGirl794: Oh 0-0**

 **Emily The Avenger: I should've just named the chapter that, no caps xD**

 **CrystalTearsofFaith: (cackles) / Yeah, Lukas wasn't exactly in the wrong, but we all know how sensitive Jesse was. He probably should've tried to hide it a little better until the situation was better. Well, but then again we figured out WHY that happened THIS chapter, but**

 **TheRealRedGaming: Nah, you love Ava more than you love yourself :3**

 **CamronXTheXGamer: (cackles) / Ahhh, hm. / Depends on the situation, really! I could go both ways.**

 **S4SH4L4SH4theGaMeR101: (is cackling) / Yeah, I don't know why I wrote that, but HEY MORE DRAMA THIS CHAPTER xD**

 **RapidSammi: (snorts) (starts cracking up)**

 **NoItsBecky: Yes indeedy / Nah, they're good. / (laughs) I've never played D &D, so art school it is.**

 **Guest: Meh / I'm glad you think I'm amazing, but I'm not really that amazing haha xD**

 **DarkPrincess2001: Oh, trust me... he knows.**

 **LittleAngelbun: Aghhh :/ That sucks. xD / Sorryyyyy xD / Surprisingly, probably one of the last people anyone expected.**

 **Rabbits rule: Sorryyyyy xD**

 **BeliTheGhoti0304: Whaaa xD / Oh noes / Lolololol yep, that sounds about right. / Hahahahahaha xD**

 **the indecisive bird: Oh hi Mason long time no see / Ahhh.**

 **Darkbeast Dend: Mm. / Redstone skill? What redstone skill? I don't see a redstone skill. / Bye! / No, I'm not dead. Why did I get a comment so soon, one week of not updating and everyone thinks you're dead xD**

 **giriri: Yeah that was fun xD / (cackles) / (laughs) / YAS FINALLY SOMEONE WHO KNOWS WHO IT IS!**

 **Infernius Flashfire: (cracks up) Well, it's not entirely his fault, so... / Yes, it totally does. xD**

 **Shadow: Please don't, then the story wouldn't be able to progress xD / (starts cracking up)**

 **WingardiumLeviosa223: That's good! :3**

 **ShiningHopeBeast: Ooh, boy, big long review. Let's get to it! / Aw, thank you! It's not that great, but thanks! / (laughs) Ahh, I know how you feel about that. / Oh, yes! I did see that. Thank you for the submission! / No, it's fine! I was thinking about extending the deadline anyway, so you're totally fine! / Thank you for this submission as well! / Ah, it's fine, don't worry. x3 / ? What's MHM? / Ah, I can't do anything about that. I ship DanCat as well in the game universe xD / Oh, I see. Be forewarned there will be a looooot of same-sex shipping at points in my stories. / Thank you for the (very long) review!**

 **Um, holy shit, that was a lot of reviews.**

 **Anyway, that's all for this time! See ya, sayonara, and g'bye!**

 **x.X. A.L. X.x.**


	150. Well Okay Then

"Oh Notch!" Jesse gasped as Lukas abruptly collapsed into her, her knees buckling as she staggered a bit trying to keep him somewhat upright. "Oh Notch, oh Notch, Lukas-"

Lukas was suddenly a lot less heavy, and Jesse looked over to see Mevia picking Lukas up and out of the smaller girl's hands as if he was a rag doll, dragging him away from the furnaces and a little further into the room, to avoid knocking his head on anything that might cause brain damage. "What just happened?" Mevia asked briskly, setting Lukas down quickly.

"I-I think Lukas is still p-p-possessed f-from last night," Jesse stuttered out, her tongue barely able to work properly.

"What- when he threw up that shadow thing?" Mevia asked, a bit more brusquely than was necessary.

"Yeah, I think-" Jesse looked down at Lukas, who was lying on the floor, before kneeling down and pushing down on his stomach. "Lukas, c'mon, spit it out-"

Nothing happened, except that he rolled over to get away from her with a weak little groan.

Frantically, Jesse removed her hands from his stomach, running her hands over his torso-

Her hands bumped into his neck, and the blonde suddenly convulsed, making a violent gagging noise.

Jesse seized ahold of the opportunity and pressed her hand to his neck. Lukas made another gagging sound, rolling over to get away from her, upon which Jesse threw her arms around his neck and refused to let go as he thrashed violently, Mevia backpedaling until her back smacked into some wooden fenceposts as Lukas made horrible retching sounds-

That black, glutinous substance poured out of mouth in a large blob, the blonde boy vomiting it out of his mouth and gagging, strands of the black substance still sticking to his mouth as he desperately spit. The moment the last of it seemed to be out (Jesse had her arms firmly around his neck, and he didn't seem to be throwing up any more of it), the shorter girl quickly yanked him away from the blob, which seemed to be evaporating.

A tiny worm of black substance blinked up at her, before beginning to snake away-

"Oh Notch, don't let that thing get away!" Jesse yelled, dropping Lukas and steadying the once-again-limp blonde against a wall, trying to move quickly but also keep Lukas from thumping his head on anything-

Mevia grabbed a real axe out of her back pocket, nearly fumbling the thing, and slammed it down into the floor, narrowly missing it and making the floorboards let out a nasty _crunch!_ Yanking it out, she prepared to try again-

"What's going o-"

With a nasty squishing sound, Harper's foot came thudding down on top of it, making the worm of _whatever_ that thing was burst under her foot. Harper froze in the doorway, blinking blankly at them, Mevia blinking in surprise at what had just happened, while Jesse, now that the immediate threat seemed to have been neutralized, was trying to keep Lukas steady.

"... I'm not sure I want to know what I just stepped on," Harper said slowly and in a deceptively calm voice, lifting her foot slowly and taking a look anyway.

Mevia shook her head slowly, carefully putting her axe away again. "... I don't think I want to know either."

Harper put her foot back down, looking up at Jesse. "Jesse, is Lukas alright? He just came bolting past me a moment earlier, I-"

"H-he was s-still being possessed by- by that thing that was possessing him last night, I- I got rid of it all now, but-" Jesse was starting to hyperventilate, but stopped when Mevia leaned down and scooped Lukas up, putting him over her shoulder like a sack of potatoes.

"I'll go find Ivor. Harper, do you know where he is right now?"

Harper blinked, looking slightly bewildered. "Er, living room, last time I checked."

"Got it." And with that Mevia was off.

Harper blinked after Mevia again, before glancing over at Jesse. "Erm... what exactly happened?"

Jesse thought about explaining the whole thing, but honestly right now she was quite tired and felt a little more like just sitting down. So she just said, quietly, "It's a long story."

Harper nodded sagely, as if that explained everything. "Ah." She glanced after Mevia again. "And why is Mevia acting... nice?"

"Is she not usually nice?"

"No, not really..."

* * *

Jace had not been expecting for Mevia to walk into the room with an unconscious Lukas over her shoulder, put him down on the floor where he usually sat, and ask Ivor if he had a healing potion or something.

He did, of course.

Nor was he expecting Jesse to come in a minute later, Reuben snuffling along a ways behind her, and sitting down right next to Lukas expectantly, watching him carefully. Everyone had been asking Jesse what had happened, but the only thing she would say to anyone (with a small, tired and _very_ relieved smile on her face) was, "It's a long story."

After what felt like an eternity but was, in actuality, only three minutes, Lukas finally sat back up, looking rather pale. "Ah... that was... _horrible_."

"Lukas!" and the blonde was almost tackled to the floor again by Jesse, who'd flung her arms around him in a tight hug. (And then proceeded to wince severely, having forgotten she'd just spent the better part of half an hour getting whacked by a wooden sword.) "I'm so glad you're okay!"

"... well, okay is _relative_ , I feel like I might throw up." The blonde carefully pushed Jesse off of him, blue eyes searching her. "Are _you_ okay? You basically ran out of the room like you had a fire on your heels earlier... and you just winced just now when you hugged me."

Several sets of eyes went to Mevia, who was sitting on the couch and watching the proceedings with her chin resting on her hand.

She just shrugged a little.

"Oh, I'm fine," Jesse said, dismissively. "Are _you_ feeling better, though? You pretty much vomited up this little black inky... worm thing. I thought we got it all out, but apparently not."

"Apparently not... what happened to it, by the way?" Alarm began to enter Lukas's eyes, and he made to get up. "If that thing's on the loose-"

"I think we should be fine, Harper stepped on it by accident."

Hadrian made a sound that was remarkably like a cough, but Jace _swore_ when he looked at the older man that he could see the ghost of a smile on his face.

"Oh." Lukas relaxed again. "That's good."

He paused a moment later, before kneading his forehead a little bit, his face turning a wee bit paler. "I, uh... I was a bit of an asshole to you earlier, wasn't I?" he asked, looking as if he was holding back a wave of nausea.

"No, you were-"

"Yeah," Gill interrupted Jesse flatly, "you kinda were."

When he noticed the scandalized look on Jesse's face, he shrugged. "Hey, he made you guilty about a situation where you had no right to be guilty, and he hurt Aiden's feelings."

"You make me sound like a kid," Aiden mumbled, but Jace noticed he didn't deny it.

It wasn't like he _could_ deny it, really.

"Um... yeah." A sheepish smile came over Lukas's face, and he rubbed the back of his head. "I'm sorry about that. I promise I didn't mean anything I actually said. I think that was the worm talking."

A small fit of giggles seized several members of the audience, and indeed, it was going to be quite a period of time before Em was going to be able to look at Lukas without chortling a little bit.

"It's fine, don't worry." Jesse wrapped her arms around Lukas and squeezed tightly in a warm hug, and was relieved that his arms went around her almost immediately.

Since she was engaged in the hug, she didn't notice the way Aiden squatted down and whispered to Lukas, in a calm, light sort of tone, "The next time you hurt Jesse, though, I don't think Jace is going to be very happy with you, if the way he's been glaring at you for the past five minutes is any indication. So I don't recommend doing it in the future."

Jace hastily recomposed his face, internally tamping down his surprise. He hadn't thought anyone had noticed.

Apparently he'd been wrong.

Lukas glanced over at Jace, blue eyes ghosting over the other male's eyes, before flicking back as he leaned over to Aiden, a slightly ashen look coming over his face. "Don't worry, I wasn't planning on getting possessed again anytime soon."

Aiden fought back a smirk as he stood back up. "Good."

* * *

It took another ten minutes or so, but eventually everyone had come back into the room and settled down again, preparing to continue watching the episode. Lukas had Jesse back in his lap, arms wrapped tightly around her, and Reuben had joined them, perched in Jesse's lap and snuffling cheerfully. Harper had absentmindedly leaned into Ivor as well.

He didn't seem to mind.

After making sure everyone was ready, Ivor (who had gotten ahold of the remote) picked it up and pressed the play button again.

The screen loaded for a few seconds, before coming back on to Jesse looking over her shoulder at the rest of the group. " _A-anyway,_ " Onscreen-Jesse said, trying not to chuckle while she was saying this, and immediately her expression went _dead_ serious, " _we're going to try to get her free, work with her to shut PAMA down, save the people in Crown Mesa, and save-_ " She immediately winced. " _Lukas._ "

Lukas's arms tightened around Jesse, and Petra glanced at Jace. However, no one actually said anything.

Everyone nodded at this plan- even Winslow.

Jesse turned back to face the front- and came to a stop in her tracks. " _Whoa._ "

"What? What is it?" Soren asked, leaning forward despite himself.

Gabriel gently flicked his friend on the back of the head. "Why don't you wait and see, Soren?" he asked, more than a hint of amusement playing in his voice.

Soren sent him a half-hearted scowl.

The screen switched to show a sizeable room made entirely out of stone (which didn't help the dimness of the room any), washed in a pale blue light, and it took most of the viewers a couple seconds to realize that most, if not all, of the lighting came from strategically placed Sea Lanterns around the room. In the back of the room was a sort of 'caged-off' area made of blue stained glass, reflecting the only patch of golden light in the room- which was a small library in the corner of the room, lined with bookshelves and with a single, giant book resting on the table in front of the shelves, illuminated by glowstone. The floor was composed of several 'paths' of stained glass, and if you looked closely, there were trails of redstone beneath them, and bookshelves and various other items decorated the room.

"... wow," Axel said softly (for once), and that pretty much summarized how everyone was feeling about this cluttered lab.

"Amazing wiring..." Ellegaard murmured, leaning forward with her eyes gleaming in interest. "I'd love to see how that entire room was wired up."

" _I think it's safe to say_ ," Cassie said, drily, " _that we found the lab._ "

Jesse reached into her pockets quickly, rummaging around for a moment, before pulling out the rose that she'd stuffed into her pocket. " _Um, before she got abducted, Harper gave me this. She told me to give it to someone named... 'Harry'?_ "

Petra gave Jesse an odd-look, steam rising off of her and her color looking almost back to normal. " _And that will find this headset thing?_ " she asked, slowly.

Jesse shrugged a bit, dripping water herself, giving the rose a tentative glance. " _That's what she said._ "

" _Jesse,_ " Petra said tentatively, in a tone that made several members of the audience exchange slightly nervous looks, " _are you sure Harper hasn't... you know..._ "

" _Completely lost it?_ " She and Cassie chorused, both of them exchanging a slightly surprised glance with one another at that.

Real-Harper winced, and Real-Petra made a little hissing sound. "I, uh... sorry about that, Harper."

" _Hey,_ " Jesse said seriously onscreen, " _think about how long she's been alone. Nothing but this lab and mindless... PAMA-people for company. I'd be a bit..._ " She hesitated for a moment. " _Odd, too. Also, considering Magnus and the 'Death Bowl'-_ "

All three of the others winced a little. Offscreen, Magnus grinned sheepishly when several eyes travelled to him.

" _Ellegaard and her 'Dome of Application' or something-_ "

" _Concentration_ ," Ellegaard protested, "Dome of _Concentration!_ "

" _Soren and his Wool World-_ "

Real-Soren blinked at being brought into this.

" _Ivor and his lab in the Far Lands-_ "

"Ah, yes. Still beyond me why _anyone_ would build a lab _there_ , of all places," Soren mumbled, glancing at Real-Ivor. (Real-Ivor rolled his eyes. Please. As if Soren could talk with 'Wool World'.)

" _And Cassie and her... tendencies after being alone for so long-_ "

Both Real-and-Onscreen Cassie developed an interest in their shoes after those words.

" _I actually think that having to give a rose to someone that she built called 'Harry' to get to this headset is woefully tame. Cut her a bit of slack, okay?_ " Jesse asked, her tone getting a bit more gentle.

"Well..." Otto scratched his cheek, a more dubious look coming over his face. "Jesse _does_ have a point there."

" _That seems like a reasonable request,_ " Ivor stated calmly.

" _You're just sayin' that 'cause you looooove her,_ " Cassie teased the older man, a mischievous grin coming over her face.

"I do _not_ ," Real-Ivor huffed, but the blush on his cheeks was rather giving him away.

" _I'm not even going to honor that statement with a response,_ " Ivor replied in the same calm voice, but his cheeks were turning pink, and he crossed his arms self-consciously over his chest.

Petra seemed to be fighting back a smirk as she said, " _Anyway, she might've built this place kinda weird... but I guess we shouldn't judge her too harshly._ "

" _Especially when we need her help to save everyone who's been chipped by PAMA,_ " Ivor nodded, arms still locked across his chest.

Petra was quiet for a few seconds. " _Good point._ "

" _Right now, we should probably just focus on finding the 'headset' Harper talked about,_ " Jesse spoke decisively, drawing all eyes to her as she waved the rose around a bit, " _For starters, let's see if we can figure out who..."_ She paused, before amending the statement, " _or_ what _Harry is, and why he wants flowers._ "

With that, the entire group fanned out into the lab, Jesse still gingerly holding the rose by the stem as she looked around the lab.

"That is... really quite amazing," Isa breathed, looking astonished. "How did you even _build_ that entire thing by yourself?"

"You'd be surprised how much time you have when you're all alone," Harper replied, quietly.

Jesse paused when she noticed Cassie staring at a large portrait on the wall, a very odd look on her face. The portrait's occupants were immediately identifiable as Harper, and it took a second to realize that the boxy thing in her lap was PAMA. Harper's hair was a bit shorter and dead black rather than white, and her face looked a little less tired, but that small smile on her face was still Harper's, all the same.

"Oh... was that when you first built PAMA?" Ivor asked, softly.

"... yes."

Jesse came to a stop next to Cassie, looking first at the plaque on the wall next to it. " _Prototype: Autonomous Management Agent-_ " the spider hybrid abruptly blinked, realization flooding into her face.

" _Oh. PAMA. I get it._ "

" _This looks a lot more like the Harper I used to know,_ " Cassie said, softly.

Jesse looked over at Cassie, a strange look coming over her own face. " _Were you two close?_ "

Real-Cassie and Harper exchanged looks, before Cassie shrugged. "Not... _really?_ I mean, we got along better than a lot of the others, but... I mean, I was closer to my aunt."

Onscreen, Cassie shrugged slightly. " _Well, I think out of all the... Old Builders... minus my aunt of course, she was one of the few that I liked the best. I guess that's why it made it so easy for me to blame the others... and I guess in time it was easy to blame her, too. Ten years... does that to a person, I guess._ "

" _A little over ten, I should think._ " Jesse was silent for a moment, regarding the painting for a moment longer, before beginning to turn away again. " _Well, I guess I should get back to looking around._ "

Cassie nodded absentmindedly, still staring at the painting. " _You do that._ "

Jesse nodded and backed away- before nearly tripping over a machine that seemed to be composed of a jukebox to one side, with a large blank frame set on a T with a zombie head on it. The spider hybrid looked at it appraisingly, before reaching out with her foot and gently nudging the button, a robotic voice suddenly grating out of the box and making her jump back with a wince.

"Oh, yeah, that's- that's a bit loud," Sparklez winced, scooting back a bit.

Petra rubbed her own ears, looking a bit pained. "It's worse when you're closer to the screen."

" _One thing Harper needs to work on, in two words:_ volume control," Jesse mumbled, the robotic voice blaring at full volume over her own words.

" _Good morning, Harper!_ "

" _It's morning?_ "

Several people snorted at the innocent comment Jesse had just made (with most other people it would've sounded flippant), the robot continuing to speak loudly and ignoring Jesse's comment (well, duh. It was a jukebox next to a redstone...y... thing that Harper had made with a zombie head on it), " _You should not let yourself feel guilty. You had the best of intentions!_ "

Hadrian blinked at this. Harper's face was starting to turn pink again.

" _You are like a flower in the desert, and bring joy to those who have none._ "

Jesse blinked rapidly at the comment, before lifting her shoulders in a tiny, non-judging shrug, and pressing the rose into the frame. " _Ooookay. Here ya go, 'Harry'..._ "

Abruptly, the redstone under the glass behind Harry started glowing, making Jesse's eyes light up in slight excitement.

"There you go, you're on the right track," Harper said mildly, acting as though her face was not currently turning pinker than a carnation. "Just need one more item and you should be able to find the headset."

"Oh- really?" Jesse asked, slightly surprised. "That easy?"

Onscreen, Jesse stooped down to look at the glowing stained glass. " _Alright, looks like I'm on the right track! Okay, so we lit up the blue stained glass here... and there's a trail of gold stained glass_ here..." She followed that and came to the end of another trail, which was another T with a skeleton head on it. In the center of the frame was a piece of packed ice.

"That gives a whole new meaning to the term 'cold-hearted'," Aiden whispered to Cassie, who let out a soft laugh in surprise. She hadn't been expecting him to make a connection to a pun like that.

Or make a pun at all, really. His usual reaction to Jesse's puns was just good-hearted groaning.

That reminded Cassie, Jesse hadn't done it in a while.

" _Hello, Harper!_ " the skeleton-head blared out, the moment Jesse pressed the button, making Jesse rub her ear a bit absentmindedly, " _it's Margaret, so good to see you! Hope you've been well. You've got to melt that ice around your heart and forgive yourself._ "

Harper had buried her head into the nearest thing in an attempt to hide her cherry-red face. Unfortunately (or, well, perhaps not so unfortunately), this 'nearest thing' happened to be Ivor's shoulder.

Ivor didn't seem to mind, though his cheeks did turn a wee bit pink.

Onscreen, Jesse blinked a little bit as 'Margaret' continued, " _You're not the one to blame._ "

" _Okay,_ " Jesse spoke aloud, as if she was talking to the audience, " _so, not only is Harper kind of..._ " She paused. "Very _lonely, she likes making puns and jokes._ " She paused again. " _The two of us certainly would've gotten along._ "

Jesse looked to the gold stained glass, before tentatively trying to pull the ice out.

The glowing gold stained glass fizzled out, and Jesse gave an absentminded nod. " _Okay, so this is the right thing._ " She poked it back into place, green-and-red eyes scanning the room carefully. " _Good to know. Now where..._ " She paused, coming to a stop on another 'person' nearby, this one having a creeper head.

" _Ah._ " And she strolled over to the other 'person' and gently kicked the button.

" _Hey, Harper!_ " To the relief of Onscreen-Jesse and almost all of the audience members, this voice did not practically explode in their ears. At least none of them would go deaf anytime soon. " _It is wonderful to see you. You've always been like a bright beacon, a torch, of hope to this world's citizens. Brighter than all the redstone-_ "

" _Torch_ ," Jesse abruptly cut off this unnamed 'person' (to Harper's relief) and trotted over to the bookshelves experimentally, scanning the shelves. " _Torch, torch, redstone torch... oh, hey, a book._ " Momentarily distracted from her task, she flipped the thing open, confusion immediately entering her expression as she stared down at the pages. " _There's so much technobabble and numbers in this book I can barely tell if I'm holding this thing right side up or not._ "

"I bet Ellegaard might like it, then," Olivia said, thoughtfully. "And I guess I wouldn't mind giving the thing a read."

Jesse carefully folded it back shut, looking at the cover. " _The Redstone Heart by... oh, hey! Soren!"_ Jesse exclaimed, Ivor immediately looking over at her from where he'd been standing.

"Wait, what?" Hadrian immediately sat up straighter, eyes sparking in interest.

"What's the 'Redstone Heart'?" Stampy wondered, looking _fascinated_ by this strange item.

Harper looked as though she wanted to explain- in fact got so far as to open her mouth to begin- before pausing and sighing. "I'm sure it'll come up later in the episode."

Jesse held out the book to Ivor, showing him the cover as he took the book from her, looking very interested. " _He_ did _write a lot of books... don't remember him saying anything about this one, though._ " Ivor flipped it open and started glancing through, absentmindedly.

Jesse nodded and went over to the other side of the room, stumbling upon a chest. (Literally. She tripped over it.)

The entire audience winced a bit at that.

Jesse picked herself back up and poked it open, lower arms rummaging through the chest while her upper ones kept it open- presumably so the lid wouldn't slam shut on her fingers. " _Okay, sticks, redstone... oh, hey, if I can find a crafting table, I can just make that redstone torch. Cool. And a bucket... two buckets... um, three work as well, I guess. And I guess some TNT might not hurt, either. Unless it explodes,_ " and straightening up, she let the lid shut, stepping back quickly as it came clapping shut.

"There's a crafting table not too far from there. Jesse should be done in a minute," Harper said, almost dismissively, her cheeks finally beginning to go back to a somewhat normal shade.

"Oh, really? That's good," Lukas sighed, giving Jesse a gentle squeeze.

Reuben gave his signature piggy grin as Jesse smiled back at Lukas, VERY relieved about the whole thing.

Onscreen, Jesse seemed to have spotted the crafting table, and she went over and set down the stick and then the redstone on top. A moment passed as the two ingredients shivered together, before condensing into a redstone torch, the redstone tip glowing faintly even with nothing powering it.

"Ah, there we go, getting somewhere," Lizzie murmured, looking faintly pleased.

" _Yep, got that one!_ " Jesse picked up the torch with a lower right arm, twirling it casually as she turned on her heel and moved towards the earlier... 'robot' person thing. (Nobody quite knew what to call it.)

Jesse pushed the torch into place, and immediately the purple-stained glass beneath Jesse's feet glowed brightly, the back of the lab beginning to glow. The spider hybrid tilted her head to one side, almost curiously, before walking over onto a large portion of stained glass, a single pane of the glass sliding aside behind the bigger glass square to reveal... a strange sort of helmet, but with a visor over the eye section with a single horizontal slit on the visor, glowing blue.

"Oh. That's... what is that?" Gabriel frowned, curiously.

"Yeah, it looks pretty sweet, brah."

Harper let out this sudden, very loud, relieved sigh. "Oh- you found it!"

Jesse looked at the screen, the pieces of the puzzle abruptly clicking together in her mind. "Oh- that's the headset?"

"Yes. Good thing you found it," Harper sighed in relief.

Jesse inspected it for a moment, taking ahold of the thing in her hands. " _Hm, it buzzes a bit._ " She turned it around in her hands for a moment, squinting at it, before carefully sliding it onto her head, the blue part of the visor starting to glow even more brightly as it went down over her eyes. " _Ah- there we go._ "

Turning around gingerly- she didn't seem to be able to see anything- she stepped onto the larger stained glass square, and abruptly the whole thing began to glow even more intensely, attracting everyone else over. Petra's face seemed to be back to it's normal coloring, and she tilted her head at Jesse as the spider hybrid turned around- before her mouth dropped open, eyes widening behind the visor. " _Whoa!_ "

* * *

 **A/N: Virtual Reality Jesse is coming next! :3**

 **This chapter was a bit longer than I originally anticipated. Huh.**

 **GUYS, WE HAVE HIT 80,000 VIEWS, 65 FAVORITES, ALMOST 2,500 REVIEWS, OVER 457,000 WORDS, AND 150 ACTUAL CHAPTERS!**

 **oh boy I think my brain just exploded**

 **RQTC: Who's excited for Season 2 to show up in HCM?**

 **(raises hand)**

 **Responses to reviewers!**

 **Guest: PFFFF I don't know why Lukas keeps fainting, he just does. xD / Aw, thank you! I'm not amazing, but I'm glad you think so! :3**

 **RapidSammi: Awww :(**

 **S4SH4L4SH4theGaMeR101: Ahahaha, true. / Also true. / Oh, I guess that's okay, I guess? Huh. I was honestly expecting everyone to have complaints. I guess not.**

 **Emily The Avenger: Yep. / Yep. / Yep. / Yep. / Yep, I keep saying yep. / Yep. / Lololol it's fine xD**

 **NoItsBecky: Hmm, only if you know what's going on xD / I DID NOT HURT THE CINNAMON ROLL**

 **EmLee: Well, she likes Jesse to an extent. (Wait, did I just say that? Forget it. Forget I said that.) / Yes, very, very true. xD / (laughs) Well, a LOT of her brainpower, yes, not ALL of it. And she wasn't always... that big of a jerk.**

 **LunarTheMooncake: YEP. / ALSO YEP. xD / (shrugs)**

 **homeworkoverload: True. / Ahh, yes. I don't reread very much, so I miss little things and it bugs me, but I be too lazy to fix 'em. xD / It would've been more effective if you did the spit-take BEFORE saying that xD / The thing that tided me over was that I was allowed to eat all the popcorn I wanted after I got the braces off. xD / Yep. xD / Lolololol xD / (cracks up)**

 **EnderKitty68: (grins) She doesn't have a soft heart... she just happens to like Jesse (oh. Whoops. Did I just say that? Yep. Okay. Forget that. Sorry.)**

 **andie: (sniggers) / Hmm, I don't THINK you ever said that...**

 **giriri: (laughs) Very accurate statement there.**

 **CamronXTheXGamer: ... um... (scratches head) Sorry, I can't accept the character.**

 **KaosRuin: (laughs) Mevia keeps telling herself she just wants to get the episodes over, but that's not really the reason. / Hehe, perhaps. / Oh, it was in that chaotic chapter.**

 **LegoGirl794: Ah, I'm glad you like the stories x3**

 **Jack: Indeed she is xD / Um, wouldn't do anything, since he's not the one doing this, but sure go ahead. / Ahahaha, can't help you with that buddy, sorry. / Do you even have to ask? xD**

 **LittleAngelbun: (chuckles) Very accurate statement. / I'm glad you do! / Huh. I'm glad you like it :3 / You probably will, unless you don't like ghosts, in which case you probably won't. xD**

 **InsaneAcrobat: (laughs) I see. / I'm glad you like that, but as to the Old Builders... they're still forcing people to participate in the games. It's not like you really have a choice if you WANT to play the games or not. / (laughs) / Yeah, I've been doing my best. xD**

 **Rabbits rule: Oh. Huh. Well, happy belated birthday, anyways! / (chuckles) / Ah, I see.**

 **Endie789: Oh, wow, I'm glad you like it. :3 / Er, can't accept the character, she's a hybrid. / Also, I'm pretty sure it said so in the sheet, but the ages can ONLY be from 15-17. And I don't really want so many details in the character. Detailed to a point, yes, but this is a background character who will only most likely be seen in the background, with a rare few showing up in the spotlight. So... / Thank you for fixing up the character, but as I said, I don't really want the sheet to be THAT detailed. You can have a look at MysticKitty's character submission if you want a reference for the sheet, I just can't have a background character be so detailed.**

 **CrystalTearsofFaith: Aw no xD / Hmm, I see. Well, Mevia is decent... sometimes... xD / Sure thing dude xD**

 **Infernius Flashfire: Yes, yes I did xD / Yes, no, no, yes, yes, yes xD**

 **AquaK13: 0-0 / Lolol xD / Aw, thank you! / No, it's fine. Have fun on your vacation! :3 / Thank you :3 / x3**

 **Toni42: That's good! And thanks for understanding and not just going "Aw I wanted a chapter" like a bunch of people do when a chapter like this releases lol xD**

 **LunarTheMooncake: PFFFFFFF / Aw, I'm glad you do! / (cackles)**

 **gorloxianfang: Oh, thank you! That was helpful.**

 **RapidSammi: x3 / (laughs) I'm glad you like 'em.**

 **KaosRuin: Yay, thank you! :3 / Oh, yes, definitely. She's actually one of the few characters I'm considering having be in the spotlight once or twice right off the bat. / Yes, yes it is. xD**

 **Darkbeast Dend: Yep. :) / Hmm, I think I like the characters in general the best, although the set design (like locations and stuff) is also quite cool!**

 **DarkPrincess2001: (laughs)**

 **MysticKitty: Oh, this is fantastic, thank you! / That's still up in the air, since I'm still in early planning stages. I'm planning on trying LINE Webtoon or Tapastic to post it, as well as DeviantArt and just having a up.**

 **LittleAngelbun: Yes, yes, nope (it's a Nickelodeon cartoon), it's blank, yes, no, yes, yes, and the last two are blank. x3**

 **ShiningHopeBeast: (cackles) / Indeed. / Ahhh, I see. I thought so, but I wasn't sure. / No problem, dude!**

 **Welp, that's all for this time! See ya, sayonara, and g'bye!**

 **x.X. A.L. X.x**


	151. Move Quickly and GET OUT OF THERE

Onscreen, Jesse's mouth turned into a slow smile, as she looked around the area. The screen abruptly turned black, and the audience had to wonder if it was a scene change until they saw some words that read 'Harper v 1.0.43' in the corner, the center of the screen beginning to light up, a gray image fading into view.

" _What's going on, Jesse?_ " Ivor's voice sounded tinny and distant now, even though they _knew_ that he was standing right next to Jesse. " _Is it working?_ "

" _I'm starting to see something,_ " Jesse spoke slowly, looking around the gray landscape that was fading into view and into color with every passing second. There were zombies... chipped ones... and a small fence around her.

"Oh, wow," and Petra narrowed her eyes at the screen. "Where _is_ that?"

"Is that like... a reality you created? A sort of... virtual reality?" Soren questioned, narrowing his eyes at the screen himself.

Harper shook her head, but a hint of pride had crept into her voice now. "Not quite. Give it a minute."

" _Is PAMA there?"_

Onscreen, Jesse blinked. The screen changed to show... a zombie, with blue digital code flickering at the edges of the screen. The zombie itself was outlined in pale blue, very faint, glowing blue lines, and the eyes of the chipped zombie, rather than that dull red everyone had gotten used to, were a luminous glowing blue.

They blinked.

Everyone in the audience also blinked.

"I, uh... didn't know zombies could blink," Ellegaard murmured, blinking at the screen a bit herself.

"Neither did I," Mevia muttered.

"... _I'm not in the lab,_ " Jesse said slowly, the zombie slowly revolving on the spot and looking around itself.

"Wait- is Jesse _inside_ the zombie?" Olivia gasped, the whole thing clicking together in her mind.

Nell gasped, her blue eyes growing round and wide. "Brah, that would be _so_ epic to experience."

Harper nodded this time, a slow smile spreading over her face as the rest of the audience gasped a bit, duly impressed. (Hadrian, against his will, let out a low wolf-whistle at the feat.) "Yep. Found a way to hook into chipped creatures." The smile faded again a moment later, as she reached up and tapped her chin, eyes narrowing. "You'd better move quick, though, Jesse."

"Why's that?" Jesse asked, blinking at the older woman in confusion.

"Well, I'd been planning on installing a patch of software so that it wasn't detectable by PAMA..." Harper murmured, crossing her arms across her chest thoughtfully as her eyes narrowed at the screen even further, worry beginning to become more obvious in her voice.

Lukas paled in realization, picking up on what she was getting at. "But you haven't installed it yet."

"No. No I haven't. Which means that if Jesse stays in the system too long..." Harper trailed off, eyes widening as her imagination decided to run away.

Real-Jesse had turned a few shades paler at this declaration, but she swallowed nervously and turned to face the front anyway. "Well, I guess I'd better hurry then."

" _I'm... at the base of a giant mesa, from the looks of it._ " Zombie-Jesse looked down at herself, blinking at her hands. " _I think I'm also a zombie._ " The girl started revolving on the spot, in tiny, little steps. The screen changed to show normal-Jesse, with the helmet on, revolving on the spot as well, which looked sort of adorable. " _It's like some kind of... Mob-View or something._ "

" _What a preposterous name,_ " Ivor said, a slight scowl on his face, before it turned into a grin and he shook his head a bit. " _I_ love _it._ "

The Order silently exchanged grins as Real-Ivor smirked a bit, his cheeks turning slightly pink.

Well, as far as names went, there were worse ones.

Zombie-Jesse looked around, clapping her hands together in front of her mouth and hopping up and down. (Which looked very oddly adorable, considering she was inhabiting a zombie right now.) " _Oh my_ gosh _, I wish you guys could see how_ cool _this is._ "

"It does, indeed, look very cool," Axel said, his grin so big it practically split his face. Jesse beamed back, forgetting for a moment the possible imminent danger she was in.

She came to a stop a moment later, having spotted something else nearby. It appeared to be a chipped spider. Jesse had barely turned to look in its direction, when suddenly a sort of 'option' that read 'MIGRATE' in big blue letters popped up above it.

The audience blinked at that.

Jesse blinked at that as well, before squinting at it, leaning forward a little bit-

The screen suddenly zoomed in on the spider, moving so rapidly that the screen blurred, before a spray of digital zeros and ones popped up. In the lab, the girl suddenly whipped down from an upright position into all eights, the spider hybrid looking around and adjusting her position slightly as she looked about. " _Oh. Oh wow! Oh wow. This is_ awesome. _I wish you guys could see how_ cool _this is!_ " she repeated, voice rising into an excited squeal.

"Huh." Harper leaned forward, squinting at the screen. "I never was able to access spiders as Migration options. I think maybe Jesse's extra limbs allow her to move like a spider... so the Migration helmet expanded the options for her."

Mevia leaned forward as well, eyes sparkling with interest. "Hmm, maybe. It would explain why she got down into a spider position, at least."

In the lab, Ivor carefully approached, crouching down and examining the spider hybrid, who was looking around. " _How remarkable. How is this possible? I mean, I've always heard tales of what the Old Builders were capable of, but..._ "

Jesse revolved on the spot, Ivor having to scoot out of the way so she didn't run into him. " _I'm pretty sure Harper would have to explain it specifically, but... I think the headset lets me control things that are hooked into PAMA._ "

Harper gave a little golf-clap, looking pleased. "Right in one. You're really quite smart, Jesse."

"Not really, I think I just used the context..."

Harper gave Ivor a flat look, which went unnoticed by Jesse.

Ivor leaned over and whispered into the woman's ear. "It's Jesse. She'd deny she was proficient at being alive if someone praised her on it."

"I see your point."

Onscreen, Spider-Jesse (the actual spider, not just the spider hybrid) looked around, as Cassie's voice (which came through as rather tinny) asked, " _You said it. Is being a spider comfortable?_ "

There was a short hesitation in which the audience was fairly certain Jesse was thinking about how to put it, before she said, thoughtfully, " _Actually, I like it better than being a zombie. I think my lower arms were being suppressed, somehow. At least all of my arms are working as a spider._ " And she shifted said limbs a bit.

"I guess I see her point," Aiden said thoughtfully. "I mean, imagine suddenly not being able to use one of your hands or your leg. It'd probably feel really uncomfortable."

"Except in Jesse's case, it's four of her arms," Maya joked slightly, making a small rumble of amusement go through the audience.

" _I have so many questions I want to ask Harper!_ " Ivor exclaimed, before huffing a bit. " _... too bad she was captured. That spider- no offense, Jesse,_ " he added hastily.

The spider-hybrid shrugged, screen switching to show the movement being somewhat replicated by the actual spider. (It was really, really weird to see a spider shrugging.) " _None taken. I'm only half._ " The spider kept looking around, shifting about and staring around in interest. " _Holy_ crap, _this is seriously awesome,_ " she added.

Half of the audience may or may not have snorted a little at that. Lovely grasp of your priorities you've got there, Jesse.

" _That spider had to haul Harper all the way back to town,_ " Ivor finished his statement, growling slightly in irritation.

" _Don't forget about Lukas, too, I gotta try to save them both,_ " Jesse added, creeping forward a bit experimentally.

There was a short pause, where Ivor, Petra, and Cassie were all sharing a look. " _... that's a great plan, but... I just hope they're not too far from where you are right now,_ " Petra said, slowly.

"Yeah, that would... throw a pretty big wrench into the plan," Jace mumbled, wincing at the thought.

The spider hybrid pressed her lips together, making a thoughtful sound. " _... hm, Harper must be where they're putting on those redstone... mind-control chips, so I should go take a look there first- at least I can almost certainly find one of them there._ "

"Yeah, if we know PAMA at all by now, it'd be wasting no time in trying to chip Harper," Hadrian said, bluntly.

Otto elbowed him in the ribs, making Hadrian wince sharply and rub that area briefly- it was starting to bruise.

" _That sounds like a solid plan. I'm sure you can do it,_ " Cassie said, giving the spider hybrid an encouraging smile that she couldn't see.

Jesse grinned and glanced back in their direction- probably was judging by the voice. " _Aw, thanks, Rose._ "

The spider crawled over to the wall of the mesa, before rearing up on the back legs and starting to climb up the mesa rapidly, legs propelling her up the side of the mesa-

Right as the spider reached the top, everything suddenly went black, flickered, and then came back on.

"Whoa, what was that?" Stacy asked, eyes narrowing.

"That was a bit nerve-wracking, imagine if Jesse had _fallen_ from that height," Stampy shuddered.

Sparklez also shuddered a bit. "I don't really want to think about that..."

Em winced a bit as well, but she didn't actually say anything.

Onscreen, Spider-Jesse scrabbled at the edge of the mesa, hastily pulling herself back onto solid ground. The screen switched back to show the spider hybrid, a sound that was remarkably like a faint heartbeat starting to thud away in their ears, her breathing quickening a bit. " _Whoa! T-the signal just... um, b-blooped out there, for a second,_ " Jesse said, slightly shakily.

" _Interference detected._ "

Harper's eyes widened, and her hand went to her mouth. "No... PAMA shouldn't have been able to detect Jesse so quickly... unless-" Her eyes widened again, and she snapped her fingers, muttering something foul under her breath as realization hit her like a sledgehammer. "Oh, of _course_ , I should've taken that into account! That was stupid..."

"What was stupid? What happened?" Mevia asked, immediately.

"Since PAMA didn't get Jesse earlier... it must've upped the defenses of everything to ensure that she couldn't get too close," Harper replied, staring at the screen but not actually seeing it. "Firewalls, spyware or malware detection programs... cyber sensitivity... of _course_ , if it upped _everything_ , the cyber sensitivity _must've_ gotten higher-"

"You mean that it can sense things that _aren't_ part of its system?" Ellegaard immediately asked, face paling as she realized what that meant.

Harper nodded, everyone's face turning pale as they processed what that meant. "I think the only reason it didn't notice Jesse right away is because she's using the transmigrational headset, which has a very similar digital coding system to what PAMA has. Now that it _has_ noticed her, though... she's going to either have to take the headset off and let PAMA lose the signal and try again later, or she's going to have to move _very_ fast."

"I'm _not_ going to leave Lukas again," Jesse grumbled, in reply. "I refuse."

Lukas's arms tightened around her again.

" _Drone sequencing initiated. Trace subroutine activated,_ " PAMA continued, before pausing for a moment. " _Is that you, Jesse?_ "

The spider tensed up at the sound of her name, glancing down. The lines that had been blue earlier were now glowing red and orange, pulsating dangerously. " _PAMA?_ "

" _PAMA...?_ " Ivor asked, eyes widening as he took a step back in the lab, the spider hybrid starting to tremble dangerously as she looked about, breathing beginning to pick up into a pace that could've been called 'hyperventilating'. " _No..."_

" _Just what do you think you are doing, Jesse?_ _This is a rather silly thing to do, don't you think?_ " PAMA continued, as the spider began to look around rapidly. Skeletons, zombies, and a few spiders were starting to approach the spider, who backed away a few steps. The spider hybrid looked around frantically, PAMA still droning on in the background, but Jesse's heartbeat was eclipsing its voice, speeding up, getting faster and faster and louder and louder, before the spider glanced up. Behind the approaching mob, there was a skeleton walking stiffly along in the background.

"Oh god- migrate! Use the migrate option!" Petra shouted, voice rising into a higher octave.

"I-I don't know how to activate it!" Jesse cried, biting her lip anxiously.

"Just look at a mob for longer than a few seconds! The system will take that as you wanting to migrate to a different one!" Harper shouted, forgetting Jesse couldn't hear her.

However, in this one moment, almost as if the spider hybrid could _hear_ Harper through the screen, the spider looked over at the skeleton for a moment, the 'Migrate' option popping up. Jesse immediately leaned forward a bit, right as a zombie's fist came down at her-

"Oh no!" Olivia squeaked, face hidden in her hands once again.

Another rushing zoom, a spray of digital code exploding off of the skeleton, the lines on the skeleton a pale blue color once again. The screen switched to show Jesse abruptly whipping back into an upright position, her lower arms dropping limply to her sides.

The entire audience let out a collective sigh of relief. Even Hadrian.

" _... alright, well, I'm- I'm not dead- oh Notch, I've got to hurry._ " Jesse straightened up as much as she could, before beginning to walk away, stiffly, the soft clanking of bones on bones going on in the background as the spider hybrid tried to walk as much as a skeleton like she could (which was working, I should mention). " _Technology is so_ awesome," she added.

"I bet you look real silly in the lab," Slab grinned, suddenly.

The screen switched to show Jesse walking as she'd been doing as a skeleton, Ivor rolling his eyes playfully at her in the background. " _And you look so_ awesome _while using it, I assure you,_ " he teased her.

Real-Jesse got a tiny fit of the giggles at that.

Onscreen-Jesse stuck her tongue out at him _very_ maturely, continuing on- and then she froze as the lines around her started turning red and orange again. " _Interference remains,_ " PAMA blared, calmly.

" _Can you_ NOT _be so omniscient you talking piece of scrap metal!?_ " Jesse snapped at it, and she broke into a furious run, the skeleton's bones clacking together as she bolted over several lumps of ground.

"Wow. Jesse insulted PAMA. She must really hate it," Axel said weakly, in an attempt to cheer the mood up. It flopped dismally, but Jesse appreciated the attempt.

She skidded to a halt a moment later, monsters beginning to surround her again, marching towards her in a spooky sync.

Olivia, who'd started to re-emerge from her hands, let out a brief little shriek and buried her head back in her hands hastily.

" _Drone sequencing re-initiated,_ " PAMA intoned, calmly, " _trace subroutine re-initiated._ "

Magnus sighed, flopping over onto Ellegaard (she grunted a bit as she got squashed into the couch arm). "Notch _darn_ it all, why isn't anything ever _easy_ for Jesse? It seems like everywhere she turns she just runs into problems and obstacles."

"I think we'd all like to know that, and I don't think there's any good answer," Ivor mumbled, rubbing the bridge of his nose as if he had a headache.

No one had to say anything to show that they all agreed with both statements.

* * *

 **A/N: Oohhhh boy Jesse you'd better hurry and get outta there.**

 **FOUR MORE DAYS UNTIL EPISODE 2 COMES OUT OH BOY THE HYPE! xD**

 **Seriously, though, the trailer is AMAZING. I love it. x3 And I'm excited to see the characters that'll show up in this episode, and I'm excited to write out the thing in Composite, and-**

 **Oh, wow, I really love MCSM. I don't know how that happened. I really don't, and I also don't care how it happened. x3**

 **RQTC: How many people have noticed something weird with Stella in Composite? (and no, her being nice isn't weird. I'm talking something else.)**

 **Also, happy birthday to LegoGirl794! :3 Have a chapter as the present, I don't have anything else xD**

 **Responses to reviewers!**

 **LunarTheMooncake: Wow, I usually get more reviewers in this period of time. Welp, less reviews for me to have to write out! x3 / Ahahaha, did it really?! Well, I'm glad you feel blessed (pats) / Lololol, at least you like it. xD / (laughs) / YEEEEEEEAAAAAA**

 **Toni42: I'm glad, too x3 / YAS!**

 **RapidSammi: Yes indeed :3 ... or are they? ... nah jk they're great now**

 **KaosRuin: Yeah, she was pretty lonely...**

 **AquaK13: (laughs) Glad to see you're happy about that. / Yeah, since Lukas didn't notice, he thought he'd better point it out. x3 / Yes, Protective Brother Jace is great. Protective Sister Jesse is also great. xD / Yeeeaaaah! / (falls over) xD**

 **CamronXTheXGamer: You CAN submit a different character if you'd prefer, but it just has to be original x3 / Ahahahahaha xD**

 **NoItsBecky: Well, some of them were from the A/N chapter, so**

 **LittleAngelbun: Ding ding ding, you are correct! / (grins)**

 **andie: Ehehehehe x3**

 **LegoGirl794: I'm happy that I actually posted this chapter today and not a week late- HAPPY BIRTHDAY!**

 **Rabbits rule: I have no idea what the matrix is, so I wouldn't know. xD**

 **Guest: Yep! / Oh, that's good. / Oh- um, thank you!**

 **Jack: Yeperdoodles :3 / Ahahah, the HTC Vive is pretty cool. x3 / Lolololol xD / Yes, yes I have. And, um, do you have to ask? I LOVED IT! So much hype in a single person is probably not healthy, now that I think of it. xD / YES! Glad to hear that!**

 **Welp, I think that's all for this time. See ya, sayonara, and g'bye!**

 **x.X. A.L. X.x.**


	152. Begin Termination Sequence

The spider hybrid swallowed nervously (well, right now she looked more like a skeleton but you get the point) as monsters began to approach her, increasing exponentially in numbers.

"Migrate! Migrate!" Cassie yelped, scrambling back a bit and clambering back onto the couch a bit more.

Onscreen-Jesse looked around frantically, before spotting a zombie in the distance. She narrowed her eyes, leaning forward- and immediately, the screen rushed at the zombie, who turned around and glanced back at the old skeleton host. Quickly, the spider hybrid stepped back a few times, before turning around and racing, glowing blue eyes scanning the scenery around her warily.

Nothing actually _happened_ to Jesse, but that was probably due to the fact PAMA was talking to someone else now, attention diverted (for now), and it took the audience a few seconds to pay attention to what PAMA was saying. " _I am happy to see you, my Creator._ "

"Crea- Harper!" Maya blurted, eyes widening. "That's Harper!"

Harper let out a minuscule sigh of relief. At least she hadn't been chipped yet.

" _Harper!_ " Jesse shouted, as the screen switched to show Harper wrenching violently against two zombies that were working together to try to push her into the chipping machine. The older woman was actually doing a surprisingly good job of fending them off, despite two zombies working together in excellent sync to try to push her into the machine.

" _Harper?_ " Ivor echoed.

The spider hybrid blinked as her eyes shifted over to see a chipped spider nearby. Another rush forward, and the screen switched to show the actual spider hybrid whipping downwards, lower arms abruptly springing back to life and catching the spider hybrid as she landed on all eights, before scrambling forward. The screen switched once more to show Jesse racing forward, shooting across the ground like a bullet.

"C'mon, Jesse, you can do it!" Real-Cassie shouted, surprising _herself_ with the shout.

" _Please... you are my Creator. Please join me so we may maximize usefulness,_ " PAMA droned, as Jesse continued racing across the ground. It looked a bit out of place, but Jesse probably had a plan.

Well, actually, considering how Jesse was...

Never mind, she probably didn't have a plan. The audience probably should start worrying now.

" _Nothing doing, PAMA. I built you to_ help _people, not_ use _them!_ " Harper snapped, still struggling against the zombies, " _just stop this! Stop trying to make everything 'useful'!_ "

" _That is my job,_ " PAMA replied, beeping a bit in the background. Jesse kept crawling towards the podium, the slightly-glowing blue eyes of the spider she was currently inhabiting flicking around. It stopped on a zombie, before going to a skeleton, to another human, to another skeleton. " _That is why you built me._ "

" _Gotta find another mob to inhabit before PAMA can... I dunno. Lock onto my signal or whatever,_ " Jesse muttered, sounding really worried as she kept skittering along.

" _Once I download your knowledge,_ " PAMA continued, " _we may expand to other worlds together and make everything useful._ " There was a pause, before PAMA's screen flickered into one of its angry expressions. " _Interference remains._ "

The spider was still looking around, the screen switching to show the spider hybrid with the headset still on her head, frowning a bit as she continued to look around. " _No sign of Lukas,_ " she hissed- literally, because she'd seemed to have switched into Spider without being aware of it.

Lukas swallowed a bit, fists tightening as he kept his eyes on the screen. His arms also may have tightened around Jesse again, just by a few notches.

Jesse didn't mind, biting her lip anxiously as she focused on the screen a bit more.

" _Drone sequencing re-initiated. Trace subroutine re-initiated. Termination sequence activated,_ " PAMA continued intoning, calmly.

Mevia narrowed her eyes at the screen. She didn't say anything, but her thoughts were being reflected by quite a few of the other audience members.

 _Termination sequence._ She didn't like the sound of that.

The spider turned, rotating on the spot as she scanned the landscape to see more and more mobs turning her way. " _Harper doesn't have much time,_ " she murmured, glancing up at where Harper was still struggling against the zombies, before glancing down at herself. The lines around her, once again, had started glowing red-orange dangerously. " _And neither do I._ "

Olivia made a sound that was oddly like a whimper, hands clamped securely over her eyes.

" _Game over, Jesse,_ " PAMA continued, calmly. " _Resistance is... not useful. Trace subroutine running..._ "

Jesse glanced around at all of the mobs that were surrounding her, marching towards her with blank red eyes. " _Trace subroutine running..._ "

The screen switched to show the spider hybrid, a sudden sort of smirk coming over her face. " _Over?_ " she asked, before backing up a few steps (Cassie, Petra, and Ivor quickly moved out of the way) and then lunging forwards, the screen switching once again to show Jesse suddenly soaring into the air with the leap, the spider's muscles having launched her into the air a bit higher than she'd been going for. " _I'm just getting_ started!"

A skeleton that was marching along quite a distance away moved into view on the screen-

A spray of blue digital code sprayed out of the skeleton, and Jesse immediately sprang back up into a normal position. She didn't waste any time in beginning a stiff, skeleton-like walk towards where Harper was _still_ struggling. She was stronger than she looked, that was for sure...

Another skeleton came into view as Jesse continued walking with the other mobs that hadn't mobbed around the chipped spider she'd been inhabiting earlier, one that was guarding the bottom of the staircase-

Another spray of blue digital code, and the skeleton whirled around, eyes now glowing blue, before rushing up the steps in a clacking of bones. The screen switched to follow Jesse's progress up the stairs, before a zombie head came into view-

The screen rushed to the zombie on the right, another spray of blue digital code exploding off of it as it blinked, the eyes beginning to glow blue. Now zombie-Jesse was literally holding Harper's hand.

Ivor let out a little sigh of relief, flopping back into his seat a little bit.

Slab rubbed his forehead a bit, grimacing slightly. "That was, uh... that made me pretty dizzy."

Nell was also rubbing her temples, looking as if she had a rather acute headache. "Yeah, that moved a bit too quick, brah," she muttered.

" _I'm never going to sign off on this, PAMA!_ " Harper yelled up at PAMA.

" _Harper! I'm here to rescue you!_ " Jesse exclaimed, but the audience was now hearing two things at once- zombie moans, and Jesse's own voice. Harper just gave Zombie-Jesse an funny look, having apparently only heard the zombie half of Jesse.

"Oh yes. I didn't think anyone was going to be communicating with anyone else when I made the headset..." Harper murmured, as Real-Jesse's excited face fell a bit. Looks like getting Harper to _understand_ her, let alone get Harper out of there at all, was going to be a bit of a struggle.

The screen switched back to the lab. In the background, Cassie and Petra were murmuring something in the background (something about 'oh geez, I think Winslow's hungry'). Ivor exclaimed, voice overflowing with excitement, " _Did you find her? I'm sure she's thrilled to see you!_ "

"Well, half of that was right," Real-Ivor murmured, cheeks flushing as Harper turned to him with a raised eyebrow. Probably regarding how excited he'd been about the whole thing, but whatever, he could pretend that that hadn't been a thing.

" _Trace subroutine running,_ " PAMA droned again, making Zombie-Jesse glance over at the giant computer.

Jesse stared at Harper, then down at her zombie body, before removing one hand from Harper's wrist, moving the other hand deliberately so that it was holding Harper's arm. Staring right at Harper, the currently-a-zombie proceeded to tap her wrist deliberately.

Harper kept staring at Jesse in confusion. In seeming frustration, the zombie tapped again, tilting its head to one side slightly as it kept staring at Harper.

"C'mon, c'mon," Petra muttered, eyes fixated intensely on the screen, "figure it out..."

Harper continued looking at the zombie for a moment, before understanding suddenly dawned in her gray eyes. " _Wait a minute..._ " the older woman whispered, eyes widening slightly as a slow smile began to sneak over her lips, "... _Jesse_ _?_ "

The audience released one huge, collective, _immensely_ relieved lungful of air. Thank goodness!

The zombie nodded rapidly at Harper, the spider hybrid hopping up and down in place in slight excitement with her hands still on Harper's wrist. Harper's grin grew slightly, almost despite herself. " _You figured out how to use my transmigrational headset!_ " she whispered, excitement dancing in her eyes.

Suddenly, a _very_ loud beeping sound rang out, and the lines on Jesse's zombie body immediately started pulsating red and orange.

"Oh, _ffff-_ crap," Cassie muttered. She probably would've had a worse swear, but then from the murderously angry look in her eyes, she would've just gone on and on and on for a good ten minutes.

The other zombie released Harper, presumably to attack Jesse-

The spider hybrid wasted no time in lunging forward, grabbing ahold of the zombie and knocking it back to the edge of the podium- pedestal- whatever it was! She ran forward, grabbing ahold of it again, and shoved it backwards over the edge of the podium. It dropped out of sight, the lines surrounding her body quickly going back to blue. Jesse whirled around and ran towards Harper again.

" _Trace subroutine running,_ " PAMA repeated.

"Jesse's either going to have to switch again, or she's going to have to get out of there _fast!_ " Harper shouted, hands tightening on the edge of her sleeve. "If PAMA keeps going at this speed, it's going to be able to lock onto the signal pretty soon!"

"And what happens if _that_ happens?" Stacy asked, leaning around Lizzie, Stampy, and Dan to get a better look at the older woman.

"I don't know. I never intended that to happen, had I been able to download that patch of software when I'd wanted to..." Harper bit her lip as she returned her gaze anxiously to the screen. "But I can tell you this much, if that _does_ happen- it's not going to be good."

"But I don't even know where Lukas is yet!" Jesse exclaimed.

"It doesn't matter- you have to get out of there _now!_ "

As if Onscreen-Jesse could hear Harper, the spider hybrid skidded to a halt next to Harper, the zombie's glowing blue eyes wide. " _Run!_ " she shouted to the older woman, the zombie's vocal cords groaning as it tried to form coherent words. (It didn't work.)

" _Run!_ " Harper echoed, and she bolted off down the staircase, Jesse looking after her. The audience imagined that if Jesse _hadn't_ been a zombie right then, she would've just had this singularly bewildered look on her face.

"... _I just said that..._ " Without wasting another second, the zombie raced down the stairs, vaulting down the last few and skidding before breaking into a run, catching up with Harper very quickly. Now, dozens- if not _hundreds_ \- of chipped beings slowly revolved on the spot to stare after them as they kept running away.

Olivia, who'd just started to peep out of her hands, let out a frightened squeak and buried her head back in her hands. She wasn't usually so frightened, but right now... well, the stakes for Jesse seemed _very_ high. And Olivia would really rather not let her friend die.

" _Where do you plan to run?_ " PAMA asked, looking down at the two of them. " _The town is surrounded._ "

" _Screw off, PAMA!_ " Jesse shouted back, before turning around to follow Harper- and then abruptly skidding to a halt as she saw Harper barely managing to stop without tripping over her feet, having stopped near a sort of crevice with glowing red light spilling through it, like some sort of bizarre doorway. Chipped mobs- chipped _people_ \- were walking out of it, looking around for them. In some miracle, they hadn't spotted the two of them standing there yet.

" _Reinforcements will make sure that my Creator cannot leave,_ " PAMA continued.

"Good Notch, PAMA's more obsessed with Harper than some infatuated schoolgirl or something!" Hadrian snapped, rubbing his forehead in irritation.

" _I told you to screw off, you're not very good at following instructions!_ " Onscreen-Jesse snapped at PAMA again, as Harper turned to face Jesse, looking worried. A flash of fear went through her gray eyes, before it was gone and Harper was just looking nervous.

" _There's too many of them!_ "

Gill was on the edge of his seat, Maya practically perched on his lap and leaning forward in fear. Petra had her arms around Jace so tightly that the boy was wincing in pain, and Lukas was digging his nails into his palms while he hugged Jesse, who was finding it a bit hard to breath since his arms were around her torso so tightly. Harper had grabbed onto Ivor's arm and wasn't letting go, turning horribly pale with fear.

" _You cannot hide forever, Jesse,_ " PAMA began again, as Jesse snatched up Harper's arm, making the older woman yelp a bit, and then dragging them both into a little stone 'pen' nearby, which was _just_ tall enough to keep them both concealed- for the moment. " _It is a boring game. And I am too strong._ "

"Well, PAMA clearly has an unhealthy amount of self-confidence for an artificial intelligence," Gabriel muttered, narrowing his eyes at the screen in concern.

Onscreen, Harper spoke, drawing Jesse's attention back to the older woman. " _There._ " And she pointed at the crevice with red light spilling through it, which Jesse obediently turned to look at. " _That opening leads to PAMA's central core._ "

"It _what?_ " Lukas gasped, arms abruptly loosening around Jesse a bit and making Jesse immediately heave in a huge breath.

"That-" Jace blinked a bit, a relieved look coming over his face. Not quite a _smile_ , though. Not yet. "That's actually kind of convenient."

The lines surrounding Jesse abruptly started flashing red again, pulsating red, then orange, red- and then going _dead_ red.

"That's..." Soren's voice faltered, and everyone glanced around to see him biting his lip from where he was shifting forward in his seat. "That is very, very bad, isn't it?"

A villager was turning to face their direction, and the zombie's eyes widened as she ducked down again, whipping around to face Harper, who was starting to talk again. " _Jesse, you and your friends,_ " Harper was speaking faster now, grabbing Jesse's shoulder and nearly shaking the girl, " _you're our only hope- AH!_ " And she suddenly yelped again as a nearby villager seized her, beginning to drag the older woman away.

"Oh no!" Real-Jesse gasped, hands flying to her mouth.

Harper was cutting off the circulation to Ivor's hand right now, and he barely cared a whit.

Onscreen-Jesse let out an alarmed shout, but Harper kept shouting at Jesse over the shout. " _You must remove the Redstone Heart!_ "

Hadrian's eyes widened.

The Heart.

He glanced at Mevia to see if she had the same reaction, but the blue-haired woman seemed to have brushed that off and seemed to be focusing more intently on the screen than before, although he _did_ notice that her eyes were a bit wider than normal.

Hm.

That was a bit of an irregularity in her behavior now.

" _Remove! The! Redstone! Heart!_ " Harper continued shouting to- or possibly _at_ , it really didn't matter right now- Jesse, voice rising in volume to try to project her voice to Jesse.

" _Jesse, what's going on?!_ " Ivor's voice was tinny in Jesse's ear, but the spider hybrid didn't turn to glance at him- she was watching in horror as Harper got dragged away, _again_.

" _Jesse?!_ " That was both Petra and Cassie. Or maybe it was just Petra. It was hard to tell with the voice being so tinny.

" _You can still save everyone!_ " Harper continued shouting. A short pause. And then she grunted, " _I'm so tired of being dragged away while I'm trying to explain things!_ "

Had this been a different situation, everyone would've laughed. Unfortunately, this wasn't a different situation. Not at all.

" _Don't worry, we won't let you down!_ " Jesse shouted after Harper desperately. " _I promise!_ "

" _Interference located,_ " PAMA stated suddenly, and a villager grabbed Jesse, making the spider-hybrid-inhabiting-a-zombie gasp in shock, " _drone identified._ "

Harper let out another gasp, making everyone look at her. The woman's eyes were wide with horror, and her hands were trembling badly as she stared at the screen. "Oh no," she gasped, "oh no no no no no."

" _Hide and seek is done, Jesse,_ " PAMA stated, as Jesse tried to fight off the villager- they ignored her attempt and shoved her to the ground, before getting on top of the zombie and pinning the girl to the ground.

The screen switched to show PAMA's... screen (okay, that was a bit weird to explain), the screen quirking into... a smile?

" _I think we can make that headset... useful._ "

"What does that mean, _what does that mean?_ " Ellegaard muttered, narrowing her eyes furiously at the screen, as she stared at the plight of the short girl who so many of the members of the audience had started becoming emotionally invested in.

" _Begin termination sequence._ "

And suddenly Jesse was screaming.

* * *

 **A/N: Yay, stopping points! xD**

 **Oh my gosh, Episode 2 is out TOMORROW! EEEEE I can't WAIT!**

 **Well, I probably won't finish Episode 2 in Composite by the time Episode 3 comes out, so there will _probably_ not be any hiatuses on Composite!**

 **Probably. xD**

 **RQTC: What do you do when you see spoilers for something you haven't seen yet on the Internet?**

 **I dive under my desk and bang my head. (The latter part is by accident.)**

 **Responses to reviewers!**

 **LunarTheMooncake: (laughs) Too late. / (yawns) / Well yeah but I told you guys, that's not a fair question for you xD**

 **KrazyKat: Thank you! I'm glad you liked it. I'll definitely keep it up!**

 **Kaos Ruin: (laughs) Ah, I see.**

 **RapidSammi: It's fine if you didn't, I actually made it very subtle. ... perhaps too subtle. I will say this, there is a reason why Jace hates Stella so much, and it's not because of his fiancee or because of her throwing the puppy. (Those WERE contributing factors, but that wasn't the actual thing.)**

 **LegoGirl794: No problem! I'm glad you liked the present. x3**

 **homeworkoverload: Hiiiii! / Ooh, that's cool! / Ahahahahaha, that's kind of funny. I did that one time, and my classmates looked at me like I was crazy. xD**

 **NoItsBecky: It's very subtle. Again, there's a reason why Jace hates Stella, but it's not because of Petra's problem with her or because of Stella throwing the puppy. / Same, though! xD**

 **Andie: I actually like her voice actor. Conveys just the right amount of dry sarcasm. xD That might be the ONLY reason, actually, her voice is... slightly irritating at times, to be honest.**

 **ShiningHopeBeast: Nah, it's totally fine! / Thanks! / Haha, yep! To the relief of quite a few readers. xD / Yeah, I couldn't help but giggle at it a bit myself. / I'm a bit like Nell in that regard, I just say "dude" if I'm annoyed or if I'm not entirely certain about their gender. And even if I AM certain, sometimes I say dude when I'm really happy. xD**

 **CamronXTheXGamer: Aw, thanks! I'll be sure to try to get that out soon, then.**

 **Emily The Avenger: Nah you're still a wonderful beans**

 **RavenBlaze4850: Ahaha, it's fine, don't worry about it. x3 / Yeah, it was fun to write. x3 / Nope, not quite. xD / No, of course! Lemme know when it's up, I'd love to see it. x3**

 **giriri: Not his full name, but okay xD**

 **Guest: It's cool. / (laughs) It's fine, I'm not too good either. / Bye!**

 **Darkbeast Dend: Hm, that would be kind of cool. / No, no it won't. xD / Hmm... probably Overworld. There's so much cool stuff there x3**

 **CrystalTearsofFaith: Oh no! I'm glad they're back up. / Ahahaha, Ivor's fantastic. xD / Yes. Life is okay. For now. ... it might start getting a bit crazy when Season 2 characters pop in but / Ahhh, that might take a while then. Well, at least you get a lot of chapters to read when the last episode of Season 2 does come out xD / Probably because the release of Episode 2 of Season 2 is in a few days. xD**

 **Rabbits rule: Huh.**

 **Mikaza1498: Oh wow, a very long review! I haven't seen one this long in a while. Yay! x3 / Ahhh, sorry about that. xD / Aw, I'm glad you've liked it so far, and I'm glad you think I'm a good writer. / Nah, it's cool, I'm betting a lot of people did the same thing. xD / It's really fun to write, and I love being able to interact with you guys, so that's a huge bonus for me too. x3 / Aww, thank you! / Ahhh, I see. Well, thanks for the backup. xD / Ahaha! I'm really hoping that I can get it out relatively soon, what with the progress I'm making on it. / Oh, no, it's fine! I saw it and smiled. Actually, I'm surprised that anyone would WANT to include stuff from my stories in their own stories. / Ahh, I'm sorry. xD / I'm not an angel, least of all of writing, but thank you for the compliment. xD / Hybrid is a pretty long story (though not compared to this one, hahaha), but I'm glad you like this so much. / Ahahaha, Jesse spitting out bad puns is fun. I love puns. xD / No, the long review is great! x3 / Can do (salutes)**

 **BeliTheGhoti0304: You'd better believe it, dude xD / Yep! / Yesssss (grins evilly)**

 **Welp, looks like that's all for this time! ('That's all')**

 **See ya, sayonara, and g'bye!**

 **x.X. A.L. X.x.**


	153. Let's Wreck the Heck Out of PAMA

"NO!" Lukas yelled, bolting straight upright and accidentally performing something akin to the Heimlich Maneuver on Jesse, who let out a little gasp as, once again, all of the air was squashed right out of her lungs.

"Not Jesse, _not Jesse-!_ " Olivia was screaming, muffled behind her hands, and most of the audience (if not all of them) were perched precariously on the edge of their seats, holding their breaths. Slab's arms were turning a bit black and blue from how hard Clutch and Facemeat were, well, clutching his arms.

Onscreen, Jesse was still screaming, furiously grabbing at the headset and trying to yank it off as the screen switched back to her spider hybrid self, the helmet's surface starting to get red-hot as she desperately tried to yank it off. The screen flickered back to show what Jesse was seeing, the vision of the headset starting to flicker red-

" _Jesse!_ " someone was shouting, and Ivor and Petra ran over and started hauling on the headset, desperately trying to yank it off from both sides and having no success- Cassie was reaching into her pocket and pulling out her axe-

" _Guys, let go!_ " she shouted, and, turning it so that the flat side of the axe was facing Jesse, the redhead waited until the other two quickly released the helmet- and then swung the axe.

The flat side of the axe slammed into the back of the helmet, managing to knock the thing loose and sending it flying off of Jesse's head, crashing into the opposite wall and then the floor with a nasty sort of crunch. It sat there for a minute, smoking dangerously, before detonating in a small cloud of smoke and debris.

Everyone let out a sigh of relief, even Harper, who looked surprisingly okay with having her headset getting destroyed. Actually, she looked as if she probably _preferred_ that it got destroyed, since something really _really_ bad would've happened if it hadn't. Jesse turned and gave Cassie a weak but grateful smile. "Thanks for that," she said, a mix of gratitude and relief saturating her voice.

"Hey, no problem. You... you forgave me for..." Cassie paused, before taking a deep breath and glancing away. "Well, you know."

She paused.

"Also, I may have given you a slight concussion, so don't thank me yet."

At least half of the audience let out surprised laughs at that. That whole fiasco goes down, and she makes a joke.

Onscreen, Jesse had barely managed to shakily turn around, one hand reaching up and cradling the back of her head slightly, when Ivor was in front of her, checking her over so frantically it was almost as _he_ was the one who'd been injured, though his hands were slightly red- the metal must've burned him a bit when he'd grabbed ahold and attempted to yank it off.

Nearby, Petra was looking rather pale and shaken, eyes still glowing gold in slight panic as she stared at Jesse, worry written all over her face. Her hands were steaming a bit too, but they looked completely unharmed otherwise. Probably since she was a Blaze hybrid. Beside her, Cassie's hands were practically throttling her axe, eyes filled with a raging panic and flickering between green and red as she struggled to calm down.

" _T-thanks, guys,_ " the spider hybrid eked out, panting slightly in fear.

" _I-it sounded like you were talking to Harper,_ " Petra said, brow furrowing in confusion as she stood there, hands trembling slightly. She shoved them into her pockets when she noticed. " _A-and... PAMA?_ "

Onscreen-Jesse shuddered at the name, although Real-Jesse also winced a little bit at it herself. " _Yeah, PAMA caught up to me. Not good. B-but, there's no time to waste, we need to get back to- to the door Harper just showed me, get inside PAMA's core-!_ " she blurted, looking downright panicked.

Cassie sheathed the axe again, although she looked as if it took her a small amount of effort- her eyes were still flickering from green and red. " _But what happened to Harper?!_ "

The spider hybrid paused, before letting out a shaky breath. " _I-_ " she paused again, as if trying to sort out all of her thoughts, " _I-I think she's already been_ _chipped._ "

Harper winced, frowning at that. Ivor noticed and patted her on the arm slightly in an effort to comfort her. I don't think it really worked, but she appreciated the attempt.

 _"But we can still end PAMA,_ " Jesse finished, looking back up at the others with a determined look coming over her face.

" _Without Harper?_ " Petra asked with a frown, absentmindedly patting out the still-steaming areas on her hands.

" _Harper believes in us, and we're her last hope,_ " Jesse said slowly, as if trying to recall what Harper had just told her, before her gaze hardened, and her hands tightened into fists- all of them. " _We're_ everyone's _last hope to stop PAMA. Harper wouldn't put her trust in us unless she knew what we were capable of._ "

"Or unless she was desperate," Hadrian muttered, unsurprisingly drawing several glares in his direction and receiving _two_ elbows to the ribs this time- one from Otto, and one from Mevia, surprisingly.

" _She showed me the entrance to PAMA's core... a-and she told me that we needed to remove something called..._ " She paused, brow furrowing. " _The 'Redstone Heart',_ " she finished, as if a bit confused by the name.

Petra suddenly started, letting out a little gasp as sparks shot off her hands, gold eyes flaring back to life. " _Whoa- that, that just brought back- a, a flash. Those red lights I mentioned before? There- there are three of them, redstone spires, and, and I think-"_ Petra bit her lip, squinting her eyes shut and rubbing her temples, trying to recall more. " _I think they have something to do with the Heart._ "

"Yes. The Redstone Heart is sending and receiving signals to the three redstone spires, and-"

Harper was about to keep going, when Em quickly interjected, "Um, please explain what the redstone spires have to do with the Redstone Heart simply; I don't think the rest of us will get it if you don't."

All of the younger members of the audience (with the exception of Olivia and Stampy), and several of the older members as well, let out a relieved sigh at the request.

"Alright. The Redstone Heart sends and receives signals to and from the redstone spires, providing PAMA with 'backup health' in case the Redstone Heart gets taken out or damaged. If you destroy the spires, and remove the Heart, PAMA will be shut down."

There was a short, stunned silence, before Harper finished, "For good."

Petra hesitated for a few moments, before letting out a low growl and shaking her head, looking up at Jesse with a both frustrated and upset look on her face. " _That's all I've got. Sorry._ "

" _No..._ " Jesse shook her head and grinned, gently clapping Petra on the shoulder. " _No, that's perfect, thank you!_ "

Ivor made a disappointed humming sound as something occurred to him. " _But how are we supposed to destroy these spires, or- whatever we're looking for?_ "

Jesse walked over to the small stream of water in the corner of the lab, a small smile coming over her face. " _I do hope you've noticed by now, D- Ivor,_ " she corrected again, almost flawlessly this time (actually, most of the audience wouldn't have noticed if they hadn't seen the way her red eye flickered back nervously), " _but PAMA's stuff doesn't tend to react well with water._ "

She stooped down and pulled out one of the buckets she'd borrowed earlier, scooping a bucketful of water up before turning around and carefully taking aim. A moment later, she fired a strand of string, slingshotting the bucket of water right into Ivor's hands with a minimal amount of spillage. The next one went to Petra, and Jesse was about to shoot the last one to Cassie when the red-haired girl shook her head. " _Nah, I'm good. I've got my diamond axe!_ " And she playfully shook it a bit in Jesse's direction.

Gabriel couldn't help but let out a soft snort at that. Sometimes it was easy to forget that these guys... well, a lot of them were still practically _children_.

" _Yes, quite the formidable weapon there, Rose,_ " Jesse said teasingly, tucking the bucket away and giving the other girl a friendly sort of smile.

Cassie gently tapped the flat of the blade against Jesse's forehead, making Jesse shake her head and blink rapidly. (This made several _more_ members of the audience grin; Jesse had just looked like a startled kitten.) " _It got the headset off of ya,_ " she said, grinning at Jesse in a way that seemed to show that she meant no harm.

" _Fair enough._ " Jesse's smile twisted into a much, _much_ more mischievous smirk. " _Let's go wreck the_ heck _out of PAMA._ "

The screen blacked out.

"Huh. I didn't know you could be mischievous." Axel reached over and gently poked Jesse in the cheek.

Jesse glanced over at him for a moment, remaining silent.

"I guess. But sometimes, I think about math, and something about subtraction just doesn't _add up._ "

Lukas's faint smile at the joke fell off his face, and his face turned rather pale. "Oh no, Axel, what did you just-?" he began, but Jesse was beginning to smile pleasantly at them all.

"Y'know, Lukas, I'm not a hoarder, but I really just wanna keep you forever."

Lukas's cheeks turned a pleasant shade of pink at the pick-up line.

Now no longer being interrupted in her delivery of puns, Jesse continued serenely, smiling almost _angelically_ , "Has anyone here tried to eat a clock? It's very _time consuming._ "

Olivia half-groaned and half-laughed at the pun Jesse had just made. "Axel, you're great and I love you, but sometimes I just _really_ hate you, you know that?"

"Did you just tell Axel you love him?" Gill suddenly chimed in, grinning like the Chesire Cat.

Axel's cheeks also flushed a little bit. Olivia shook her head, her own cheeks starting to turn rather pink. "He knows what I mean it's platonic-"

"Oh, are you sure about that?" Milo asked innocently, but if you actually looked over at the man his lips were twitching and he sounded a bit as if he was stifling giggles VERY furiously.

"You're one to talk with Isa," Olivia muttered, very much under her breath.

Jesse chimed in randomly, "If anyone's claustrophobic, you'll probably be more productive thinking _outside the box."_

This little chaotic scene would probably have gone on for a bit longer, except the screen started fading back in and Harper started shushing them, making them all quickly fall silent to not miss anything during the scene.

The screen finished fading back in outside of the town, which was still shrouded in night and filled with roaming, chipped mobs. Not too far away, Jesse poked her head over a small lump of ground, eyes flicking around. Upon spotting no dull red, glowing eyes facing in their direction, she crept over the lump of land on all eights (as per usual), whispering back to the others, " _C'mon!_ "

The others tiptoed after her quickly, all of them managing to make it (although Ivor had to dive at the last second as a skeleton looked over in their direction) behind a low wall that hid them from view from all the chipped mobs.

" _Where is the entrance to this 'PAMA Core', anyhow?_ " Ivor whispered, sitting back up and brushing a copious amount of sand off of his face and clothing.

Jesse let out a slightly exasperated sigh and glanced over the wall, giving all of the roaming chipped mobs an annoyed look. " _On the other side of all these lovely mobs that wish to kill us._ "

"Oh. That's lovely. Of _course_ that happens," Em muttered, rolling her eyes.

"Seriously, I think Jesse needs to get a break at least _once_ in a while," Stampy murmured to Dan, who nodded in agreement. (When had his hair turned pink again?)

" _That's convenient,_ " Cassie remarked sarcastically.

The spider hybrid sighed, looking back to the other three with a slightly concerned sort of look on her face, " _Okay... you guys have anything useful?_ " Not even a second later, she shuddered a bit. " _Man, after this whole thing is over I don't think I ever want to hear the word useful. Ever again._ "

"I am in full agreement with Jesse here," Ellegaard sighed, rubbing her head.

Magnus patted Ellegaard on the head, making her swat him off halfheartedly with a reluctant sort of smile playing on her mouth.

Everyone reached into their pockets, rummaging around for a moment, before emptying the contents of their pockets onto the ground, ending up with a rather small collection of stuff. Jesse looked down, the screen going to the stuff on the ground. " _Okay... we've got about six Ender Pearls, some redstone, some potions... a rose..._ " Jesse took a closer look at the rose. " _... Ivor, isn't the rose I gave to Harry?_ "

Harper blinked a bit at that.

Ivor shrugged a bit. " _I didn't think 'Harry' needed it anymore. Besides, I thought maybe I could return it to Harper._ "

Real-Ivor crossed his arms, loftily ignoring the way most of the audience was starting to giggle. Actually, he got the uncomfortable feeling that the only reason they hadn't yet commented on it was because they were focused on the episode.

Jesse regarded him for a moment, eyebrow rising slightly and a slight smile quirking over her mouth, before she shrugged. " _Well, okay._ " She went back to looking through the stuff on the floor. " _Some sticks... a button... a few blocks of TNT... aaaannnnnd that's it. Alrighty then._ "

She looked through the random collection of items at their knees, before leaning over and carefully picking up the two potion bottles, scrutinizing them and being _extremely_ careful to not drop them.

Ivor let out a wistful sort of sigh. " _These are my last two potions from home. A potion of invisibility... and a potion of leaping,_ " he said, slightly sadly, " _the rest I don't have anymore._ "

When he noticed the confused looks the three girls were sending him, he elaborated, " _We lost them in Sheep World._ "

Hadrian laughed aloud, although it didn't seem to be for a sarcastic reason for once. "I remember that world. Wasn't there a sheep with a pink mustache-?"

"Yeah, and a giant egg riding a pig," Petra added, grinning a bit despite herself. "The pig's name was Dave or something."

"No, it started with a G," Jace corrected, also grinning a bit. "Um, Greg?"

" _Curse you, sheep,_ " Onscreen-Petra sighed, rubbing her temples slightly.

" _If this was a different situation, I'd probably find that incredibly funny,_ " Cassie deadpanned, sounding both faintly annoyed and rather amused, if one could be both at the same time.

Jesse gave him a solemn sort of nod and a small smile, carefully handing the bottles back to him. " _Well, they might come in handy._ " She looked back down and immediately lifted the red block of explosive dynamite off of the ground, giving it a small grin. " _Well, when is TNT_ not... _helpful?_ "

" _When Axel and Magnus use it to blow up the coffee table._ "

Sparklez covered his mouth and started making quite a lot of quiet choking sounds. It sounded a bit as though he were forcing back laughter, and he wasn't the only one. Petra had noticed Jace was biting his knuckles, and Jesse's eyes had glazed over from the effort of keeping her laughter back.

" _Rhetorical question, Ivor,_ " Jesse teased him, smirking slightly, looking back down at the stuff on the floor and picking up the button with one of her lower arms, " _Okay, buttons can activate TNT. But we still need something to connect it together..._ "

She looked around again, twisting her head from side to side, before reaching out with both of her lowermost arms and scooping up the large amount of glowing redstone on the floor. " _Alright, so we've got TNT, redstone dust, and a button._ "

"Okay, we're getting somewhere!" Maya said encouragingly, smiling at Jesse. She grinned back.

Onscreen, the spider hybrid glanced at the mobs. " _Okay, so all I have to do... is lay down a trail of TNT, use the redstone dust as a fuse, stick a button to the end, push it, and boom! Path cleared!_ " She glanced over at Petra. " _I know you can fly over everything, so that's fine on your count, and as long as Ivor and Cassie run, they can probably clear it with no problem._ "

Petra nodded, but she was staring at the stuff in Jesse's hands with a dubious look on her face. " _That's great an all, but how are you going to lay down all of that TNT and redstone without super zombies attacking from every direction?_ "

"That's... a good point," Aiden mumbled, his slightly excited expression falling. "How _are_ you going to lay down all that stuff?"

Jesse simply looked at the potions Ivor was holding, a mischievous smile spreading across her face for the second time in a span of less than ten minutes. " _Well, those should do the trick._ "

Ivor looked down at the potions to see what she was looking at, before his own smirk spread over his face. " _Ahh, I see where you're going..._ "

"Oh, yeah!" Cassie grinned. "Use a potion, get everything down, get the heck out of there. Easy!"

" _Well, if we've decided what we're gonna do, I just have one question._ "

The spider hybrid glanced up at Cassie, who was crouching with Winslow perched on her shoulder like some sort of misshapen parrot. " _Shoot._ "

" _Can I film this? 'Cause it's gonna look pretty cool._ "

"... really, Cassie?"

Cassie shrugged nonchalantly at the deadpan look Ivor was sending her, and the amused one Soren was giving her. "Well, I mean, it _is_ going to look cool."

Real-Jesse's eyes glazed back over again.

Lukas leaned over to get a better look at the shorter girl, whose face was completely blank. "... Jesse, you okay?"

"... I don't wanna start talking, 'cause I don't wanna start laughing," Jesse said weakly, eyes still glazed over with shoulders trembling a bit.

(Several members of the audience repressed a small sigh of relief, with the look on her face they'd been worried that she was about to start _crying_.)

Onscreen, Jesse looked as though she were barely able to keep from cracking up laughing. As it was, her face was practically buried in her hands, and her shoulders were trembling. " _Please tell me you're not serious,_ " she managed, through a small fit of the giggles.

" _I'm not._ " A short pause. " _Maybe._ "

Aiden chuckled a bit, Cassie smirking a bit at the boy next to her. Mevia carefully bit her lip, repressing her own laugh at the comment.

" _That's reassuring,_ " Petra managed, but she was starting to laugh, and it took her burying her head into her hands to keep her from just outright laughing.

Onscreen-Ivor let out an annoyed sort of sigh as he watched the three girls, who were now practically in stitches, covering their mouths with their hands to stifle their giggles to the best of their ability. " _Children, the lot of you,_ " he told them, but he was smiling in amusement at that little scene, which did quite a lot to soften the annoyed tone in his voice.

"Ivor's a softie."

"Am not!"

* * *

 **A/N: (laughs) Sometimes these guys are just huge dorks.**

 **Also, sorry for a late update, but I was spending most of my day yesterday recording the Episode 2 gameplay, and, um**

 **HOLY CRAP EPISODE 2 IS AMAZING?!**

 **RQTC: Do you guys have any speculation for Composite, either for the parts that haven't happened yet or the whole thing, if you haven't read it?**

 **EnderKitty68: Oh, wow! xD / Well, you were early for this one! Congrats! / Oh, yes, believe me. I'm not even making a separate story, when we reach Season 2 (Composite) I'm just including it in this story, haha. xD**

 **LunarTheMooncake: (laughs) He's annoying but every once in a while, he makes a funny statement. xD / (laughs) / Ah, that makes sense.**

 **S4SH4L4SH4theGaMeR101: Aaaahhh. xD**

 **RWBYSTRQ: Oh wow xD**

 **KaosRuin: Nope, I will never stop with the cliffhangers. xD**

 **andie: Nah, I haven't forgotten. Just haven't found a good way to incorporate them without forcing it. / ?**

 **PoptartCrumbs: (laughs) Well, here is the next chapter! / Ahhh, I see.**

 **AwesomeEevee: Thank you very much! / Oh, wow, uh, no, that wouldn't have made any sense. The thing is, that would've more than doubled the length of the story, and also that has nothing to do with the AU. So I wouldn't have done that. / Aw, no, it's not a problem! / Alright, thanks! / (grins) Well, I'm glad you like it! / Alrighty then. :) / Okay, that's good! / Okie :)**

 **homeworkoverload: Oh, nice! / (laughs) Yeah, I was gonna say. / (whistles) / Bye!**

 **KrazyKat: Ahhhh, I know what you mean. xD**

 **ThatJackaboy: Oh wow 0-0**

 **LegoGirl794: Considering I just posted it today, yep xD**

 **Rabbits rule: ... okay moving on**

 **Guest: Huh... uh, yeah, roller coasters are cool.**

 **Darkbeast Dend: Huh, okay.**

 **RapidSammi: (laughs) That's a lot of 'aaah's xD**

 **ShiningHopeBeast: Yes, indeed. / Oh, thank you! I didn't realize anyone here realized I had that art up, haha. xD / Huh... I'll see if I remember it. You can request it if you really want me to do it x3**

 **Mikaza1498: Ah, I see. / (laughs) / No problem, I always respond if possible!**

 **CamronXTheXGamer: Ahhh, I see.**

 **RavenBlaze4850: (laughs) I hope that means you liked it. / Ah, yes, yes he did. / Mmmm, yes it will be. (smiles beatifically) / Ah, that's one of the calmest reactions I've seen so far. :3 / Yesyesyes! xD Alright, that's fine. Let me know when it's up :3**

 **DarkPrincess2001: (laughs)**

 **LittleAngelbun: Nah, it's fine. :3 / Oh, believe me, so am I (grins evilly)**

 **Welp, that's all for this chapter. See ya, so long, and g'bye!**

 **x.X. A.L. X.x.**


	154. Cool People Don't Look at Explosions

" _Alright, Jesse,_ " Ivor said, after indulging in letting the three girls try to stifle their giggles, " _choose, quickly now!_ " And he pushed the two bottles at Jesse insistently.

Jesse's laughter immediately subsided, and her eyes flickered to the potions. " _Ah, hm..._ " She stared at them for a moment, before looking back up and extending her hand. " _I suppose I'll take the potion of leaping._ "

Real-Petra made a thoughtful humming sound. "Hmm, I guess I could see that working out... oh, especially with Jesse as a spider hybrid. That'll definitely get her over the mobs, and all..."

"And with the extra arms," Real-Jesse chimed in, eyes lighting up, "I don't even have to put down any redstone or buttons- I can just use the flint and steel to light it and drop it right on them!"

"Hey, that's not a bad idea," Magnus said, eyes lighting up. Axel's eyes had also started sparkling dangerously.

"No," Ellegaard, Olivia, and Mevia all chorused at once.

"I didn't even say anything!" Axel exclaimed.

Ellegaard sighed, leaning back into the couch and lying down on Magnus a little more. "At this point, it's really not hard to figure out what you two are thinking. Especially at the mention of explosions."

Onscreen-Ivor huffed, handing over the potion smoothly. " _All right, all right, don't jump all over me._ "

Jesse paused, still looking down at the potion bottle in her hands, before looking up at Ivor with a tiny smirk on her face. " _Did you just make a pun, Ivor?_ " she asked, mildly.

Lukas paled at that. Real-Jesse beamed. Seriously, it was so hard to imagine that she could do anything but sit there and look downright angelic. You could practically see a halo hovering over her head.

Onscreen, Ivor's cheeks seemed to be turning a darker shade of red, although it was kind of hard to tell since it was so dark. " _What? I thought it was funny._ "

" _No no, I didn't say it wasn't funny, but..._ "

"Oh no," Lukas whispered, putting his head in his hands.

" _I know you probably could've made a better pun and_ blown our minds," the spider hybrid said mildly, that smirk on her face growing to nearly gargantuan proportions as she pointed at the block of TNT sitting by their knees.

Real-Lukas buried his head in Jesse's back. (Not that she was going to complain.)

The screen switched to show the two redheads looking quite a lot as though they were trying their hardest not to die of laughing, if that was in fact possible. Petra was doubled over and curled up on herself, weakly hitting the ground with one of her fists while trembling, and Cassie had buried her face in Winslow to try to muffle her laughter (which wasn't working), which in turn started making several members of the audience titter.

Ivor bit his lip, looking as though he were fighting back his own smile as well, before Jesse shook her head with a soft chuckle and uncorked the bottle with this little _pop_ ping sound as the cork, well, popped out. " _Hm. With this, I don't even_ need _the redstone or buttons. I've got the flint and steel, so I can just light it and drop the TNT on 'em from the sky._ "

Onscreen-Ivor nodded, giving Jesse a soft pat as the two redheads finally recovered, dark blue eyes seeming to soften slightly. " _Don't worry, Jesse. We'll be right behind you._ "

Petra and Cassie, now not looking as if they were about to die of laughter, quickly nodded in agreement. Even Winslow bobbed his head up and down in a nod at the statement.

Jesse smiled at the four of them (if you count Winslow), beginning to raise the potion to her mouth. " _Thanks, guys._ " She looked at the potion, a more serious look coming over her face. " _Okay, potion. Do your stuff._ " And in a single, fluid motion, she tilted her head back and dumped the potion into her mouth.

"This is going to look _so_ cool," Nell grinned, bouncing on the couch a bit in excitement.

Real-Petra nodded in agreement. "Totally. Leaping potions are cool enough on their own, but with Jesse as a spider hybrid..." she grinned at Real-Jesse, who smiled back cheerfully with Lukas still having his head buried in her back.

The spider hybrid blinked immediately, glancing down as swirls of green began to dance in the air around her, indicating that the potion had taken effect. Standing up, she carefully walked to the other side of the wall, turning around to face the nearest building and dropping to all eights. Her eyes narrowed as her legs tensed... and then she launched herself into the air.

The jump, which she probably wouldn't have made completely before, even as a spider hybrid, sent her flying into the air, allowing her to do a little flip and land neatly on the roof, limbs skittering slightly as she caught herself. Quickly, she turned around, scanning the landscape.

Her green-and-red eyes caught a small gaggle of skeletons clattering along, and, without preparing whatsoever, the spider hybrid launched herself into the air again, body starting to do a slow, lazy flip as she whipped out the block of TNT in her hands. Quickly pulling out the enchanted flint and steel (which was the _only_ flint and steel she had on her person right now) using her middlemost set of arms, she clicked it together, the spark catching into the TNT and making it flash white dangerously, much more quickly than a normal spark reacting with TNT would.

"Throw it!" Clutch shouted.

Hastily, the spider hybrid drew her arms back over her head and chucked it over her head down at the skeletons, flashing even more rapidly than before. Immediately, she finished the flip, touching down on the roof of a near building. Behind her, a huge blast of smoke and sound erupted behind her, a few bones going flying in the explosion.

"Awesome!" Nell cheered, pumping her fists in the air.

"That looked so cool, dude!" Axel reached over and quickly enveloped Jesse (and Lukas, since she was practically leaning against the blonde right now) in a hug, before sitting back over again.

Jesse grinned at Lukas, the blonde returning the smile.

Quickly straightening back up, the spider hybrid used her uppermost set of arms to pull out a single TNT block. The screen whirled around to show two groups of creepers and a group of zombies approaching one another. Hastily, her middlemost set of arms clicked the TNT block together, even as she leaped into the air again. Looking down, the spider hybrid merely released the TNT block, before angling her body-

And slamming down on all eights, just shy of the creepers, which began to flash dangerously-

"Oh goodness!" Soren gasped.

The spider hybrid immediately kept scuttling in the direction of the door to the PAMA Core (hey, that rhymed), not looking back as behind her, the creepers exploded simultaneously and blasted the falling TNT in the direction of the zombies, the resulting explosion sending a huge plume of sand flying into the air and presumably leaving a rather large crater.

"Okay, that was pretty smart planning," Em admitted, a tiny smirk quirking over her mouth. It was hard to tell, but it looked like the burly girl _might_ just be impressed by that just now.

The spider hybrid continued scuttling along rapidly, before tensing her legs and launching herself into the air without a pause, flicking out what looked like to be the last block of TNT, lighting it simultaneously, and, quickly releasing one arm from it, hauled it back before chucking it down at a huge horde of zombies that had started converging with another.

Suddenly, the spider hybrid's green and red eyes flashed a bit, widening in alarm as the screen suddenly slowed down to nearly glacial speeds, before sliding over to her left.

PAMA's impassive face stared back at her.

"Oh... I think PAMA might've noticed Jesse," Aiden winced.

"I mean, I'm pretty sure it would've noticed her regardless, what with all of those explosions just now," Hadrian pointed out.

"True."

The spider hybrid's gaze hardened slowly, before her head snapped back forward, time returning back to its proper speed, and she slammed to a halt on the ground on the other side of the screen, glancing back just in time to see the horde of zombies being blown apart, and she turned again and ran for the doorway Harper had showed her before.

" _Is that you, Jesse?_ " PAMA called out, calmly as always.

"It literally _just_ saw her. Who else would it be? Reuben?" Hadrian muttered sarcastically.

He winced as Otto dug his elbow into his ribs, once again. That bruise was starting to really hurt, at this point.

" _Because this won't work._ "

"You don't know anything, you stupid computer!" Reginald found himself snapping, to his faint surprise. He glanced over at the Founder, but he could see that she had the same sentiment reflected in her eyes. And Milo looked pretty irked with PAMA himself.

" _My forces will protect the Exit Portal._ "

Harper's eyes widened, and she jerked back a bit as if she'd been physically slapped. Real-Ivor winced, reaching out and taking ahold of her wrist in what he _hoped_ was a comforting way.

Onscreen, Jesse actually _skidded to a halt_ , whirling around to stare at PAMA with her eyes widening.

Around her, the telltale green swirls faded out of sight, indicating that the potion had worn off again.

" _Well..._ " the narrator suddenly came back on, with a voice that sounded almost _chagrined_ , but Jesse just looked so shocked that she didn't even _react_ to the narrator. " _That confirmed it. Harper got chipped._ "

Mevia's expression twitched. It was only for a second, and it was very minute, but Otto noticed it.

He decided not to say anything. Yet.

Over Jesse's shoulder, where she must've soared over earlier, was a group of chipped people putting together a portal. The archway looking like some sort of black material, lined with redstone, the arch hadn't been totally completed, but it looked like a good amount of progress had been made on it.

"Oh goodness, _hurry!_ " Isa gasped, eyes widening. "If PAMA gets through the portal-"

Almost as if onscreen-Jesse had heard the woman, she dropped back to all eights and started scuttling towards the door to the Core again, eyes scanning the landscape. PAMA continued, as if Jesse was sitting and listening, " _My friends have almost finished building our new Exit Portal. And then, I will make all other worlds, useful. Yay._ " A weird flickering sound came on, the screen moving to show that PAMA was now 'smiling'.

As Jesse came skidding around a corner, the red, glowing doorway could be seen.

"Alright, you're almost there!" Gabriel encouraged, slumping back and letting out a _barely_ audible sigh of relief.

"Now to just dump water on PAMA's stuff and then yank out the Redstone Heart," Jesse said, sounding a bit relieved herself.

She paused a moment later. "... y'know, when I put it like that, it sounds a lot less important than it actually is."

Half of the audience hid grins at the thoughtful statement.

Ivor, Petra, and Cassie skidded to a stop near Jesse as she whipped back to her feet, Cassie quickly pulling Winslow off of her head and wincing slightly painfully as her beanie came with it a little bit. Cassie was awkwardly maneuvering her axe around to avoid hurting herself or Winslow as she pulled him off, having taken it out earlier, and Petra's sword was out and pulsing with light, although it hadn't ignited yet.

Jesse sighed, looking sheepishly up at them as she rubbed her head a bit. " _Agh. I think PAMA might be onto me. I don't know about_ you _guys, but definitely me._ "

" _Really?_ " Petra snarked, looking more nervous than annoyed, " _you don't think the explosions had anything to do with it?_ "

" _Ooh, nice,_ " Ivor remarked, giving Petra a strange sort of smile- it looked a bit as if he were slightly afraid himself.

"Now's probably not the time for sarcasm," Dan said, making a slightly funny face. "You should all probably hurry."

"Hurrying sounds like a good idea. Let's go with that idea," Stacy almost _squeaked_ a bit, nervously.

" _The townspeople are already building the Exit Portal,_ " Jesse continued urgently, choosing to diplomatically ignoring the sarcasm, " _we've got to shut down this oversized hunk of metal and redstone before it can send its chipped forces through it-!_ "

" _I will find you, Jesse,_ " PAMA interrupted the comment.

Onscreen-Jesse let out a irritated sigh, putting a hand to her head. " _Rude..._ "

" _I have lots of friends._ "

"I think Jesse might have more than this computer does," Real-Ivor suddenly grinned a little bit, having suddenly been amused by the thought. Harper smiled a bit herself, although it seemed fainter than usual.

"True."

Jesse let out a very loud, very annoyed groan, skin going a shade paler, as the screen whirled around to show a horde of zombies and skeletons, all marching in perfect sync, searching the landscape for her. " _Oh_ no," she muttered, before racing towards the doorway.

Instead of following, Cassie just extended her axe forward defensively, gaze hardening as Winslow started hissing dangerously. Ivor smoothly pulled a sword out, keeping the blade low and almost waiting for an attack. Petra twirled her sword, a circle of fire immediately flaring to life around the three of them defensively.

"What are you puny people doing?" Facemeat wondered.

Petra was about to turn to him and reply that she wasn't _puny_. In fact, she got to the part where she turned to look at him, and doing so reminded her that this guy towered about a head or two taller than _Axel_ , and compared to him, both height and body size-wise, she probably _was_ kind of puny.

So she just shut her mouth again.

Ignoring the comment, Cassie gave her shoulders a little shrug. "I... do not know."

The spider hybrid skidded to a halt just outside the door, eyes slightly wide in shock. " _Guys!_ " she shouted back to them.

Petra glanced back at Jesse, before reaching into her pocket and fishing out a flash of metal that reflected the heat of the firelight- just for a second- before winging it at Jesse, the spider hybrid's lower arms shooting out and catching it, the metal clanking a bit as it hit her hands and sent a small bit of water sloshing out over the edges.

Ivor looked back around at Jesse himself, reaching into his own pocket and hurling it to Jesse, who caught it again, water spilling out over the edges again.

" _Don't worry, Jesse- we'll hold them off!_ " Cassie shouted, swinging her axe around in a wide, whistling arc, smashing it straight into a nearby zombie and making it puff into a plume of smoke immediately.

" _Go finish this and save Lukas!_ " Petra added, giving the more petite girl an encouraging, almost dangerous grin, " _you can do this!_ "

"Guys..." Jesse trailed off, her green eyes shimmering with some emotion that was hard to discern. Gratitude? Relief? Maybe even hope?

She didn't say anything for a few moments.

She didn't have to.

"... thank you."

Onscreen, Jesse returned the grin herself, eyes hardening with resolve, before she turned on her heel and charged through the doorway, Petra whipping back around to the mobs with a yell.

The screen switched to show Jesse skidding to a halt above what looked like a large hole, lined with glowing redstone and throbbing with a strange, eerie type of light. Taking a deep breath, Jesse looked down, stepped forward-

And dropped out of sight.

The screen went black.

The _entire_ audience let out gusty breaths of relief that they hadn't even realized they'd been holding. "Well, now that you're there," Stampy said, trying to stay optimistic, "I'm sure it won't be _easy,_ necessarily... but you're almost _certainly_ going to be able to do this." And he gave Jesse an encouraging smile.

Jesse looked at him for a minute, before her gaze softened a little, and she let a shy, happy smile come over her face.

It was nice... to know that she had people to watch her back. To have a feeling of just plain security.

Even if it was only temporary.

* * *

 **A/N: LONG TIME NO UPDATE, HUH?**

 **Yeah... after updating Composite, I might go AWOL for at least a week. I've got all of the main and secondary characters of Phantasmagoria's designs completed, and I'm still receiving background characters for the contest! It ends on August 31 at 12:01. I _will_ most likely include everyone's characters, since I didn't receive as many as I needed, but only 10 will have speaking lines in the final comic. The final decisions for these background characters will be made via a small panel of 'judges'- about three or four of my friends.**

 **Going back to why I might go AWOL, I've got 22 designs to complete and draw for reference, and I'll try to knock all that out as soon as possible. It should also be noted that I _will_ post the final character designs, but some may not be as extensive as others due to me not wishing to spoil the comic. In total, by the time the comic designs are all completed, I will have almost 50 designs and at LEAST 37 speaking roles for the comic dub. (Yes, I will initially be making a comic dub before making the animated version, if I do indeed decide to make the animated version. I'll post that project when I'm into the actual drawing phase, which still might not be for... another 6 months, at least. I work fast.)**

 **Okay, back to not Phantasmagoria stuff! Didja like the chapter?**

 **Also, updates WILL get significantly slower, since I am going into my junior year of high school, AKA the busiest year. So, updates might be slow, but don't worry! I will do my best to get chapters out at least once a week! (And knowing me when I say that, I'll still be updating every two days or so...)**

 **Next chapter will be fun as well. x3 And by fun I... actually mean fun. xD**

 **RQTC: Do you guys want me to make a theory video on my YouTube? (I have a lot of YouTube videos planned, and I'll post them all regardless, but I'd just like to see your opinions.)**

 **Responses to reviews!**

 **Lunar the Mooncake: (laughs) I'm glad you like it, I sometimes think I have a really bad sense of humor. xD / (laughs) I like the thing as well. / Oh, don't worry about that. As long as it's not something I told you directly, lemme know. xD**

 **homeworkoverload: (laughs) Same here, dude. / Hahahahahaha very true xD / CURSE THE SHEEP xD**

 **andie: Ahh, I see. / Haha, yes, I love showing the redemption. They have room for redemption in the actual Episodes, especially Mevia, who we actually didn't see that much of. Which sucks, I like her! xD / Hey, did you read the next reply I gave you on Composite? I'm not sure if you saw it or not, since you didn't reply or anything. xD**

 **ChloSky: I don't know. I just paused the game and laughed for a minute straight. Stella amuses me for some reason.**

 **ShiningHopeBeast: RIGHT?! xD / Aaahhh, I see! / (laughs) I find everything funny as well.**

 **AquaK13: Yay! / Heheheheh xD She makes a small return this chapter, as well. / Yeah, Jesse knows a lot of pick-up lines. Her dad, when not being mad at her, flirts openly with women in front of her. Father of the Year, here, folks. -_- / Hehehehe, he knows it too xD / Yus! / Ooooh, yes! Permission to use this sometime? xD / Nah, it's fine. xD I hope you've played it!**

 **LegoGirl794: (grins) Oh, believe me, neither do I.**

 **LittleAngelbun: AHAHAHAHAHA xD Your mother has good taste.**

 **ThatJackaboy: Nope, I haven't seen any of 'em. / Awww. (pats you on the shoulder) / Yeah, true, although I just couldn't stop laughing when he showed up in his snowman form. / Yes, do you want me to post 'em on YouTube in a theory video?**

 **Kaos Ruin: I'll just eat them so...**

 **J.M.M.: ?**

 **RavenBlaze4850: Huh, cool. / (laughs) Yep, Jesse is a storm indeed. xD / (laughs) / Ahhh, yes. I loved that part myself. And they are all dorks. None of them want to admit it, though. xD / (laughs) I'm glad you like my sense of humor. / (chuckles) Well, you might be right about that... / I'm actually _following_ my playthroughs of S2 to write Composite, so, I'd say so, yes xD / That would be lovely. xD / Yeah, they started recording the voiceovers for Episode 4 pretty recently. / (Hmm, maybe.)**

 **Mikaza1498: (laughs) I'm glad you found this so funny! I generally think my sense of humor is rubbish, so it makes me happy to hear that people like it. xD / (laughs) / Here is a (very late) update! / Yes, yes he is xD**

 **PoptartCrumbs: Aww, sorry to hear that. / (laughs) Yes, Plan J!**

 **Darkbeast Dend: 0-0 / Yes, a few times.**

 **Rabbits rule: (chuckles)**

 **Crystal: I love writing them too, so it's pretty good you like it. / (chuckles) / Ah, alright. (thumbs up) / Nahh, you'd have to be SERIOUSLY weird for me to be scared off, and 'seriously weird' is REALLY weird.**

 **RWBYSTRQ: (chuckles) Glad you liked them.**

 **giriri: ? / Oh, you didn't spot that before?**

 **Infernius Flashfire: Yes! and YES :)**

 **endie789: Okay, look, I appreciate you sending in your characters, but once is enough. Also, the less detailed you are about appearance (like just stating hair length, skin color, and eye color) and personality (a few traits that summarize a character), the MUCH more likely that you'll be picked as one of the characters that speak in the comic. / Also, I've played Episode 2 three times over by now, so I would definitely say that I know all this. Please do not post spoilers in the comments if you can, because while _I_ will not be spoiled, other people might not have played it, and it's not good to spoil people.**

 **Well, that's all for today, and perhaps for a week as well. See ya, so long, and g'bye!**

 **x.X. A.L. X.x.**


	155. One, Two, Th-- Oh Hi Harper

The screen faded back in to show Jesse from above, slowly walking into a room that was _literally_ glowing red, the glass floor showing thousands, and thousands, and _thousands_ of lines of redstone, and repeaters, and various other pathways, and the spider hybrid actually seemed mesmerized by the sheer amount of redstone piled up in that room for a moment, because she actually paused to stop and stare at it for a moment, before shaking her head a little and raising her head.

In the center of the huge cavern, rising through the floor, was a sort of pedestal-like structure with a single, glowing, red block on the top. The block was intricately carved with designs that were almost reminiscent of stained glass. The red block had an intense white core among the red glow, yet every few seconds the light seemed to be pulsing.

No... _beating_. The block's light was emitting a soft, thumping sound with each 'beat' of the light, which pounded away in a rhythmic, almost _hypnotic_ fashion.

Hadrian's eyes widened slightly at the sight of that.

The Redstone Heart.

He glanced over at Mevia, but to his _outright_ surprise Mevia didn't even seem fazed at the sight of the Redstone Heart. Actually, her eyes had narrowed a little, so she _had_ had a reaction... but it seemed like she was more concerned about the short black-haired girl walking towards the Redstone Heart.

Perhaps he should address that.

"Oh... huh. So _that's_ the Redstone Heart," Real-Jesse hummed, leaning forward slightly to inspect it a bit more. "It's..."

A beat as she paused thoughtfully.

"... Actually, it's rather pretty."

"Yes... quite beautiful," Ivor hummed thoughtfully, tilting his head to one side.

"But dangerous too, right?" Lukas frowned. (Jesse's shoulders relaxed slightly. It had been a while since he'd said anything, and she'd been starting to get a little concerned.)

"Actually, not really," Harper said, shrugging slightly. When several members of the audience twisted to give her a slightly bemused look, she just shrugged a bit, looking more surprised than anything else. "It's really only a power source. When it's not powering anything destructive, it's actually quite harmless."

"Oh." Stampy turned around and regarded the screen for a moment. "I suppose that makes sense."

The spider hybrid's gaze went from the structure in the center of the cavern to the three towers surrounding the structure holding the Redstone Heart. Atop each tower was a single redstone block that was emitting a beam of light that connected to the main, glowing block. Presumably like some sort of backup power. Maybe even stemming directly from the Redstone Heart.

" _The three spires,_ " she whispered, tiptoeing forward with what looked like the _utmost_ care.

Suddenly, a loud _bloop!_ rang out in the near-silent (except for some rather faint, ethereal background music) cavern, making the spider hybrid (and the entire audience, for that matter) jump half a foot into the air as PAMA's face came over a huge screen that the audience hadn't noticed before. " _Greetings, Jesse. I, of course, have been expecting you._ "

There was a short pause, before PAMA continued, in an almost _grudging_ way, if the computer even _had_ emotions, " _though I will admit I am surprised at how quickly you gained access. My defenses are significant. Your resistance to me is... illogical._ "

Jesse simply crossed her arms to that, scowling up at the huge computer. It might've just been the red light the cavern emitted in general, but it seemed as if her right eye was starting to turn red again. " _Yeah, well, I had help getting here. My friends made sure of that._ " A determined smirk quirked over her lips. " _Thanks to them, I'm here to put you out of commission._ "

" _Your bravery is an impressive quality._ "

Real-Jesse made a slight face. "Coming from PAMA, I'm not sure I want to hear that."

Privately, most of the other audience members agreed.

" _I look forward to studying that aspect of your personality... once you have been made useful._ " The telltale "..." appeared on the screen, the one that showed that PAMA was thinking, before it flickered back to PAMA's almost... curious face. " _Out of simple curiosity... how did you plan to deactivate me?_ "

Jesse took a deep breath, letting her eyes flutter shut... before folding her hands behind her back and letting her eyes flash open, glowing red themselves as the most poisonously sweet smile that the audience had _ever_ seen came over Jesse's face. Actually, it was honestly surprising that _that_ expression came to be on _Jesse's_ face, because as I think we've established earlier, Jesse's pretty much one of the sweetest human beings to ever exist. " _That's for me to know, and you to find out,_ " she said, in the most innocent yet somehow venomously girlish voice that any of them had _ever_ seen.

Jace took a deep breath, feeling his heart starting to pound away even harder in his ribcage. "Ohhh, here we go..."

" _Then I look forward to making you useful, and finding out for myself._ "

A smirk flashed over Jesse's face, her now-sharp canines showing. " _We'll see about that!_ " And she dropped to all eights and started scuttling along rapidly for the nearest two spires. PAMA's face flickered into a displeased one.

"You can do it, Jesse!" Lizzie shouted, pumping her fist into the air encouragingly.

Several loud zombie groans rang out, and Jesse's head swivelled to the right to show three zombies leaping down from- _somewhere_ \- to block her path to the spire. Then a swish pan to the left, where three spiders vaulted over the spire and landed in front of it, hissing defensively.

"Go for the spiders!" Gill shouted, making Maya flinch a bit- he'd just shouted in her ear. "Since she's a spider hybrid they might be easier to handle!"

"Especially considering the strength of the super-zombies," Mevia added, thoughtfully.

Onscreen-Jesse's head rotated from the zombies, to the spiders... before she changed her path and angled for the left, scuttling at full-speed for the spiders. " _Out of my way!_ " she hissed in anger, chest humming slightly.

One spider ignored the command, tensing its legs and jumped. Jesse's eyes narrowed, and the spider hybrid suddenly used her forward momentum to throw herself onto her uppermost set of arms, arcing through the air in a handstand, just for a moment- before slamming onto her back and drawing in her arms and legs so she was curled into a ball, right as the spider landed right on top of her, hissing dangerously.

Lukas's arms tightened around Jesse so much that it forced a squeak out of her, and Stacy let out an incoherent gasp.

Jesse suddenly lashed out with all eight of her legs, using the forward momentum that hadn't completely been dispelled to throw the spider into the air and over the edge of the glass walkway.

"Woohoo!" Ellegaard cheered in excitement, springing up and inadvertently making the three other Order members on the couch bounce violently, " _yes!_ "

Noticing the amused looks they sent her (plus, you know, the rest of the audience), she quickly cleared her throat and sat back down, in a much more proper position, although nobody really was fooled. Especially not by the way her eyes were sparkling in excitement.

Also, when they returned their attention to the screen, she immediately went into a more relaxed position.

" _Sorry!_ " Jesse added, in her own hiss, before flipping back to her feet and continuing to skitter right towards the spire. A spider tensed its legs and began to prepare to lunge at her. Jesse's eyes flickered between one spider, and then the other, which was the one tensing its legs, before throwing herself to the side and rolling over, the spider soaring straight over her and sailing straight into the chasm. Jesse whipped back to her feet so fast that the audience nearly got whiplash from it and, whipping out her sword, lashed out at the next spider. The sword smacked into it with a meaty _smack_ and knocked it onto its back at the base of the spire.

Not even hesitating, Jesse raced towards it, still upright, before leaping into the air, stomping down on it with what looked like quite a bit of strength, before using its desperate kick to launch herself onto the top of the spire.

"Whoa!" Nell bounced up and down, making Em roll her eyes slightly. If you were looking closely, the blonde's eyes were really _sparkling_. "That was _so awesome!_ "

Glancing down as a sort of afterthought, Jesse quickly reached into her pocket and fumbled the bucket out, nearly dropping it on her foot as she did her best to pull it out. " _Your end is inevitable, Jesse,"_ PAMA spoke again, frowning at her in the background and making Jesse frown at it in what looked more like irritation than anything else.

" _You sure about that?_ "

And she upended the bucket over the spire.

Soren let out a sigh of relief. "One down, two to go."

"That didn't look too hard," Otto murmured, sounding slightly relieved.

"Don't jinx it," all of the teenagers chorused in perfect unison.

Water poured off of the top of the spire, splashing all over Jesse's feet, and made the light connecting the spire to the Redstone Heart flicker and die, the lights flickering badly and almost winking out altogether as the entire cavern rumbled, the light flickering enough to reveal a strange squiggle for a mouth on PAMA's face as a 'sad' eyebrow came onto the screen as well. The screen flickered to show three triangle signs with an exclamation point inside each, one of the triangle signs glowing red, before PAMA's face flickered back on.

To his (and a few members of the audience's) surprise, Aiden found himself sticking his fingers into his mouth and giving a loud, encouraging wolf-whistle.

" _You are very good at being a nuisance,_ " PAMA intoned, " _but not enough._ "

" _I'll take that as a compliment!_ " Jesse responded, leaping down from the spire before even finishing the statement and racing towards the other spire, which was blocked by the zombies. Dodging down under one zombie's swing, she pivoted, whipping into an upright position, and slammed her palms into the zombie's chest, hard.

The zombie staggered unevenly before toppling over the edge of the platform, plummeting out of sight quite rapidly.

"Woo!" and Magnus pumped his fists into the air in excitement. Unlike Ellegaard, he had no qualms about embarrassing himself, not in front of these guys.

Pivoting again, Jesse lashed out with her sword, hitting the next zombie so hard that it staggered back, knocking into the other one and resulting in the two zombies teetering near the edge, close enough that a single shove would've knocked them off.

Without even hesitating, the spider hybrid completed the process by dropping to all eights, tensing her legs... and lunging forward.

She slammed straight into the first zombie that she'd whacked, knocking it and its partner straight over the edge, before using the force of her shove to catapult her backwards and away from the edge herself. Catching herself on all eights, although she nearly turned a little _too_ far and landed flat on her back, she scuttled towards the spire rapidly.

(Lukas might've relaxed his grip on Jesse with a low sigh at that.)

" _You are too insignificant to worry me,_ " PAMA stated as she quickly ascended the side of the spire, ignoring the small staircase that had formed and instead crawling straight up.

" _Don't count out the little people!_ " Jesse snapped back from where she was now perched on top of the spire, splashing the contents of this bucket on the spire. The lights abruptly flickered again, the cavern rumbling dangerously once again as the beam of light emitting from this spire faltered and died, the light in the cavern pulsating so badly that had they been watching at night, the room would've been plunged into complete darkness.

" _You have inflicted... minor damage on me. Owie,_ " PAMA said, the weird sad-squiggly-mouth face coming onto the screen again, flickering back to what appeared to be a warning screen- two of the triangles now glowing red dangerously.

" _That's_ our Jesse!" Ivor nearly _shouted_ , grinning like a madman, and most of the audience was so relieved and excited by this turn of events and were giving their own (somewhat halfhearted, since they were so relieved about _everything_ right now) cheers, that they didn't even notice Ivor's little slip-up with 'our Jesse' (although Jesse certainly did, and judging by the faint smile on Lukas's face, he noticed it as well).

Jesse lunged down from the spire again, landing squarely on all eights and skittering towards the last spire with barely a pause in her movements, which was the farthest from the entrance to the cavern. " _Is my defeat still inevitable, you great big hunk of metal?_ " the spider hybrid asked, in a much more normal tone of voice. Maybe she was tired of shouting everything. (I know _I'd_ be.)

" _Your defeat is still inevitable,_ " PAMA replied simply.

Olivia shook her head. "Well... Jesse tends to do the impossible on a daily basis, so..." she trailed off, a sheepish grin coming over her face, before she randomly gestured a little at the screen.

Axel, Gill, Magnus, and Aiden may have all snorted a little at that.

Rather than getting annoyed by that, Jesse let out the softest little chuckle, her annoyed look fading slightly. " _If only I had a bar of gold for every time I've heard_ that _before..._ "

" _You will relinquish your water,_ " a new voice suddenly spoke, robotic and harsh and almost somewhat _alien_.

Yet a somehow _familiar_ voice as well.

The spider hybrid abruptly skidded to a halt at the voice, eyes widening, before her head snapped up to the last spire and she looked up.

The screen moved rapidly from Jesse to the spire to show-

Em sucked in a deep breath at that, Ivor actually gasped a little bit, Harper felt her face turn all shades of pale, Otto visibly winced, and Mevia's eyes widened a little bit. "Oh."

She paused, before giving her head the slightest shake. "That's not good."

Had Harper not been staring at the screen in the middle of a maelstrom of emotions, she probably would've looked around at Mevia in slight surprise, but the sight of what was on the screen just had her frozen in place staring at the screen.

Because standing a little ways above Jesse, on the spire, with a pair of her own glowing, dull red eyes glaring down almost _blankly_ at Jesse, was Harper.

* * *

 **A/N: Perfect spot to end! And yes, I know I said I wouldn't update for a week... well, this is what happens when you forget your laptop at home, folks; you work on the library computers during the free period.**

 **Ooh, next chapter, and the chapters after that.**

 **That's when this gets REALLY fun.**

 **(For me. You're really going to hate me after I write the part after next chapter, although I might end up making the whole thing one big long chapter after next chapter.)**

 **RQTC: Who likes popcorn?**

 **Meeeeee!**

 **Responses to reviews!**

 **MissyMattingly: Aw, thank you!**

 **Kaos Ruin: I'll probably still eating them haha / Oh... yeah. You're not going to like the chapter after next. Actually you'll probably get really really mad at me. xD / (laughs) Yes, I know.**

 **LegoGirl794: Aww, I know how you feel. Don't worry, updates won't be as sparse as I expected... for a while, anyways.**

 **EnderKitty68: (smiles for some reason)**

 **CrystalTearsofFaith: (shrugs slightly and smiles a bit for some reason)**

 **AquaK13: Yeah. That's not even the most intense p- woops spoilers. / Hahahaha, yes. xD / Indeed he is, indeed he is xD / Friendship! / Haha, if I can improve my skill at drawing backgrounds in time. / Yeeeeaaaa, okay, I'll make the video. x3 / Yaise! / Bye!**

 **RapidSammi: Nah, fam, it's fine, it's gonna start kicking me in the face soon as well. / If you're anything younger than a junior right now... buckle in for junior year.**

 **andie: Ah, okay.**

 **PoptartCrumbs: (laughs) I know how you feel, dude. I know how you feel. / Yussss :3**

 **LunarTheMooncake: Because I have to update when I can... / Hahaha. Yeah... fun.**

 **CamronXTheXGAmer: (laughs) / Ahhh, yeah, that sucks. 7th grade is easy in retrospect, though. / No you cannot, I'm sorry. xD / Ah, nice! / ? Sorry, I'm not sure what you were asking?**

 **BeliTheGhoti0304: Hehehe, it was actually inspired by the official Minecraft Handbook (which I don't have anymore but I remember seeing a page like that when I did have it). Lolololol / Yeah, I will be VERY busy. But, ah... on the what I know what I'm doing... hahaha... / (laughs) I'm glad you liked it! / Of course, I'll have the video up asap.**

 **homeworkoverload: I just started today, actually. / Yeah, go ahead! The more the merrier! / Aw, you missed me? Yeah, that always sucks.**

 **Rabbits rule: First, you have a boyfriend? I didn't have a boyfriend until freshman year. Like, I'm genuinely surprised. Second (pulls out my chainsaw) what is his name and where can i find him**

 **ShinginHopeBeast: Yeah, it's a little hard to muffle/stifle laughter/giggles/chuckles/etc. more than the ones I listed here. I want my stories to be readable, for the most part; I don't want to put a word like 'bivouacked' (yes, that is a word) and have people have to look it up, if at all possible.**

 **A Random Guest: This is fantastic! Thanks so much :3**

 **Mikaza1498: Thank you! I'm hoping it will go well as well, but that depends on how good I can get at doing backgrounds, because right now, uh, hoo boy. / I will most likely post them on my DeviantArt, but I'll also probably post them on my main website as well. / I'm glad you liked the chapter! / Ahahaha, yes... that'll be fun. And I would never forget you guys. / If you're referring to Toni42, he's a guy xD**

 **RavenBlaze4850: Haha, yep! / Yeah, that's... that's gonna be great xD / No, just the official Minecraft handbook, lol / It's not going to be fine with that, either... / Yeah, of course! I always want to work on these things. / Yay!**

 **RWBYSTRQ: Yes, yes I do xD**

 **DarkbeastDend: Ah, gotcha.**

 **InsaneAcrobat: Haha, no, I... really need to make a note for someone to let y'all know if that happens. And if I'd 'become an adult of mature pursuits', trust me, I would definitely have let you guys know first. / Oh, wow. That's good! / Petra's actually in a bit of a weaker state right now from PAMA getting into her brain, so too much physical exertion beyond a human body (for example, running, maybe fighting off some monsters) like her hybrid abilities, and she might end up dropping right out of the sky. / (grins slightly) / Hahaha, yeah, PAMA's kind of stupid sometimes. / Nope! I just started playing Minecraft again recently, and I still don't play that often.**

 **Welp, that's all for now. See ya, so long, and g'bye!**

 **x.X. A.L. X.x**


	156. PAMA Just Made a Rather Poor Life Choice

"Oh _no_ ," Mevia groaned loudly.

" _Harper!_ " Jesse gasped, mouth dropping open in surprise.

PAMA continued, in its usual infuriatingly robotic voice (which made Jesse stop gaping at Harper in shock to glance over her shoulder at the computer with an annoyed expression on her face, which made a few people chuckle slightly), " _Your attempts to defeat me have been... impressive, Jesse. Your tenacity and spirit will help to improve me... once you have been made useful._ "

Onscreen-Jesse just rolled her green-and-red eyes at the computer-

A blur of motion shot forward in the corner of the screen, which also happened to be the corner of her peripheral vision.

"Move!" Petra shouted, which wasn't entirely necessary.

Jesse dropped to all eights and shot forward towards the spire like a bullet, just in the nick of time- Harper proceeded to slam into the ground where Jesse had been a moment before, almost as if she'd been trying to stamp on Jesse. The spider hybrid skidded to a halt at the bottom of the tower, almost running straight into it from how fast she'd been moving a moment earlier.

"That was close," Sparklez sighed in relief.

Harper nodded mutely in agreement. She didn't really trust herself to say anything. Not right now, anyways.

Jesse straightened back up in a quick, whip-like motion, pulled out the bucket of water- and then paused, a frown coming over her face as she kept holding the bucket of water uncertainly. " _I can't_ do _anything to Harper... and I can't use the water bucket on her, either._ " Her gaze switched to the top of the spire, before flickering down to where Harper was standing back up, rotating eerily on the spot. " _Not when there's one spire left..._ "

Harper started moving towards Jesse.

The spider hybrid shoved the bucket's handle between her teeth and whipped around on the spot, slamming all of her hands into the side of the spire. Her limbs immediately attached, and the young woman started scrambling to get to the top rapidly, limbs propelling her to the top of the tower as Harper started leaping up the 'steps' to the top, water slopping down Jesse's front a little bit as the bucket swung crazily around in her teeth.

Ivor realized he'd been holding his breath for a solid minute now and quickly exhaled, getting some more air back into his lungs.

" _The odds of you defeating me,_ " Harper-PAMA spoke, " _are 3720 to one._ "

Real-Jesse just blinked a bit. "How did PAMA get _that_ number?" she wondered, momentarily distracted from the current situation.

Olivia snorted a little at that.

" _Never tell me the odds!_ " Jesse retorted, yanking the bucket out of her mouth and upending it over the last redstone block- just as Harper reached the top and tackled Jesse off the top of the tower.

"Be careful!" Otto exclaimed.

Water cascaded over the last block, the final spire's light flickering and dying, and the entire cavern shaking and rumbling, the lights almost entirely winking out except for PAMA's massive screen, which was showing the three warning signs, all three illuminated red and flashing dangerously as the entire cavern quaked threateningly.

"You did it!" Harper shouted, feeling a _massive_ wave of relief rush through her. "Now you just have to yank out the Redstone Heart, and PAMA will be deactivated for good!"

"Oh- good! This..." Magnus paused, before putting his hands up. "Actually, ya know what, I'm not going to say anything. I might jinx it."

"That's probably a good point," Ellegaard mumbled, lips quirking into a relieved smile regardless.

The spider hybrid let out a pained gasp as her back slammed into the glass floor, but she barely had time to heave in a shallow breath before Harper suddenly slammed her back down, making the glass beneath them crack slightly. " _This isn't over, Jesse,_ " Harper intoned, although her eyes were set in a harsh glare at Jesse, " _I will find your homeworld, and make_ everyone _you_ ever _cared for useful. It will be-_ "

Jesse's eyes suddenly flashed red, and she let out a furious shout as she slammed her lower arms into Harper's gut, knocking the older woman off of her. Harper had barely staggered back to her feet when Jesse was suddenly grabbing Harper by the front of her shirt, fixing Harper with a look of such pure _fury_ that the audience was both surprised that Jesse could even _manage_ an expression like that, and that it was lucky Jesse wasn't actually _mad_ at Harper.

" _PAMA, you're pretty smart, but you just made a really,_ really _poor life decision. You do not_ ever _threaten my friends!_ " And Jesse drew her arms towards her before shoving out violently, knocking Harper backwards and making the woman trip-

 _Straight into the waterfall of water from where she'd dumped the water onto the spire._

Electricity arced everywhere, Harper letting out a loud scream of pain as her back arched from the electric shock, the entire area flashing white and red and white again-

The chip popped off almost anticlimactically and clanked as it bounced over the edge of the glass platform, plummeting out of sight.

"She's okay!" Jace cheered, throwing his arms into the air.

That comment caused the entire roomful of people to cheer a bit, except for Hadrian (who just sat back with a sigh, but of what it was hard to tell), and even Mevia was furiously applauding until she paused, shaking her hands out slightly with a little wince. Harper looked around a bit in surprise; judging by the stunned expression on her face she hadn't been expecting that in the least.

" _My Creator,_ " PAMA exclaimed... sort of. It was more of just a statement. " _No!"_

Harper blinked slowly as she sat back up, looking exhausted. "... _Je... sse...?_ " she managed, sounding a little pained.

A huge, relieved grin spread over Jesse's face at that, the spider hybrid's tensed-up position suddenly relaxing and the red flooding right back out of her right eye. Harper shuddered a bit, reaching up and holding her head as she swayed a little in place. " _Ugh. That was worse than I could've_ imagined..."

" _Don't worry, Harper,_ " and Jesse raced over and pulled Harper to her feet, the older woman staggering in place a little bit but otherwise remaining pretty stable, " _PAMA's nearly finished._ "

" _Good, good..._ " Harper murmured, almost absentmindedly... before her eyes widened. " _Jesse, behind you!_ "

The entire audience collectively tensed up at that. Olivia winced sharply as Axel's arm tightened around her ribs so tightly that he may or may not have been cracking them. At least she could still breathe a bit.

The spider hybrid whirled around at the shout of alarm in the Ancient Architect's voice, the screen following her gaze to show that the huge structure with the pulsing, beating block was beginning to retract into the floor. " _Ouchie... detected,_ " PAMA's voice blared out, as an alarm started wailing. " _Preservation. Protocol. Initiated._ "

"Preservation Proto...?" Clutch dissolved into silence, mouthing the rest of the word slowly as she tried to figure out what that meant.

" _What's going on?!_ " Jesse cried out, whirling back to face Harper with a wide-eyed expression on her face, the entire cavern's light flickering and pulsing with this persistent beeping sound that was starting to sound along with the wailing alarm.

" _You shorted out the processing towers!_ " Harper shouted back over the blaring and the beeping and the wailing of the alarms, " _PAMA's withdrawing the Redstone Heart to save itself!_ " Caught up in a small fit of panic, Harper seized Jesse by the shoulders and started to shake her furiously, " _get to the Redstone Heart and rip it out before it's too late!_ "

" _Yeah, okay-_ " Jesse quickly detached Harper's hands from her shoulders, giving her head a little shake to clear it, " _\- you bet I will!_ " And with that, she dropped to all eights again, skittering around and racing towards the structure with the Redstone Heart on it-

A blur of motion slammed into Jesse, and the spider hybrid curled up into a ball as she tumbled backwards again, ending up right back next to Harper as she ended up in a sitting position, hands resting in her lap and her eyes blinking a little in confusion (and squinted up a bit in what looked like pain) as she let out a little hiss of pain.

" _We've got company,_ " Harper said, voice beginning to sound _extremely_ worried.

Jesse got back to her feet, shaking her head, before looking up-

And freezing stock-still.

Real-Jesse suddenly froze in place as well, something clicking together rather abruptly in her head.

She might just have figured out who had slammed into her just now.

"Jesse?" The petite girl glanced back to see Lukas touching her shoulder, concern dancing in his eyes. Behind him, she could see Aiden looking over at her with a worried glance, and Petra was frowning in concern at her as well."Are you okay? What's wrong? You just... kinda froze."

Jesse wanted to tell them...

But at the same time, she _so desperately_ hoped she was wrong.

A moment later, wordlessly, she lifted her hand and pointed back at the screen.

Because silhouetted dimly against the glowing Redstone Heart, glowing, dull-red eyes fixed in an intense glare right at the spider hybrid, was Lukas.

"Oh _no_ ," Maya gasped, hands going to her mouth in shock.

" _Oh no..._ " Real-Jesse whispered, her shoulders sagging a bit in a look that was almost along the lines of _despair_. " _Why the heck did I think this was going to be_ easy...?"

Harper glanced over at the tone in Jesse's voice, worry dancing in her own eyes. " _Your friend looks tough... you sure you can handle him?_ " she asked in a low voice, gray eyes narrowing in concern.

The spider hybrid didn't even have a chance to answer, because Lukas-PAMA started speaking, which drew Jesse's attention back to the blonde ocelot hybrid. " _Why keep trying, Jesse,_ " Lukas-PAMA spoke, in that eerily robotic voice that _still_ creeped out the _entire_ audience. " _You will only fail._ "

Jesse's gaze hardened a little bit, and she looked like she was about to retaliate, but Lukas wasn't apparently done-

" ** _Just as you failed to save Reuben._** "

Real-Lukas instantly slapped his hand to his mouth, eyes widening in shock. Real-Jesse actually jerked a bit, as if she'd been physically struck, a soft whimper escaping her mouth. Real-Reuben had let out a surprised squeal at the mention of his name, while Jace had let out a little whimper of his own, tears beginning to brim up in his own eyes. Petra's arm had tightened around Jace in a probably-painful way, but he didn't even notice, he was just frozen in place next to Jesse. Axel's arm was so tight around Olivia that _now_ she couldn't breathe, but she didn't really care at the moment.

Aiden's mouth was hanging open in shock at the comment, and Maya had clapped her hands to her mouth, feeling tears welling up slightly in her eyes. Gill was frozen in place himself, blinking rapidly at what Lukas- no, _PAMA_ , that wasn't Lukas- PAMA had just said. Cassie had frozen in place herself, and even Winslow looked a bit comically shocked about the whole thing.

Soren looked a little _nauseated_ from the comment, his cheeks having drained of color, which was replaced by the _palest_ tinge of green. Gabriel's mouth was actually hanging open in surprise, while Magnus looked a bit as though someone had just hit him in the face. Ellegaard was sitting still as well, her mouth hanging open in shock as she stared at the screen herself, hands resting limply at her sides. Ivor was frozen in place, except where his eyes were flickering from Jesse and Lukas back to their counterparts onscreen. Harper herself looked as though she was frozen in surprise.

Isa's arms had tightened around Benedict so much that she was basically squeezing the tiny chicken like a stress ball. Milo's hand was resting on the couch loosely, the other one straightening his rumpled hat from where he'd upset it and and essentially knocked it right off his head when he'd been reaching up to scratch his head. (Right before PAMA had made that statement.) Reginald was gaping at the screen in dismay himself, although his mouth wasn't hanging open.

Stampy's hands were covering his mouth, as if forcing himself not to make a comment, and Dan's hair had, without anyone noticing it, turned a strange mix of red, green, and white- he essentially looked a bit like a Christmas tree. Lizzie's shoulders were tense, and Stacy's hand was covering her mouth, tears building up in her eyes in shock. Sparklez had knocked his sunglasses off into his lap, but that statement had caught him so off guard that he was actually just frozen in shock, staring at the screen.

Mevia's eyes had widened, and she was vaguely wondering why she couldn't breathe, before realizing she'd started holding her breath and letting it out in a silent exhale. Otto was actually blinking rapidly and in a good amount of surprise, while even _Hadrian_ looked slightly surprised by the statement PAMA had just made. Nell's hands were at her mouth, as if preventing her from saying anything, and Em was gaping in shock at the screen herself. The gladiator's couch had almost gotten knocked over by the gladiator's reactions. As it was, Slab had barely managed to keep it from toppling over altogether by jumping off and using the momentum from his jump to shove the front of the couch back down to earth.

The room was _entirely_ silent.

Onscreen, Jesse froze again, eyes widening, as if she'd just been hit by a truck. For a moment, she was just utterly silent and still, all of the sound around her having suddenly winked out with a sort of brief shriek. Lukas's mouth kept moving, PAMA _still_ talking through the blonde ocelot hybrid, but Jesse just didn't seem to be aware of it, and all of the sounds, the beeping and the blaring and the wailing having turned into a strange buzzing sound, with the faintest undertones of ringing that wasn't going away.

Not in the least.

"Oh Notch," Lukas said, softly. His eyes were wide as he leaned around to stare at Jesse's face, noticing with a guilty clench of his stomach that Jesse was whiter than a piece of porcelain. "Jesse... I'm... I'm so..."

" _Hahaha..._ "

Onscreen-Lukas stopped speaking suddenly, blinking at Jesse once. He and Harper and PAMA all stared at Jesse in confusion.

Because she'd just giggled.

Another dark giggle bubbled out of her. And then another. And then more, and more and then suddenly Jesse was chuckling, but it wasn't her usual laugh, it was this strange dark version where they couldn't see her eyes at all, her hair and a shadow was blocking it from sight from them, and then it grew to nearly _hysterical_ levels, so dark and so strangely sweet that it was... what was the word...?

Venomous.

" _Oh... okay, PAMA,_ " she said, stopping her laughing fit a second later and slowly revolving on the spot, voice that same poisonous sweetness that she'd just been laughing with, really almost a little like a singsong tone to her voice.

The shadow on her eyes came off to reveal that her eyes were _blazing_ bloodred in the darkness, tears sliding down her cheeks, but her eyes weren't filled with anguish- no, it was filled with this strange, crazed hatred and fury and grief, all at once, that frighteningly sweet smile still fixed on her lips.

A chill ran up all of their backs.

They'd never seen this side of Jesse.

Never before.

Jesse spoke again, lightly and in that same singsong tone... which just made what she said next all the more frightening.

" _You're going to die now._ "

* * *

 **A/N: Hey guys! The contest for Phantasmagoria's background characters is officially OVER. (No more character submissions, basically. xD) Good news is that we ended up with 34, which is only six off from where my goal of 40 was! Thanks so much!**

 **So, I looked through them all, and here are the ones that got picked as background characters in general.**

 **Yes, I had to pick. Unfortunately, that one reviewer from last time... um... they didn't fix the character submission like I asked them to fix it. So that kind of rendered their character unusable, since I do not have the time to pick through the usable aspects of a character. Also, the fact that they thought that their character was picked as a main character (or even as a speaking character in the first place) before I even announced it... I don't know why. But it just made me pissed off for some reason.**

 **So here are all of the picked background characters (and where they came from, if you want to know)!**

 **Sasha Gamer (S4SH4L4SH4theGaMeR101 - email)  
James Michael (J.M.M - email)  
Letitia Beth Freeman (ShiningHopeBeast - email)  
Luna Eclipse Lark (Starlight - email)  
Anaya Sherman (Starlight - email)  
Melody Fernsby (Raven - website)  
Oliver Libra (InsaneAcrobat - website)  
Minako Kurusu (ForeverFairy - DeviantArt)  
Amber Darkscribe (DarkPrincess2001 - DeviantArt)  
Preston (Infernius Flashfire - DeviantArt)  
Lizz (Apologizee - DeviantArt)  
Sean Piehel (DefinitelyNotSean - DeviantArt)  
Anna (annathegoat - DeviantArt)  
Belinda Anderson (Beli0304 - DeviantArt)  
Coraline Evans (GuestPerson13 - YouTube)  
Hamuko Kurusu (LunartheMooncake - HCM)  
Voria (KaosRuin - HCM)  
Sabrina Santiago (AquaK13 - HCM)  
Avery Tristani (homeworkoverload - HCM)  
Joe Pierce (ahnjoseph87 - HCM)  
Amber Grace (LegoGirl794 - HCM)  
Michael Jordannes (homeworkoverload - HCM)  
Zen (giriri - HCM)  
Chryss Taylor (CrystalTearsofFaith - HCM)  
Drake Troy (ShiningHopeBeast - HCM)  
Gorlox Fang (gorloxianfang - HCM)  
Angelica "Ellie" (MysticKitty - HCM)  
Sabrina Miles (A Random Guest - HCM)  
Lorelei Arissa Song (A Random Guest - HCM)  
Tyler Aimi Benbow (homeworkoverload - HCM) **(yes, I am aware this is the third character they submitted; they asked beforehand if they could.) **  
Sophie Tara Markswood (Midday Moonlight - HCM)  
Lorelei Elisa Ashland (Midday Moonlight - HCM)  
Violet (MysticKitty - HCM)  
Cai (PoptartCrumbs - HCM)**

 **And the characters that got picked to have speaking roles are, in order of the best rating:**

 **1\. Voria (KaosRuin - HCM)  
2\. Sean Piehel (DefinitelyNotSean - DeviantArt)  
3\. Tyler Aimi Benbow (homeworkoverload - HCM)  
4\. Lorelei Arissa Song (A Random Guest - HCM)  
5\. Oliver Libra (InsaneAcrobat - website)  
6\. Chryss Taylor (CrystalTearsofFaith - HCM)  
7\. Coraline Evans (GuestPerson13 - YouTube)  
8\. Joe Pierce (ahnjoseph87 - HCM)  
9\. Sabrina Santiago (AquaK13 - HCM)  
10\. Preston (Infernius Flashfire - DeviantArt)**

 **Congratulations if you were picked for either list!**

 **RQTC: Are you guys aware that you will really hate me next chapter? And I'm saying you'll REALLY hate me. I'm just not sure if you'll hate me because I end up leaving you on a cliffhanger, or because just of the content of the next chapter in general.**

 **Responses to reviews!**

 **Endie789: Alright, _no_. Your character did _not_ get picked for a main character, or a speaking background character, or even a background character in general, simply because you didn't even wait for me to announce the winners of the 10 speaking characters to assume that you got picked, and because you didn't follow the rules. You can't make requests for Phantasmagoria's story to be changed based around the characters; simply because it is an original story that _I_ wrote and because the background character contest was to allow people who read my stories- people that I'm _extremely_ grateful for- participate in something that _I'm_ extremely excited to make, and allow them to get 'early access' to something I am working _extremely_ hard on. Please be aware that after this chapter is replaced with the old one, I am going to delete all of your reviews. Not to be mean, but because you posted so many that was essentially the same content, even when I asked politely to please change the information or to summarize it, and because I think your reviews are annoying some of the other readers who read the comments sections as well as me. You didn't change it when you could, or do the small revisions I asked that would've taken, at MOST, ten minutes. So I'm sorry, but I'm not including your character(s) in Phantasmagoria.**

 **To those of you who read this big long rant, I'm really sorry, but this has been bothering me for several days now and I figured it was about time I address the problem.**

 **PoptartCrumbs: OMG, I totally know how you feel. Popcorn is so good :3 / I don't like that, for some reason... probably because that was the only popcorn I ate when I had braces. / Yes, this is lovely! Thank you for the submission :)**

 **RavenBlaze4850: Yeah... and you're going to hate me next chapter. I know it. A ton of the readers are just going to despise me after this next chapter. / Hehehe, I'll see if I can manage that next chapter. / Yeah, true. But still. Popcorn is great. xD**

 **giriri: (laughs) No, no it is not. / (thumbs up) / (grins a bit) You're gonna hate me next chapter. Trust me.**

 **KaosRuin: Yes, to be honest, you should just know off the top of your head by now that I give cliffhangers xD**

 **DarkPrincess2001: Yes, do you see the problem here? xD**

 **InsaneAcrobat: (laughs) Yeah, I see your point about that. / Yeah, thank you for backing me up a little on that point. Also, the point is that the personality is supposed to outline a few things like if they're a nice person. Not if they have ADHD or something. / Honestly, I can't include the characters because they didn't follow the guidelines they set, except sort of one, but then they expanded WAY too much on the personality. So... I can't include any of them.**

 **MysticKitty: Oh, gosh, no, that's awesome! Thanks so much! / Yes, thank you for pointing that out! I actually directed them to your first character submission as a reference, but I don't think they got it, unfortunately, because they still didn't fix it enough and it's been bothering me for weeks. / Thank you for shortening it, but unfortunately cannot accept the character not because of the deadline, but because they still went way too far into the character design when I need like, three sentences total.**

 **CrystalTearsofFaith: (shrugs uncomfortably) I'm not going to be able to include their character, which makes me feel bad, but, well, I did warn them. Multiple times, in fact. So...**

 **homeworkoverload: (laughs) Well, you did get a speaking role for one (only one, because there were so many other nice character submissions out there as well!) But thank you for submitting all of them! /** **Do they really?! Good god... / Yes, it is, and after this chapter is put up I'm deleting the comments, simply because they didn't follow the guidelines and because scrolling past their stuff to see what other people said about the chapter is getting tiresome.**

 **LegoGirl794: It's not canon, but it's still a pretty interesting theory to have! Though it must be noted that the watching of the episodes doesn't take place in the hotel, lol**

 **Yutah123: (laughs) It was just an A/N, but that's true.**

 **andie: Ahhh, I wouldn't have put it that way... although I kind of have to say that I agree with you...**

 **Again, congratulations to all of those who got picked, and thank you all for participating! That's all for now, so see ya, so long, and g'bye!**

 **x.X. A.L. X.x.**


	157. Ultimatums and Losing

The spider hybrid dropped to all eights and shot forward rapidly. " _Okay... okay!_ " she muttered, under her breath, her right red eye cooling down to green again (although it was still a bit murky from all the red light in the cavern), " _maybe I won't exactly_ kill _PAMA, since I'm not even sure that's possible since it's a computer and not a living being..._ "

Despite herself, Harper snorted a bit. Jesse did have a point. 'Killing' a computer would involve more throwing it into Soren's grinder than what a spider (hybrid) could do to it.

" _But I can_ definitely _cause a few technical difficulties!_ " Jesse finished muttering, shooting forward even more rapidly.

"That was cheesy," Hadrian mumbled.

(This time he actually _yelped_ a bit when Otto elbowed him in the ribs. That spot was _really_ getting rather painful.)

"Yeah, true. I honestly can't see Jesse actually _hurting_ anyone or any _thing_ , even if it _did_ insult Reuben," Mevia mused, tapping her chin thoughtfully. (And she would know. She was the 'analyst' of the group.)

Jesse thought about that for a minute, momentarily distracted from what was going on onscreen. "... actually, that's true. I think most of my threats either involve emotionally 'breaking' someone, or it's just for the intimidation factor. I don't think I'd actually try to break people if they threatened my friends. If anything, I'd probably just threaten them."

Lukas grinned a bit, his attention momentarily taken off of what was going on onscreen. "And then go 'Well, okay, maybe I wouldn't do _that_ ' when they call your bluff."

"Yeah, that seems about right."

Axel 'coughed' a bit. (What? He could be subtle.)

"Either that," Ivor added, eyes still fixed on the screen (but Soren saw the way his lips twitched slightly), "or you'd scream at them until you lost your voice."

Despite herself, Isa couldn't help snorting a little at that. That was probably one of the most accurate statements.

"Or you'd just say puns all day until they break," Em added, rubbing her head almost tiredly at the idea.

Jesse immediately perked up at that herself, which made half of the audience chuckle a bit, having momentarily taken their attention off of what was going on onscreen. "Ooh, yeah, I'd probably do that."

Perhaps not the most _accurate_ statement considering that _Jace_ was supposed to be the wolf hybrid and not Jesse, but her bark definitely seemed a good deal worse than her bite.

" _Jesse, look out!_ "

Onscreen, the spider hybrid's head snapped to her left to see Lukas leaping into the air, red-eyed gaze fixed right on Jesse-

The spider hybrid scuttled sideways in a half-jump-half-skitter, just in the nick of time as Lukas slammed onto the glass with such force that it actually _shattered_ beneath them, Jesse letting out a startled yelp as the two of them dropped straight through the glass floor.

"Oh Notch!" Ellegaard gasped.

Jesse slammed onto her back with a pained grunt. " _Ow! Damn, what is it with PAMA and wanting to stomp on me?_ " she muttered, slightly sarcastically, as she sat back up and rubbed her back quickly. She looked up- and then the spider hybrid's eyes widened as the screen zoomed out rapidly, showing that she'd actually dropped to the level where the Redstone Heart was still retracting into the floor.

"Oh- we've still got a chance!" Olivia gasped. "Just yank it out!"

The spider hybrid flipped back onto all eights, skittering forward before leaping over to the structure. She cleared the jump with no problem- actually, she overshot a little and almost went sailing straight over it, but she managed to catch herself in the nick of time- before her eyes widened.

" _Crap, where's Lukas?_ " The spider hybrid's head turned from side to side- before spotting him at the base of the structure, straightening up.

Real-Lukas let out a relieved sigh. At least he was safe.

Mostly.

Onscreen-Jesse whipped back to the Heart so quickly that her hair flew around and smacked her in the face a little. She impatiently raked it out of her face, almost yanking her gold barrette out altogether, before lifting her fist (her uppermost left one) and leaning forward into a sharp punch, shattering a block of glass that had been holding it in place. Hopping up so that she was poised somewhat _above_ the Heart, she managed to grab ahold of the edges of the Heart.

" _Come on, come on!_ " she muttered under her breath, before leaning back and yanking on the Heart with all of her might-

Immediately, the entire cavern shook with that dangerous rumble, the lights nearly flickering out as PAMA's screen glitched out and Lukas gasped, staggering so badly that the audience was quite concerned that he was going to stagger right off of the ledge. The screen switched to show his face, Lukas's eyes flickering form red to blue-green to red to blue-green again as he clutched at his head with a scream.

" _Ow- my- HEAD!_ " Lukas screamed, the spider hybrid's eyes widening in shock at his shout and automatically releasing the Redstone Heart as she turned to look at Lukas, who was shaking his head furiously as if he was trying to _shake_ PAMA out.

"Don't just _stop_ , yank it out! Yank it out!" Dan was yelling, and Real-Lukas's shoulders were relaxing slightly because _Notch_ he was alive, he was okay for the most part, and Petra was shouting at the screen herself so quickly and so loudly that it was actually indecipherable, and Jace's hand was tight on Jesse's-

" _Jesse- ARGH!_ " Lukas's head suddenly snapped forward with painful force, before he lifted his head to glare at her, eyes back to that glowing, dull red. " _You are being silly._ "

" _Fight it, Lukas!_ " Jesse shouted to him, green-and-red eyes flashing with worry, " _fight-_ "

Lukas suddenly sprang into the air, slamming into Jesse with so much force that it knocked the wind out of her and sent her toppling backwards towards the abyss with redstone and repeaters and who knows _what_ else below them, Lukas catching ahold of the edge and Jesse's hand _barely_ catching his ankle at the last second as they swung crazily over what looked a lot like certain death, Lukas's breathing quickening into hyperventilation as the Redstone Heart thudded away rhythmically above them and the audience let out startled shouts.

"Oh Notch, oh Notch, oh Notch," Olivia was chanting over and over again, head hidden in her hands, and Stampy was yelling something incoherently, and Harper looked as though she were about to be _sick_.

" _Jesse- I can't stop it-!_ " Lukas groaned, his fingers _barely_ clinging onto the ledge, his voice sounding more fragile than glass, " _PAMA's too-_ "

A loud beeping sound as Lukas's eyes flashed shut, opening to reveal those dull red eyes once again, as he calmly intoned with that horrible... _overlay_ of PAMA's voice, " _This has gone too far. I will destroy you both to preserve functionality._ "

Lukas's hand released the edge- Mevia startled everyone, including herself, by letting out a shriek-

The other hand stabbed out and _barely_ snagged the edge, Lukas letting out a pained cry as his body shuddered unnaturally, eyes going back to blue-green as he looked back up, eyes narrowing as his fingers tightened desperately. _"I- I can't hold on much longer, Jesse!_ " he groaned, and indeed his body was shuddering violently and unnaturally.

Real-Lukas entwined his hand with Jesse's and squeezed, feeling his heart trying to beat its way out of his ribcage.

A moment later, she squeezed back.

" _You are_ not _giving up on me, you are_ not _giving up on us, I'm_ not _letting you!_ " Jesse almost _snapped_ back, " _I can save you if I just-_ " Cutting herself off, she reached up with her her free uppermost arm and randomly fired a web. Through sheer luck, she managed to hit a glass ledge just above the Redstone Heart.

The spider hybrid simultaneously released Lukas's ankle and flicked her wrist, making the web retract sharply and sent her flying through the air as PAMA let out another groan of pain, body shuddering violently and making half of the audience worry that all of that shaking was just going to rattle him right off of the ledge. " _My head... feels like it's on fire..._ " he gasped.

Jesse slammed into the glass ledge with a yelp and dropped back down to the level where the Redstone Heart was, managing to catch herself by slamming her midriff onto the glass area and shattering another block of glass that was a bit more _next_ to the Redstone Heart.

The entire audience winced.

" _I can't think straight... get_ out of my **_head, PAMA!_** " Lukas actually _screamed_ , Jesse rubbing her head and letting out a moan of pain from where she'd rather painfully landed on the glass ledge.

" _That- okay- might've dislocated something,_ " Jesse mumbled, shaking her head furiously as if trying to clear a haze of pain, and she'd just scrambled back to her feet and touched the Heart, preparing to yank it out once again-

" _Jesse, if you do not stop, I will kill everyone who has been made useful!_ "

The spider hybrid froze in place.

In Lukas's lap, Jesse froze as well.

" _Wh...?_ " The spider hybrid slowly turned to see Lukas, staring at her with serious dull-red eyes, yet somehow... with a victorious sort of _smirk_ on its face. " _What do you mean... you'll kill everyone who's been made useful?_ "

Harper looked as though she might faint.

"Harper- that's not possible. PAMA's bluffing, right?" Ivor turned to look at Harper, concern dancing in his eyes wildly as he regarded her uneasily, _desperate_ for her to tell him that this wasn't true, PAMA couldn't _do_ that, it was just a bluff- a trick, even though the expression on Harper's face was pretty much _screaming_ otherwise. "PAMA can't... can't _kill_ everyone who's chipped, right?"

"... forced termination sequence."

Someone should've been in that room with them to prove that, yes, a room could become this utterly still and silent with just three words.

"What?" Soren finally whispered. He might as well have screamed it, though, what with the utter silence in the room.

" _I mean what I mean, Jesse,_ " PAMA stated through Lukas, Lukas's mouth moving and forming the words unnaturally, artificially. " _With the chips hooked right into the minds of the people, a simple electrical signal can be enough to tell their minds to stop functioning. To have the mind tell the body to stop working. The wonders of technology have expanded science to allow for near-instantaneous termination of a... not-useful person._ "

"When- when I created PAMA," Harper began, unsteadily, barely able to form the words through the bile beginning to build in her throat, "the program would occasionally fail to control a mob, yet would also make them incredibly resilient. You saw... the resilience in effect when you first got to Crown Mesa."

Mevia's eyes widened.

"So... I created a certain command within the system. If a zombie, for example, was hooked up, yet the program wasn't functioning the way it should've, PAMA had full administrator privileges to force a 'termination sequence' on the zombie- meaning that it killed it instantaneously. With the chips, the termination could be done remotely- all the administrator had to do," Harper's voice had become a _whisper_ , "was input the command and the code number for the mob in question... and the system would do the rest."

She swallowed hard before adding, even more unsteadily than before, "I... took it a step further than that. In case the program ever malfunctioned... I gave PAMA full permission to... to do a forced termination sequence for _everything_ that was chipped up to it. But it should've been a last-ditch command and showed up in a dire situation... not like this..." Harper looked as though she were about to go throw up in the potted plant in the corner.

Isa suddenly looked a bit like she wanted to join Harper in the throw-up corner. "Unless PAMA considers being deactivated a 'dire situation'... in which case that command might've showed up either way."

"Why did you give it full admin privileges to- to essentially _kill_ people?! That's idiotic!" Hadrian snapped at Harper.

"I never thought it would start controlling _people!_ " Harper snapped back, her shoulders trembling. "I- I never-"

Ivor put a reassuring hand on her shoulder, but he didn't know what to say, he didn't know how to comfort her, he wasn't _good_ at these things, he didn't _know_ what to do in this situation-

The spider hybrid shook her head slowly. " _You... you can't do that. That's not possible..._ " She was speaking slowly though, carefully, as if she was terrified that one wrong word, one wrong movement, and PAMA was going to prove her wrong and make everyone hooked up to it drop dead on the spot.

" _My Creator granted me administrator privileges to this ability. Originally, it was only to terminate... useless beings. But if you do not cease trying to deactivate me,_ " and Lukas was smiling in a strange way, an unnatural way, one that PAMA was forcing him to make. " _I will terminate_ everyone _._ "

Jesse was silent for a moment. You could practically see the cogs turning in her uncertain green-and-red eyes.

"... _what if I terminate_ you _instead?_ " She hadn't even finished her sentence when her sword had come hissing out of its sheathe and was hovering dangerously over the Redstone Heart, the tip actually _touching_ the pulsing, beating block.

Hadrian opened his mouth to protest, paused, and then shut it again with the softest sigh.

Instead of looking panicked, or shocked, Lukas-PAMA looked almost _amused_. " _I know what you are like, Jesse. My brief period of making both Petra, and Lukas, 'useful', gave me insight to what you are like. You will not kill me. You would not be able to._ "

The spider hybrid didn't deny it; she just looked down at her feet, hair hiding her face from view. Her fist tightened on the sword hilt instead, and you could see the tiniest of worried tremors spreading through her hands.

The audience gave Real-Jesse looks that were unreadable. She didn't see any of them, staring at the screen with a nearly white face.

For all of her talk and (sometimes joking) threatening, she _couldn't_ kill anything. Not something _sentient._

The Witherstorm, sure. Embodying it as a literal storm that ate everything and had only the most primal instincts, that made it easy to get rid of. Especially when you considered that its life force was connected to a literal block. Zombies and skeletons, sure. They were trying to kill her, and even if they'd once been sentient, they now had been almost 'reprogrammed' to kill. They were easy.

But actual _people_.

Living, breathing, _people_ that could think, and talk, and laugh, and groan.

Even if they were the epitome of evil, killing them- even _hurting_ them beyond repair- would probably _destroy_ Jesse.

And PAMA.

Despite what her gut told her, which was that PAMA was an artificial intelligence, not alive, certainly not breathing, and similar to the Witherstorm in a way that it was connected to, 'living off of' something that wasn't anything living or breathing or even remotely sentient...

She just couldn't _kill_ it.

Deactivate, sure. Jesse could just think of it as turning it off temporarily. You could always pop the Redstone Heart back in and bring the computer back.

But kill...

No.

" _Besides,_ " and PAMA, through Lukas, shrugged a bit. " _The command to kill anything that is currently useful to me... is nearly instantaneous. You would never be able to kill me in time before I could complete the command._ "

Jesse just stayed silent. So did the audience.

" _... alright._ "

Jesse's voice, that one word, had almost been more like an exhalation of air than speaking it aloud. She lifted her head, showing that her green-and-red eyes were beading up with tears as she slowly sheathed her sword. " _I'll stop, I won't try to stop you, I'll even let you make me useful, just please-_ " Jesse's voice caught as she slowly let her hands drop loosely to her sides, blinking and making tears threaten to spill out of her eyes even _more_.

" _Please don't hurt them._ "

"Jesse..." Petra began, but she let her voice trail off.

Was there really anything else she could say about the whole thing?

Sure, she could yell at Jesse, but that wasn't going to fix anything, now was it?

Lukas-PAMA was silent for a moment.

" _You are too dangerous to make useful. A loose variable._ "

And then, before anyone could react with dread or even frown at that, the spider hybrid staggered backwards, eyes widening in shock, Lukas having just slammed his hands into her shoulders and sent her flying backwards-

And Jesse fell.

" _ **NO!**_ " Lukas actually _screamed_ , so loudly that it actually made Axel flinch, his eyes wide with _horror_ at what he'd just done, and the girl in his lap was just frozen there in pure shock as the entire audience watched, almost in slow motion, as Jesse slowly fell backwards over the edge, her eyes wide with shock...

And then she fell out of sight.

There was three heartbeats of pure, stunned silence...

And then all hell broke loose.

"No no no no no nonononononono _no_ -!" Lukas nearly screamed, hands up to his mouth in shock, "this can't be happening, this _cannot_ be happening-!"

Real-Jesse was still frozen in pure shock in his lap as Petra let out an enraged yell and slammed her fist into the floor so hard that her knuckles split a little and started bleeding, Jace starting to tremble as he continued staring at the screen in shock. Olivia was torn between crying and screaming, if the way her mouth was working silently while she sat and stared while tears beaded in her eyes was any indication, and Axel had let out a loud, strangled sort of yell before punching the coffee table, which skidded several feet from the force of his hit.

Soren was frozen in surprise, while Gabriel had actually slid out of the seat onto the floor with his mouth hanging open. Ellegaard had buried her head in her hands, and Magnus was torn between comforting Ellie and blowing something up. Ivor had curled up into a sort of ball, head buried in his arms and his elbows resting on his knees while Harper was shaking her head, shoulders trembling violently.

Aiden was cussing PAMA out again, joined this time by Cassie (who added several very foreign swears to the tirade) and Winslow, who sounded a _lot_ like he was yowling all of the kitty curses he knew at PAMA. Maya had her head in her hands and was actually sobbing a little bit, while Gill was muttering something suspiciously along the lines of 'dammit' under his breath and shaking his head over and over. Stampy was practically shouting "oh no!" over and over, while Lizzie was making incoherent yelping sounds and Stacy was babbling. Sparklez was frozen in surprise, while Dan's hair was red- no, white- no, green- no, dark blue- no...

Isa had actually _screamed_ and squeezed Benedict instinctively so hard that the chicken was now flapping its wings furiously, sending a storm of feathers into the air and hitting both Isa and Milo in the face, Reginald had half-yanked his sword out, and Milo was just gaping soundlessly at the screen, ignoring the fact that Benedict was fluttering around and squawking loudly.

Em hadn't actually yelled or anything, but she was actually frozen still in quite a deal of surprise, and Nell had let out a sort of scream. The gladiator's couch had actually fallen over, and Slab, Clutch, and Facemeat were all trying to get out at the same time so that they could put the couch back up. Otto was frozen still in surprise, while Hadrian was blinking rapidly and Mevia was shaking her head in disbelief.

After watching Jesse go through so much, survive so many ridiculously dangerous situations...

Was she really gone?

The screen switched to show Lukas's eyes suddenly flickering back to green, and his eyes widened. " _No... no!_ " He was shaking badly, teeth gritting, and if the audience looked closely they could see tears building up in his eyes. " _Oh Notch,_ no..."

His shoulders trembled violently, before he glanced over his shoulder at the Redstone Heart, still pounding away rhythmically.

Not a full second passed when he was running towards it, skidding to a halt right in front of it, reaching out as if preparing to wrench it out-

Before freezing.

" _Hm... you are surprisingly resilient._ " PAMA's voice sounded through Lukas's, but Lukas's voice sounded more pained beneath the overlay of PAMA's voice, " _but, you are still no match for_ me."

The screen switched to show Lukas, whose eyes were flickering between dull red and green-blue so rapidly that it was honestly a little dizzying. " _No_ ," he gritted out, but it was obvious that that single word was taking a gargantuan amount of effort to get out.

" _Why do you still resist? Your friend is gone. And soon... your other friends will be gone too. You will have been completely useless to them,_ " PAMA continued speaking, ignoring Lukas's plight.

The blonde ocelot hybrid's shoulders trembled even more violently, squeezing his eyes shut and forcing more tears down his cheeks, pain written into every orifice on his face, teeth gritted tightly and showing the sharper fangs, silently but no less desperately battling PAMA, trying to force it out.

Yet, and none of the audience wanted to say anything...

Lukas looked like he was losing.

* * *

 **A/N: I was actually going to just finish the whole thing, but then the chapter got pretty long, so I'll just finish it up next time. :3**

 **RQTC: Do y'all see what I meant when I said you'd hate me after this chapter now? xD**

 **Also-**

 **WE HAVE OVER 92,000 VIEWS ON THIS STORY.**

 **THAT'S ALMOST 100,000.**

 **HOW AND WHY?!**

 **Guys, thank you SO much! I'm pretty sure you're getting sick of me thanking you every time but my Notch I'm _genuinely_ thankful and excited and (honestly) seriously shocked that we're getting to these points! Really and truly, thank you SO much guys.**

 **Responses to reviews:**

 **LunarTheMooncake: I honestly wanted to include them, but with them being identical twins and me wanting to have a funny factor, I would've needed to put either both or neither for the best result, and since there were so many others, I ended up deciding on neither. / Ah, yeah. / (laughs) Sorry.**

 **lol: Ah, thank you! I'm glad you like it. Also, I like your guest name haha.**

 **MysticKitty: I'm glad you're excited! I'm very excited to include all of the characters. And your submissions were really nice! I loved them.**

 **Emily The Avenger: (chuckles)**

 **ZenSpider: (chuckles) I noticed. / The only thing I will say is that Jesse DOES have to go back to her world.**

 **Guest: (chuckles) Yeah, true.**

 **RapidSammi: You're going to be even more upset with PAMA this chapter, hahaha, so... xD**

 **ThatBritishGuy: (chuckles) I don't think that'll happen, but that would be nice, huh? / Er... sure? / Haha (laughs nervously)**

 **RavenBlaze4850: (chuckles) Yeaaaaaah, PAMA's... woo, PAMA's in trouble. / No, your character was fine! Honestly, it was really difficult picking, and I wanted to keep the speaking roles more or less balanced... which was hard with the very small amount of male characters that were submitted. xD / (whistles casually)**

 **Crystal: No problem! Good job, by the way. :) / (laughs) she hasn't snapped. Just got suuuuper pissed. xD**

 **andie: Actually, one of the only traits that Jesse (this one) shares with me is that when people mess with the people I care about, I pretty much turn into the vocal embodiment of Satan and start screaming and yelling at the other person. Most of the time when Jesse says something like that, she's going to emotionally break 'em by screaming at them... or she's just going to threaten them and try to scare the pants off of 'em. She's rarely actually going to 'have crazy power for no reason and show no mercy'. (laughs uncomfortably) I, uh, I guess I'm a bit of a Mary Sue then.**

 **Kari4ever15: (laughs)**

 **InsaneAcrobat: Jesse would rarely ever actually 'murder some fools' (read my reply to andie's review). / Honestly, I think it was because Oliver was one of the few guys that existed in the list, and he was also a fairly good character. / Uhhhmmmmm... / Magic. Magic would definitely be a big bonus for me.**

 **homeworkoverload: (laughs) No problem!**

 **AquaK13: 'Blonde child' xD / (looks at the ceiling; starts whistling) / No, actually, yours was perfect! Thanks a ton! / I would like to hear your 'wise voice' lolol**

 **KaosRuin: I think that is the day when Reuben grows gryphon wings and starts to fly. xD / (walks away silently) / Nah, she was great! I liked her a lot.**

 **A Random Guest: (grins) No problem! (high fives) / Haha, thanks! And yeah, can you imagine? xD**

 **ShiningHopeBeast: Nahh, it's cool! Yours were pretty great. It was honestly a pretty tight decision to make, but I really did love your characters! / Hahahaha, I love it too. xD**

 **LegoGirl794: Hmm, good point. / No, Hadrian didn't do anything much.**

 **Mikaza1498: (swings a tight u-turn) (walks away) (hides)**

 **ForgotMyPassword: How did you forget your password...?!**

 **Rabbits rule: No, not this chapter. Maybe you posted a comment on Composite?**

 **S4SH4L4SH4theGaMeR101: Haha, more like she'll just start threatening you and trying to intimidate you. / Yeah, probably! (More than one time honestly, lol.)**

 **That's all for this time. See ya, so long, and g'bye!**

 **x.X. A.L. X.x.**


	158. She Can't Be Gone

Lukas was frozen in place, his teeth gritted so hard that they were starting to squeak a little bit, and his eyes were flickering from red to cyan as he stayed frozen in place, a mere half-foot from the Redstone Heart. Tears were beading in his eyes and overflowing down his face as he struggled desperately against PAMA's control. " _No_ ," he repeated.

Jesse was frozen in place on the carpet, but now her gaze had become more intense. "You can do it," she whispered. "You can do it, Lukas, you can do it."

The ocelot hybrid was still frozen in place- when suddenly his head snapped up with a gasp, the screen zooming into his wide eyes rapidly.

"It's a flashback!" Gill shouted, despite the fact that his stomach was tied up into a knot that was tighter than his clenched fists.

The screen zoomed out again to show Lukas standing in a dark, empty-looking room with images blurring by him at such a rapid speed that the audience could catch only mere glimpses of what Lukas was being shown.

Soren backing away a step with a bewildered look, Little-Lukas perched on his back and hissing furiously at a small Axel, who was hiding behind Magnus. The bald Order of the Stone member was looking down at Axel with his own bewildered look.

Lukas brandishing his claws and slashing right through one of the webs Jesse had made. The little spider hybrid gave him an irate hiss herself and launched herself at him- before landing square on him and bowling the both of them over. The two hybrids sat up, looked at each other- and started giggling.

Little-Jesse and Little-Lukas curled up against Petra under a blanket, who was glowing with a pleasant gold light and looking very pleased herself.

" _Error. Information overload. Error,_ " and the memories suddenly disappeared from sight as the screen zoomed out from Luka's eye, his eyes flashing open to reveal that they were just pure cyan now, no longer flickering from red to cyan to that dull red again. His shoulders suddenly relaxed as a loud, high-pitched beeping rang out through the cavern.

The ocelot hybrid looked around frantically for a moment, looking for the source of the sound, eyes wide- before he spotted PAMA's screen, which was flashing the '...' processing screen over and over, the face of the computer occasionally flickering on in between, although it looked a little sick or a little frightened each time it did it.

Harper snapped her fingers, eyes widening. "The memory chip," she muttered. Then she nearly _shouted_ it. "The _memory chip!_ PAMA's signal is interfering with Lukas's memory chip, releasing a huge flood of information that PAMA can't process- it's too much in too small of an amount of time...!"

She trailed off when she realized nobody except maybe Hadrian was listening. There was this sort of stunned silence filling the entire room, so thick and almost solid that the air seemed to be difficult to even _breathe_. Ivor was slumped against the seat back, blinking blankly but intently at the screen. Even _Mevia_ had one hand tangled up in her hair, her eyes closed as she muttered something under her breath. Lukas's arms were so tight around Jesse that it looked like he was cutting off her circulation, his head buried in her shoulder. Real-Jesse was still frozen in shock, although her lips were still moving soundlessly, whispering encouragement to her friend silently.

After all of that, after all of those events, after all the danger she'd been through...

Jesse _couldn't_ be gone.

She just _couldn't_.

Onscreen, Lukas shook his head rapidly to clear it as PAMA continued repeating ' _Error. Information overload_ ,' and traversed the six inches between him and the Redstone Heart in a literal heartbeat. His hands seized ahold of it, claws digging into the side of it a little bit and leaving pale, white scratches on the sides. His cyan eyes narrowed in determination, and he heaved backwards-

The Redstone Heart literally came out with a loud _pop_ , and the cavern suddenly started rumbling, shaking so violently that Lukas actually lost his footing from where he was already extremely off-balance and slammed onto his back, letting out a muffled scream of pain as the chip on the back of his head started sparking and flashing so rapidly that it looked a bit like a dimmed strobe light. PAMA's screen started glitching out and flickering with miniature arcs of lightning so badly that even the shell-shocked members of the audience scooted backwards automatically, to avoid the arcs of lightning.

" _NOOOOOooooooo..._ " PAMA's deadpan 'scream' powered down, the processing screen coming on as it desperately searched for its power source, once, twice... before a small error sign appeared in the center of the screen.

The ocelot hybrid lay on his back for a moment, his hands still holding onto the Redstone Heart tightly, as if it were a lifeline. The Heart beat softly in his hands every few moments, the red light illuminating the trails of tears that were flowing down his cheeks.

Abruptly, Lukas scrambled to flip over onto all fours, abandoning the Redstone Heart next to him as he crawled to the edge of the platform, which was no longer descending. He jutted his head out over the edge, frantically looking down in an effort to find Jesse, tears dripping from his eyes into the abyss. " _Jesse?_ " he whispered.

When he got no answer, he screamed it. " _JESSE?!_ "

The scream echoed throughout the silent cavern, no sound daring to interrupt the echo.

The ocelot hybrid slowly sat back onto his heels, more tears beading in the corners of his eyes as his uneven breathing made his shoulders tremble. He was still staring down into the cavern, as if waiting for an answer, or for Jesse to poke her head out from underneath the ledge and give him a cheerful smile, or even for her to crawl over the edge and give him a hug, looking slightly bruised but none the worse for wear.

But nobody came.

"Oh no," Olivia whispered, and buried her face into her hands, feeling her eyes burn as she struggled to repress a flood of tears, because Jesse was going to feel even worse if she started crying, but she couldn't help it, and she was starting to hiccup a little bit as she tried to steady her breathing. Axel's arms went around her in a tight hug- a little too tight, actually, but her chest was just so tight and her lungs were just so taut that it didn't seem to matter.

Mevia closed her eyes even more tightly, bending forward a little bit so she was practically doubled over on herself, pale blue hair dripping off of her shoulders and dangling towards the floor, making Hadrian glance over at her with a completely blank expression on his face.

She'd only just met this girl, they'd barely actually talked to each other before, she didn't even really know her, so why...

Why did watching this girl die hurt so much?

Harper chanced a glance at Ivor. He didn't look angry, he didn't look upset, he didn't look like _anything_. His face was so blank that Harper couldn't see any hint of emotion on it.

Except for his eyes. His dark blue eyes seemed to be welling up with tears that he seemed to be refusing to shed as he continued staring at the screen silently, intently, because Jesse had survived everything else, she had survived murderers, being thrown off a city, his own creature, Soren's Wool World...

He refused to believe that this oversized computer was going to be thing that took her down.

Harper tore her eyes from his face, feeling a lump grow in her throat, until it was really, really, _really_ painful for her to even _breathe_ , let alone say anything.

Not like she could say anything, really.

Nothing except for- maybe- a frail apology.

Isa was mopping her eyes with her sleeves, both of her fists clenched so tightly that Milo could see the faint tinge of blood on them. He reached a hesitant hand to rest on her back, pulled it back a little- then set it down, feeling his own eyes grow extremely hot and scratchy. He rubbed them to try to get rid of the feeling and came up with glittering tears on his fingertips instead.

Reuben let out a little whine, nudging Jesse's hand with a worried look on his face as he looked up at the blank face of the girl whose lap he was pretty much perched in right now.

After a moment of silence, she carefully started petting the little pig, although her green eyes remained glued to the screen.

Onscreen, a full ten seconds of silence passed.

The ocelot hybrid finally put his head in his hands without a word, slowly shaking it as if he couldn't believe it.

Honestly, nobody could.

The screen changed to show Cassie running into the cavern, along with Ivor and Petra. Harper was looking anxiously over the edge, her eyes flickering slightly as she searched for Lukas and Jesse. Several feet away, Lukas's head was starting to poke over the ledge, the Redstone Heart set neatly on the edge next to him as he scrambled up onto the ledge, tear tracks still glittering on his cheeks.

" _Lukas!_ " Petra didn't seem to notice the anguished look on Lukas's face and raced over, throwing her arms around him in a tight hug. Cassie and Ivor looked as if they'd been singed slightly as they also ran over, and Cassie had a few scratch marks on her face. Petra looked fine, though. " _You're okay_!" Petra finished in an excited shout, her arms tight around the ocelot hybrid.

Lukas didn't say anything.

Ivor's relieved smile faded after a minute, his dark blue eyes darting from side to side anxiously as he realized something wrong, something very, _very_ off about this. "... _Lukas, where's Jesse?_ " he finally asked, a hint of something awful- something fearful- creeping into his voice, his eyes slowly shifting so they were staring directly at Lukas.

Soren squeezed his eyes shut, feeling his shoulders start to tremble. He could hear Ellegaard sniffling quietly from where she'd surely buried her head into Magnus's shoulder, and he could hear Gabriel shakily trying to keep himself from crying. Magnus was the only one who he couldn't hear crying, but if that shallow breathing was any indication... the Rogue was trying harder than any of the others to keep himself from crying.

The ocelot hybrid didn't say anything still, looking at a spot on the floor behind them with eyes that were shiny with unshed tears.

Petra's huge grin faded as well, as she stepped back from Lukas and got a better look at the ocelot hybrid, finally seeming to notice his expression. "... _Lukas, what's wrong? Where's Jesse?_ " she asked, when he still didn't say anything. " _Lukas, what's wrong?_ "

Lukas lifted his head slowly, his ears slowly drooping as he did so, the tearful expression on his face growing more evident as his tail flopped limply to the ground as well.

That's when he started crying.

Cassie stepped back a step, eyes widening as she put her hands to her mouth. Tears were starting to trail down her own cheeks as she realized what he was talking about. Or, rather, what he was crying about, because Lukas looked as if he was crying too hard to even utter one syllable right now. " _No_ ," she whispered, Winslow letting out a piteous meow upon hearing Cassie's frail whisper.

Petra stepped back as well, eyes widening as her usual golden glow completely dimmed out, going dark. Her gold eyes also dimmed along with the natural glow she put out, turning blacker than two pieces of coal. Burnt out.

And that was really terrifying.

" _No. No, no, no..._ " she started chanting the word 'no' over and over again, as if that was going to bring Jesse back, as if that was going to change what had just happened, as if that one word, repeated over and over, was going to change anything.

Onscreen-Ivor shook his head as well, stepping forward and gripping Lukas by the shoulders, his expression hardening. " _Lukas, where's Jesse? What happened?_ " he asked, voice now urgent, filled with disbelief and almost anger- as if Lukas was somehow trying to prank them all. Lukas still didn't reply- just started crying even harder. " _Lukas, what_ happened?!" Ivor's voice was rising in volume and in panic, dark blue eyes widening in horror but still refusing to believe what Lukas's reaction was telling him, even though every bit of his common sense was screaming the obvious answer at him. " _Lukas!_ "

Onscreen-Harper's eyes widened as well, and her hand went up to her mouth as she slowly shook her head. She lowered her hand a moment later and opened her mouth as if she was going to say something. An apology, an utterance of disbelief, even just a single word.

But nothing came out.

Maya was starting to cry, so hard that she'd actually had to turn around and bury her head in Gill's shoulder to try to stop herself. Gill was trying to keep himself from crying, like so many other members of the audience, but the effort it was taking was making his vision turn into a blurry blob of tears and was turning each breath he attempted to inhale into a tight, hot vacuum.

Cassie let out a soft sound that was akin to a sob, and Aiden glanced over at her before looping his arm around her shoulders, pulling him into her with a tight hug. Cassie didn't argue or do anything to show that she was displeased about it- in fact, she went so far as to bury her head in Aiden's chest to try to smother her somewhat choked crying sounds. Aiden's chest was also starting to tighten so badly that his throat seemed to be closed up when he attempted to say something, _anything_ akin to comforting, releasing a soft choked sound instead.

When yet another moment of silence passed by onscreen, Ivor slowly released Lukas's shoulders, stepping back a step with a blank look on his face. " _No,_ " he said softly, but it was nearly inaudible and his own dark blue eyes were becoming suspiciously liquid as he stared at the crying ocelot hybrid, the truth seeming to hammer into him with every passing second. " _No..._ "

Another moment of silence passed, where Lukas was frozen and still crying.

That's when something behind him started to crawl back onto the paths.

Petra automatically leaned forward, her arm dragging Jace with her to get a better look at the screen as she furiously scrubbed some tears away. "Jesse?" she asked, softly, eyes widening a little bit.

Immediately, everyone's heads (except for Hadrian's, whose head had already been up) collectively snapped up to look at the screen.

As if Onscreen-Lukas had heard Real-Petra's comment himself through the screen, his own head came up, ears perking up a bit as his cyan eyes widened. He was frozen in place for a moment, before his head snapped around to look behind him in shock.

The screen switched to show Jesse slowly climbing her way back onto the topmost 'platform' area. The spider hybrid looked as if she'd been thrown into a room of broken glass, scratches and scrapes all over the black armor Ivor had made her. Her face was a little cut up too, one particularly nasty-looking gash decorating her cheek and a smaller yet nonetheless nastier-looking scrape near her temple. One of her middle arms was pressed to her ribcage, and one of her lower arms seemed to be bent at a slightly awkward angle. Her hair was disheveled, the pin practically at the end of her hair, and blood from the scrape near Jesse's temple was flooding down over her right eye, meaning only her slightly dim red eye was visible.

But she was alive.

"She's alive," Lukas whispered, as if this wasn't obvious.

And then he screamed it, making Real-Jesse flinch slightly with a relieved laugh of her own. " _She's alive, she's alive!_ " he screamed, throwing his arms around Jesse so tightly that she grunted a little bit, against her will for the most part.

Immediately a storm of cheers rose up in the air, Petra actually leaping to her feet and spinning Jace around in a little circle in her excitement. Axel pumped his fists into the air with a loud "WOO!" and Olivia was wiping her eyes with the most relieved sigh of all time. Even Reuben had let out an excited squeal. Aiden, to his own surprise, had actually jumped up and started hopping around in a tizzy as if he were some overexcited fanboy, Cassie flopping back into the cushions with a heavy sigh of relief. Gill was cheering so loudly that it was a wonder his throat wasn't getting sore, and Maya was actually screaming quietly with excitement.

Soren's shoulders sagged as he let out a huge sigh of relief, while Gabriel shook his head over and over, simply looking extremely relieved. Ellegaard had actually planted a kiss on Magnus's cheek in her excitement, the Rogue looking far too relieved about Jesse not being dead to tease her about it. Ivor was so relieved that he'd actually thrown his arms around the nearest person (who was Harper) and given her a tight hug. Harper was just putting a hand over her thudding heart and smiling in a dazed way as she shook her head over and over again.

Sparklez had thrown his hands into the air with a cheer, while Dan had literally kissed Stampy full on the mouth in excitement. Noticeably, Stampy was so relieved himself that he didn't even _notice_ the fact that Dan had just kissed him. For all it mattered, Dan could've just punched Stampy and the cat-hoodie-wearing-boy wouldn't have blinked. Lizzie and Stacy were screaming and freaking out over this, while Nell had jumped to her feet and started jumping around in an excitement like a Mexican jumping bean. Em wasn't jumping, but she looked incredibly relieved about this.

Isa was still wiping her eyes, although now she was smiling and just seemed to be trying to stop herself from crying. Milo had flopped backwards with a relieved sigh himself, and Reginald was steadying his breathing to the best of his ability and shaking his head with a gigantic smile on his face. Slab, Clutch, and Facemeat were exchanging fist-bumps (which actually looked rather painful, since they appeared to just be punching their hands together as hard as humanly possible) with gigantic grins on their faces.

Otto put one hand over his heart and let out a little sigh of relief at that himself, and even Mevia surprised herself when she let out an incoherent cheer. Hadrian had no reaction, simply looking over at the immensely relieved expression of the blue-haired woman sitting next to him with a blank expression. It was a bit of an anomaly to see her showing this much emotion anymore, let alone to a person.

Perhaps that was something he had to fix.

Onscreen, Lukas let out an incoherent yell of joy and ran over to Jesse, who lifted her head from where she was panting heavily in a hunched-over position on the catwalk- platform- whatever the heck it was, that didn't _matter_ right now, because Jesse was _alive_ \- and gave him a frail smile. " _Hey, Lukas,_ " she said, weakly.

Lukas looked as if he was torn between throwing his arms around her, punching her with all his strength and shouting at her, or bursting into tears again. He seemed to decide on yanking Jesse to her feet, her face momentarily tightening with pain at the sudden movement. " _How are you_ alive?!" he exclaimed, before putting his hands up in the air in slight surrender, eyes widening a little bit. " _I mean, not that I'm not_ happy _to see that you're_ okay _, but-_ "

Jesse let out a pained chuckle at that. " _No, no, I get what you mean. I, uh-_ " she flinched a bit, wincing as she pressed a hand to her ribcage. " _I tried to catch myself using my string, but I fell a little further than expected and smashed through some glass before the web caught me. I think the force of the fall broke my ribs, and I think one of my arms... oh, and it might've cut me a bit, I'm not sure about that._ "

Jesse absentmindedly reached up and wiped away some blood out of her eyes, wincing a bit as she did so, before continuing. " _When I hit the glass, the impact must've been enough to knock me out for a minute or two, because when I woke up, PAMA wasn't talking anymore and the whole place was pretty much silent. After that, it was just a matter of pulling myself up back to where I'd entered, and..._ " Jesse shrugged as if this was nothing, before wincing again and looking a bit like she'd regretted it.

Lukas was staring at Jesse with an expression somewhat akin to awe when the others crowded around them. " _Healing potion?_ " Harper was at her side in an instant, holding it out to Jesse with a concerned look but a relieved smile as the others crowded around her with clamors of muted excitement and a LOT of relief. " _You... look pretty beat-up._ "

Nobody questioned the fact that Harper had been holding a healing potion on hand. If she kept invisibility potions on hand, she would probably also keep healing potions on hand.

" _Understatement of the-_ " Jesse winced again, her breath catching. " _Understatement of the century. Thank you,_ " and she took the vial with trembling fingers and downed it.

Immediately, her shoulders relaxed, and her middle arm dropped away from her ribs. Her lower arm also rotated a bit, the joint suddenly springing back into a normal position. The cuts on Jesse's cheek and temple area healed as well, although the copious amount of blood on that area remained, as did the cuts and scrapes on her armor.

" _You feeling better?_ " Petra asked, voice pretty much trembling with some emotion. Her eyes were thankfully glowing again, gold and bright and almost a little happy, her entire body beginning to seethe with some barely controlled emotional glow. Warm and gold and happy and relieved. And almost... angry?

" _Much, yes,_ " Jesse nodded in agreement to that.

The petite girl was immediately pulled into a huge bear hug by Lukas, Petra throwing her arms around the two a moment later. Ivor was only a second late as he wrapped his arms around Jesse in a tight hug, and Cassie was the last to join as she knocked right into the group and sent the whole group into a little heap on the floor.

" _Whoa_ ," Jesse eked out, giving them a reassuring sort of smile, " _if you keep this up I think you're all going to break my ribs again._ "

The joke sort of backfired because the moment they all began to quickly clamber off, Petra punched Jesse in the shoulder so hard that it was a wonder Jesse's arm didn't break again. Petra's eyes were smoldering with a funny mix of anger and relief as Jesse let out a surprised yelp of pain at the hit. " _If- you- ever- do- that- again-_ " Petra spoke, punching Jesse with each word, the punch seeming to get more and more painful with each one.

"Woah, Petra, calm down!" Real-Reginald exclaimed in surprise, blinking at the sudden aggression.

" _Okay, okay, point made, I missed you too!_ " Jesse exclaimed, hastily throwing her arms around Petra in a quick hug to stop herself from getting punched anymore. Petra just continued to thump Jesse on the back with this mix of anger and relief on her face, eyes still smoldering a little bit, although her hits grew noticeably less like she was actually trying to hit Jesse.

"That was _scary!_ " Lukas exploded all of a sudden, making Real-Jesse jump in surprise. His arms tightened around her even more. "Don't _ever_ do that again, please."

"Can't guarantee anything, but I'll do my best," Jesse said, giving him a weak little grin. "Are you all really that relieved that I'm alive?"

"No, we're even _more_ relieved," Petra said immediately, shoving herself and Jace into an impromptu little group hug.

Onscreen, Jesse scooted out of the hug with Petra and turned to Lukas and the others, giving them a huge grin. " _I'm_ so _relieved you guys are okay,_ " she said, and indeed, her voice seemed _more_ relieved about _them_ being alive than herself.

Then again, this is Jesse we're talking about, so maybe it's not that much of a surprise.

" _Yeah,_ " and Lukas's smile suddenly faded. " _I can't believe I tried to... kill you._ " His eyes began to well up with tears again. " _I am_ so sorry _... all I could hear was PAMA's voice, telling me what to do..._ "

Jesse reached out and started petting him on the head, making his shoulders sag in relief as he gave her a teary little smile. " _I'm just glad you're back on our side, you big fluffball,_ " she told him, fondling his ears slightly from where they were all sitting on the floor (except for Harper, who was standing a little ways off to the side) and giving everyone a relieved look, before looking back at Lukas and giving him a relieved look. " _We need you._ "

The whole group sat on the ground for a minute, all clustered together and giving each other relieved smiles. Ivor's hand was tight on Jesse's shoulder, and Cassie had laid her hand on Jesse's knee as if she was laying claim to the petite girl.

" _I know you should probably hurry up a bit,_ " the narrator suddenly spoke up, making Jesse flinch with such a _small_ movement that it looked a bit like a twitch, " _but after all that mess, you lot all deserve a little break._ "

"I'm not arguing with that," Olivia let out a relieved sigh, flopping into Axel's side. "What do you guys say about taking a LONG break after this episode is over?"

"I have no argument there," Lukas said, raising his hand and tightening his arm around Jesse protectively. Jesse nodded in agreement with the blonde. (But then again, that's not really a surprise, is it?)

"Nor I," Ivor added.

"It's settled then. After this, we're all taking a good long break," Jace said authoritatively, everyone immediately nodding the moment he'd finished.

Onscreen, Jesse's face relaxed into a smile, and she hissed in Spider- which probably just sounded like a normal hiss to everyone else- " _I'm not arguing with that._ "

* * *

 **A/N: Wow, I left you guys on a massive cliffhanger last time. I am so sorry about that!**

 **So about my, like, two or three month hiatus I've been on for everything... GirlOfMyOwnWorld posted a story about that saying I got restricted because I got caught using Twitter. The main issue was that I'd been using Twitter without my mom's permission, and also I'd been talking to people online, which I guess she's nervous about? (Understandable. There have been several situations where that didn't turn out well. But still.) And that was true, I got banned from writing fanfiction and so was immediately placed on an impromptu hiatus.**

 **Here's the thing- I am still not OFF the hiatus. Until I have straight A's (which should happen... fairly soon, hopefully), I'm not going to be able to come on here freely without being worried that my mom will get mad about it. I might try to push for it as a Christmas gift (hopefully by that time, my grades are good or at least better), but right now, it's still way up in the air. I just figured I'd update and let you guys know and... not keep you hanging on this massive cliffhanger that I left you all on. xD**

 **And guess what? This really sucks! I love writing, and I love getting your feedback on my writing, and I've been basically just getting really bored and working on stuff on Quotev, Wattpad, and DeviantArt instead of actually being able to work on stored-up updates for Fanfiction. It's a huge disappointment that I'm still on my hiatus, but hopefully my grades will improve and I will actually be able to come back and get back to updating.**

 **Replies to reviews!**

 **MissyMattingly: I knoooow and I left you on a cliffhanger forever last time I'm sooo sorry! Really didn't expect to be forced into hiatus right after that cliffhanger.**

 **LunarTheMooncake: (laughs) I'm sorry I made you wanna write more angst. And I'm sorry about the major cliffhanger omg / Thank you for posting that notice, Lunar. :3**

 **KaosRuin: Ahhh I'm sorry xD / Haha, go right ahead. I just had to write that all in. xD / (pats) Yeah, I wanna do that too.**

 **Raven: Thanks! I'm glad you liked/hated the last chapter, that was my intention, but oh my goodness I am so sorry that I left you on a cliffhanger.**

 **EmilyTheAvenger: yesitis**

 **KrazyKat: And right when you said that I was forced into hiatus xD**

 **LegoGirl794: Yep but still, you have no idea how many times I've wanted to kill Jesse off just because my brain came up with an amazing plot xD**

 **Guest: Y'all right there? Go ahead and punch the wall, it's just you're yelling so xD**

 **Mason: (laughs) I'm not surprised. (pats)**

 **S4SH4L4SH4theGaMeR101: Hahaha, yeah, I had to put that in! It was kinda fun to write, to be honest. xD**

 **RapidSammi: (laughs) Aaaah, sorry. Really didn't expect to be forced into hiatus all of a sudden after that.**

 **ThatBritishGuy: B seems to have won out. And it's not like PAMA can suddenly go "Oh whoops I change my mind, I don't want to push Jesse off the edge now" xD**

 **AquaK13: I had tooo, I'm sorry xD I just did NOT expect to be forced into hiatus. Just... yeah. / Yeah, it was a fun way to take it! I clearly had fun writing that scene I think xD / Hehe, see ya! (Much, much later than expected)**

 **Guest: (thinks) Yeah, I think so.**

 **CamronXTheXGamer: I'm pretty sure Lukas would've... _died_ if he jumped after her...**

 **LittleAngelbun: You were dead for quite a while I'm sorry xD**

 **Shadow: Aaah, sorry. Really didn't expect a forced hiatus. That is still in effect. / Uh, well... update? xD / Narrator tends to like taking breaks, if you haven't noticed. I don't pay them to take breaks but (shrugs) / I am very sorry about being late, but I have finally managed to post one update!**

 **DarkPrincess2001: He didn't, don't worry xD**

 **Mikaza1498: Yeah, I mean, Minecraft: Story Mode is completely based around Jesse... to kill Jesse off is to kill Harry Potter. Actually, that's a... bad example, in hindsight. Never mind.**

 **lol: Thank you! / Yes, but air resistance and... just plain reflexes are a factor. / Thank you for posting this link as well :3**

 **RavenBlaze4850: Haha, yeah. Sorry about the sudden hiatus xD**

 **InsaneAcrobat: Yeah, Jesse's fine. And about the 'unable to kill people' thing being a major plot point in Episode 8... (slowly grins) You'd better _bet_ it's a major plot point. / Also, sorry about the super-long hiatus. / Thanks for waiting! I hope I can come back soon! / I'm able to post on YouTube because my mom doesn't know that that account exists. xD**

 **homeworkoverload: Ah, yeah, Jesse's fine. xD / Oh wow.**

 **azzhoe: (stares blankly at you) Sorry, don't... get what you mean?**

 **Jack: Commendable effort but I'm pretty sure Cassie knows every curse word in existence so xD**

 **ZenSpider: Don't worry Jesse's fine / (laughs) / Ehhh, it ended like this? / Depending on how fast her reflexes are and air resistance, but yeah. / (blinks)**

 **ShiningHopeBeast: Yeah, it took me forever to figure out a good way for Jesse to not die. Actually, I almost didn't put this into the story since I almost couldn't come up with a plausible-sounding explanation.**

 **Princess of Muffins: Aaaah, sorry xD**

 **CrystalTearsofFaith: Ahaha, sorry xD Especially about the... two month long or so cliffhanger xD**

 **PoptartCrumbs: Can't tell if that's good or bad haha xD**

 **Infernius Flashfire: Oh noes**

 **Rabbits rule: Yeah, this was a hard chapter to write. Mixed reactions, actually! Mostly freaking out, but some people were okay with it. Interesting myriad of reactions.**

 **Darkbeast Dend: Haha, yeah. / Sorry! Been on a forced hiatus.**

 **Guest: (laughs) I guess that's true. Though really, I've come so close to killing Jesse off multiple times just for sheer plot. I actually have a few fics planned- ah, never mind.**

 **MysticKitty: Hopefully there won't be much more of a wait! I've got people reading over the script for me right now, actually. x3**

 **J.M.M.: (laughs) Good to know.**

 **Hi: Right now, I don't have one, seeing as I am on a forced hiatus. But usually I try to update daily or every other day. xD**

 **Guest: Because of the forced hiatus I've been on.**

 **Endie789: Okay. :)**

 **studiodia29: I'm glad you like it so much xD**

 **Guest: Because of being forced into hiatus.**

 **RebekahTPE: Ahaha, sorry about the cliffhanger and then the hiatus that immediately followed xD**

 **Destoyered: (thumbs up) That's what I'm here for, I guess. xD**

 **Well, I hope I'll be able to see you all soon. This feels... nice to update.**

 **See ya, so long, and g'bye!**

 **x.X. A.L. X.x**


	159. Homeward Ho

Onscreen, Jesse finally got back up, gently shaking off Cassie's hand, and trotted over to the still-pulsing, glowing red block that Lukas had abandoned several feet away. Scooping it up, she turned back around to face the others as she scrutinized the intricate designs and pale white claw marks on its sides, and the inner glow that pulsed along with the beating of the 'Heart'.

"The Redstone Heart," Hadrian murmured, narrowing his eyes at the screen a bit. He attracted a look from Otto, but otherwise he didn't say a word.

" _It's something else, isn't it?_ " Harper asked Jesse softly, although her gray eyes glimmered a bit with pride.

Petra's eyes widened a little as she got closer to it, and Cassie carefully edged her way towards it with her own wide-eyed sort of look. " _Wow... so_ that's _the Redstone Heart,_ " the Blaze hybrid breathed, keeping her voice low as if raising it any louder was going to break it somehow.

" _It..._ " Cassie stepped forward now, carefully resting her hand on top of it for a moment as she looked down at it, the red glow reflecting in her eyes as she stared at it. " _I never thought I was going to see this thing again,_ " and she ran her hand over it gently before letting her hand drop to her side, before glancing up at Harper with an amused and, well, almost _mischievous_ look on her face. " _I assume you 'borrowed' it?_ " she asked the older woman.

Onscreen-Harper and Real-Harper developed identical sheepish smiles on their face. Real-Jesse couldn't help but giggle a little bit at that. Ivor hid his own smile- he thought Harper looked rather adorable like that.

Adorable in the endearing sense. Definitely not the romantic sense. Nope. No idea what you're talking about. Especially not regarding the heavy red blush forming on Ivor's cheeks. I have no idea what you're referring to. It must be a trick of the light.

Mevia hid her own smirk at the sardonic comment and the resulting sheepish expression on Harper's face (which really was rather funny), although in contrast, Hadrian's expression darkened into a scowl.

Ivor smiled at the Heart, giving the block an appraising look. " _Beautiful,_ " he said, also keeping his voice low. Maybe it was out of a sense of respect somehow.

" _And dangerous too, right?_ " Lukas added, glancing up from the block with a worried look on his face to look from Harper to Cassie. His ears flattened onto his head a little bit, as if he was a little scared of the Redstone Heart.

"Well, no, like we said earlier... not really," Otto said, shrugging slightly when Real-Lukas turned to look at him with a quizzical expression. "Depending on what it's powering, it's really harmless."

"So, just to clarify... say it was powering the lighting system of a building or something..." Stacy said slowly, arching her eyebrow at Otto with a thoughtful look.

Harper was the one to respond, her sheepish look fading to a blanker, more agreeable sort of expression. "Well, it'd be a bit of a waste to only use the Redstone Heart to power the lighting system of a building, but yes, it would be completely harmless." She paused. "Did we establish this before?"

Mevia's lips tightened thoughtfully. " _Did_ we? I really can't remember."

"Yeah, neither can I."

Onscreen, Jesse's lips twisted a little bit as she looked down at the block thoughtfully, before glancing up and over at Cassie and Harper, who were standing across from one another a little bit. " _I'd imagine those two are better suited to answer that question, but I don't think it's that dangerous, actually. It just seems to be a power source._ "

Olivia chuckled and patted Jesse on the back, although she practically had to lean behind Petra and Jace to do so. "Hey, good guess. Better than Jace's attempts, anyway."

Jace swatted at her with a playful scowl. "In my defense, you were asking me about something I had no previous knowledge of, let alone its existence," he told her, doing his best to keep himself from grinning.

"Yes but _still_ , you should probably have known that llamas can be brown."

Petra was in the middle of a yawn when this comment was made, and she nearly _choked_ as she began to laugh in the middle of her yawn, sounding like she'd suddenly gotten punched.

"I like llamas," Jesse contributed to this conversation cheerfully.

Onscreen, Harper looked rather pleased at this assumption, while Cassie gave a slight nod. The audience had to quell a furious round of giggles at the exchange just now when Harper started speaking again. " _Jesse's right on the money. Now that the Redstone Heart isn't powering PAMA,_ " and all of them automatically looked up at the slightly-smoking giant computer screen on the wall, " _it can't hurt anyone._ "

Jesse's lower arms reached out a bit as well, allowing Jesse to tilt the block around without accidentally fumbling it and dropping it. " _I wonder what we should do with it,_ " she mused softly, the spider hybrid tilting her head to one side with some still-wet blood running down her face. Absentmindedly, she reached up and mopped more of it away with her sleeve, the dark blood mingling with her armor and making it less noticeable. (Both Real-and-Onscreen Ivor relaxed noticeably.)

" _It can help you find your way home,_ " Harper said, after a full ten seconds of thoughtful pause.

"Seriously?!" Petra suddenly sat bolt upright, turning and exchanging an excited look with Jace.

Jace just grinned cheerfully himself, his green eyes glowing with pleasure at that. "That's awesome!"

"Finally," Magnus grumbled, although there was still a grin on his face, "something might actually be _easy_ for you guys."

"Don't jinx it, Magnus."

Soren, Isa, Mevia, Otto, and Hadrian simply blinked, before exchanging somewhat dubious glances with one another over the excited chatter that had started up in the room. (And the fact that Magnus was now attempting to noogie Gabriel and completely failing didn't distract them either.)

This was the first they'd heard of THAT.

Onscreen, everyone's heads snapped around to face the Old Builder- even Cassie's- all of their eyes widening in near-perfect sync. Ivor's mouth even dropped open a little bit.

" _No way!_ "

" _That thing can help us get home?_ "

" _That's awesome!_ "

" _We should get home then!_ "

" _The faster the better._ "

A chorus of exclamations rang out all at the same time, voices overlapping and making it all the more difficult to distinguish who'd just spoken, although Petra's eyes were sparking in pleasure and Lukas's ears were perked up happily. Jesse's arms had stalled, still cradling the Redstone Heart, before she glanced down at it with wide eyes. " _No way... how is this gonna do_ that?" she breathed, looking quite fascinated by the idea.

" _When we head to the Portal Hallway, I'll show you exactly how,_ " Harper said, giving Jesse a warm smile as the spider hybrid carefully placed the Redstone Heart into her inventory.

Real-Ivor let out the softest, relieved sigh. At least they wouldn't have to say goodbye to Harper yet. He'd become quite fond of her, honestly.

Jesse returned the smile the moment she noticed it, before stretching all of her arms out with a light groan and a faint wince. " _Ugh. I'm ready to leave this core behind,_ " she sighed at last, sounding a little tired.

Understandably, the whole near-death experience had probably been more than a little exhausting.

" _The whole town will be waking up,_ " Cassie suddenly spoke up, as if this thought had suddenly occurred to her. Winslow glanced over at her and meowed as the redhead reached up and adjusted her glasses thoughtfully. " _We should be there to say hello or something._ "

" _Plus... this place gives me the creeps,_ " Lukas added, wrinkling his nose a little bit as he looked around the room. The spider hybrid gave a light laugh and ruffled a hand through his fluffy blonde hair, making him jokingly glower at her as he patted it back into place.

Real-Jesse did the same, making Lukas playfully groan at her and try to shy out of her reach- which was a little hard, since she was pretty much sitting in his lap. "Jesseeeee, stop," he half-groaned, half-whined at the playful attempts to ruffle his hair.

Jesse sat still for a moment, blinking thoughtfully.

"I have more puns if you'd like to hear them." It was really odd how angelic Jesse could manage to look sometimes. Seriously. You could practically see a halo hovering above her head.

"Never mind, this is great. Continue."

Petra bit her lip to stifle her laughter. Really, Jesse could be quite devious sometimes.

Onscreen-Jesse lowered her arms again quickly as he gave her the mock-glare, grinning at him cheerfully. " _Fair enough. Now c'mon, let's get outta here!_ "

And all of them started walking out of the still-glowing red core for what was hopefully the last time, without even a single backwards glance.

The screen changed to show that the sun had risen while they'd been inside, bathing the whole mesa in a warm, golden glow. Zombies and skeletons were keeling over and dying- as they rightfully should- and it was bright and lovely outside. The spider hybrid's face broke out in a relieved sort of grin. " _We did it,_ " she murmured softly, all of her arms giving a little stretch before dropping back to her side loosely.

The ocelot hybrid let out his own relieved sigh and grin. " _Ahhh... to be in control of my own brain again! I choose where to go, I choose what to say..._ " and he gave a little stretch himself, his tail and ears twitching around madly in relief.

Harper looked a bit uncomfortable for a moment, glancing over at Lukas, before adding quietly, " _Just remember, you were only chipped for a_ little _while. The rest of the townspeople, though..._ "

She paused as they rounded the corner, coming upon a huge crowd of people hugging, running around, cheering, doing a little dance- all things that _they_ wanted to do. Not PAMA, not anybody else.

Just themselves.

"Oh..." Stacy winced a bit. "Yeah, I'm sure they're a little disoriented themselves."

"Although definitely _much_ happier than before, I'm sure," Lizzie added, raising her finger a little bit as she made her point.

"Yeah, definitely."

Onscreen, Ivor winced a bit himself, rubbing the back of his neck and tilting his head a bit at the thought. " _Yes... it must be a strange feeling, to suddenly be awake and aware after such a long time under PAMA's thrall..._ " he murmured, sounding rather sympathetic as the group started walking towards the rest of the crowd, a few of them spotting them and waving at them when they noticed, a faint smattering of applause that grew louder and louder as more people noticed the approaching group.

When Jesse and the rest of the group had pretty much met the rest of the crowd- Harper hanging back a few steps for some reason- one man ran up to them with excited eyes. " _It's you! You're the one who saved us!_ " he exclaimed, making Jesse shy back a bit with a slightly surprised but also relieved smile on her face. " _Who are you?_ "

More and more people began to crowd around them, a faint blush coming over Jesse's face as the spider hybrid realized just how many people's attention she had now. " _You fought so bravely,_ " a woman behind him exclaimed, " _all of you!_ "

A few members of the crowd developed more curious looks, before they turned to one another and started muttering, the screen spinning around to show Jesse crossing all of her extra arms and hugging her elbows a bit shyly, Lukas's tail twitching around cheerfully and the boy batting at his ocelot ears cheerfully, while Petra's eyes glowed cheerfully.

"Oh... yeah, they've probably never seen hybrids before, have they?" Sparklez realized, rubbing his head with a wince.

"Yeah, they're probably a little nervous about them, then..." Dan agreed, biting his thumbnail and giving the screen an anxious sort of look.

"As long as they're not rude about it, I have no problem with it," Isa mumbled, low enough that only Milo could actually catch it, seeing as he was sitting right next to her. He gave a little nod but didn't say anything in reply.

Onscreen, Jesse diplomatically ignored this fact (if she did, in fact, notice all the whispering) and gave a playful little bow, her lower arms shifting casually so they were behind her back. " _Well, I'm Jesse, this is Ivor,_ " and the potionologist huffed a bit as she tapped him on the shoulder, although he was also smiling faintly, " _that's Petra,_ " the Blaze hybrid gave a little wave and smirked a little bit, " _that's Lukas,_ " the ocelot hybrid gave his own little bow, tail and ears twitching neatly, " _this is Cassie_ ," the red-haired girl blinked in bewilderment at being included, " _and we're the New- or, uh, Hybrid- Order of the Stone!_ "

Real-Cassie blinked a bit in surprise, exchanging a startled look with Aiden. Aiden wasn't quite looking at Cassie, but when he noticed that she was staring at him he returned the look, his own expression blank and not that surprised.

After all, this was Jesse that they were talking about.

Several people onscreen started cheering at the introduction, before Jesse glanced over at Cassie with a slight smile, who was still staring at her in bewilderment and a little gratitude.

After a few moments, Cassie lifted a finger and pointed at herself subtly, blinking again. She didn't actually open her mouth or say anything, but her meaning was crystal clear.

 _Me?_

Jesse simply nodded, her small smile growing warmer as she stared right back at Cassie.

 _You._

Real-Cassie was still staring at the screen openly. There may or may not have been tears pooling in her eyes from how happy she was becoming. Aiden spotted and gave her a light pat on the back, trying to hide his own smile.

Turning back to the crowd, Jesse continued, " _We're... well, um,_ " and now she smiled slightly sheepishly, glancing over at Petra and Lukas, " _a little over half of us are hybrids-_ "

Mevia let out a little huff of laughter at that, although it seemed to be out of amusement more than anything else. Otto and Harper glanced at each other, their surprise evident in their expressions.

She seemed... normal, now. Better. More mellow.

More like the old Mevia.

"- _and we do good_ _deeds_." Jesse paused thoughtfully for a moment, thinking about the statement she'd just made. _"Or, try to, at least._ "

Isa couldn't help it- she just outright snorted at this. 'Try to'. Jesse was _always_ helping people. _Always_ doing good deeds, even if it ended up being in a rather roundabout way. And, well, the other Order members were helping her do it.

Milo was shaking his head as well, his lips twisting into a sort of lopsided grin as he chuckled at this himself. As a sort of second thought, the two of them exchanged slightly amused glances with one another, even managing to hold the other's gaze for more than a few moments before glancing back at the screen, neither of them saying anything but still smiling a little.

Reginald hid a grin. So these two _could_ agree on things.

The man who'd run up to Jesse looked impressed- even grateful. " _Wow! Well, thank you. We owe you everything._ "

" _You're right,_ " Harper spoke up all of a sudden, stepping forward and giving Jesse's shoulder a squeeze. The spider hybrid gave her a warm grin as Harper continued, a small smile on her face, " _Jesse and the Order of the Stone really are heroes. This wouldn't have happened without them._ "

Ivor felt the tiniest grin creep over his face, his arms crossing as he leaned back into the armchair and attempted to smother it, with little to no success.

He'd been called a hero before, back when the original Order had first 'defeated' the Ender Dragon. Back then... well, there was a reason he'd just gotten up one day and walked out, having quite a row with the others before storming out, being sure to slam the door as hard as he could as he did so. Being called a hero when none of them had even _done_ anything worth being called a hero for...

It was nice to finally deserve it, even if it was only a little bit.

And, okay, he was _never_ going to admit this- not to himself, and definitely not the others...

... but something about it coming from Harper made his heart warm a little bit.

Onscreen, the man's smile fell off his face, his eyes widening in surprise. " _Harper... is that... you?_ " he asked, sounding slightly surprised.

Harper's smile faded all of a sudden, her hand falling off of Jesse's shoulder and fidgeting with a stray thread on her hood as she lowered her eyes to the floor. " _Um... yes._ " Her voice had become a lot smaller than before.

"Oh," Real-Jesse suddenly spoke up, blinking a little bit. "Harper built PAMA, didn't she?"

It was not an accusatory question- more like a thoughtful recall than anything else.

Real-Harper's expression twitched, but otherwise the woman didn't say anything more about that.

Aiden blinked at that. Now that Jesse spoke up about it, he remembered this fact himself. In fact, he remembered being slightly sickened about this fact when the fact had initially hit him. What with Lukas ending up still being possessed by that weird black thing and all the action and fighting and hullabaloo and Jesse nearly dying and the entire audience _thinking_ that she'd died and then it turned out that she _wasn't_ dead...

Well, judging from several of the other members' sudden expressions of dawning remembrance, Aiden was willing to bet that they'd all forgotten the fact entirely.

" _Hi, Harry,_ " Harper finished onscreen, still looking at the ground almost shyly. Her expression was a little more concerned now.

Onscreen-Cassie blinked at that, before leaning over to Petra, who was the nearest person to her. " _Oh. So Harry was a real person after all,"_ she whispered to Petra, keeping her voice low so that the rest .

Both Real-and-Onscreen Ivor scowled a little for some reason. The Order exchanged delighted, slightly evil grins.

The Blaze hybrid shrugged a bit at that herself. " _Looks like._ "

The man- now known as Harry- narrowed his eyes at Harper almost suspiciously, other members of the crowd- and much more than when people had started noticing Jesse and Lukas and Petra's extra limbs and such- beginning to mutter amongst themselves, in low voices so that there wasn't anything particular jumping out at them. " _You... didn't do this to us... did you?_ "

* * *

 **A/N: Ahhh, poor Harper. Feel bad for her.**

 **Next update will be Composite! Also, by the way, I've got two fanfictions up called 'Minecraft: Normal Mode' and 'The Fairytale Curse'. I really like both, so feel free to check them out!**

 **Ah, I've missed this. Feels good to get back into things. XD By the way, for those of you who had to review as a guest, the reason is because I got rid of that one chapter with the previews (I think), so it just shifted it one chapter back. And I'm really excited for an upcoming chapter in this story.. :)**

 **Responses to reviews!**

 **Destroyered: Fair enough x3**

 **Gamerwhogames: Thanks! And you're leaving, so that's sad, but I'll be waiting!**

 **Lunar: (laughs) Glad you think so! And thank you! :3**

 **ShiningHopeBeast: I'm glad I'm able to get into a sort of regular update schedule now! And I hope so too, trust me xD / I'm glad you liked it! Sorry about the DanCat bit making you uncomfortable, I'm honestly getting tired of writing ships into the story— especially since I've stopped shipping Lukesse. It's getting harder to write some ships. But I'm glad you like the chapter! / I hope I can do it without hiding!**

 **AquaK13: Yep! / Yeah, it was sad, I feel bad for him. / Well, I mean, I guess this doesn't really seem like anything compared to... y'know... her dad. / Oops, that explains why my feels jar is so empty. XD / Thank you! I'm glad you liked it. / Haha, thanks. I'm hoping my grades'll get back to normal soon.**

 **Mikaza1498: Oh. Harry Potter is good, you should read it. XD xD xD / Oh, really? That's probably because my chapters tend to be shorter, haha. Though I feel like Toni42 updates fairly regularly too! / Yeah, middle school and high school are different. It's a little much xD**

 **Guest: (snorts)**

 **Em: (laughs) Yeah, sorry about that.**

 **NoItsBecky: HELLO / And haha, I can see that xD**

 **Rabbits rule: Awww. (Pats) / And wow 0-0 Glad you liked it, though! And thank you!**

 **homeworkoverload: AW I DID?! I'M SO SORRY! And yes, I'm kind of back, haha. XD**

 **NovaAurora10: (laughs) Glad you got an account!**

 **J.M.M.: THANK YOU!**

 **RavenBlaze4850: Thanks for the cookies! / Haha, thanks. XD / Uhh, yes, I'd count that as a reaction. Sorry I made you cry xD / Yeah, sorry about that. Fanfiction's weird.**

 **LittleAngelbun: WE HAVE BOTH RISEN FROM THE DEAD**

 **EnderKitty68: Yes, I am back! And haha, I'm glad you were excited! I just didn't want to leave you guys on a major cliffhanger for who knows how long.**

 **InsaneAcrobat: Haha, true! / Yep, that's straight As. / (coughs) (laughs) / Nope, no kissing. Not onscreen. XD And I hope the ban is revoked soon as well!**

 **KrazyKat: (grins) Oh, you'd better believe I'm doing Season 2 xD**

 **Guest: ... I said that in the first chapter, in the first A/N. Did you read that?**

 **Zenspider: ? I mean, assuming that the animals understand their female owners, they would know what's going on...? Considering all three of them are owned by girls...?**

 **Darkbeast Dend: Thank you!**

 **EllieIAm: Hmm, maybe xD**

 **Crystal: Yes, I am still alive xD / And I'm doing my best to get my grades up and to update as well. And yeah, sorry about that, that was my fault. :/**

 **Princess of Muffins: Awww, sorry I made you cry. But, glad you liked it! I am doing my best to get updates back to normal. / Yes, I am doing the second season. And yeah, probably will!**

 **PuzzleMaster: I swear some of you guys are mind readers! XD**

 **Well, that's all for now! See ya, so long, and g'bye!**

 **x.X. A.L. X.x**


	160. Access Granted

Onscreen, Harper glanced away awkwardly, slowly hugging her elbows to herself. Real-Harper's gaze slowly moved to the floor, her face slowly beginning to redden like an apple. She looked a little like she might start crying.

The woman next to Harry stepped back a little bit, narrowing her eyes at the former Old- _Ancient Architect_. " _You... did..._ "

"What? No she didn't!" Isa exclaimed rather indignantly, making Milo jump a little bit in surprise at the outburst. "Yes, she _created_ PAMA, but it was hardly like she specifically _told_ it to chip the _people_ and make them... well you know!"

"Yes, I really do think Harper should've defended herself there."

Harper started and looked up, blinking in shock, before she and Otto openly exchanged surprised looks as they twisted to look at Mevia, who was blinking in surprise at her own comment. Hadrian was regarding the blue-haired woman with slightly narrowed eyes now, though he wasn't saying anything, and Soren was blinking at Mevia with wide eyes. Cassie was looking at Mevia with an almost suspicious look on her face, as if Mevia was faking her behavior or something else along those lines.

" _Nonononono_ ," the spider hybrid spoke hastily onscreen, moving over to where Harper was standing and setting one hand on the woman's shoulder in an almost reassuring manner, " _Harper helped us defeat PAMA too._ "

" _Yeah!_ " Onscreen, Cassie nodded rapidly, her slightly wavy red hair bouncing around as she did so. " _Without her help, I don't think we would've been able to beat the f*cking computer- oh, sorry, Jesse,_ " she added the apology, glancing at Jesse with slightly wide eyes as she realized that she'd just cursed without thinking about it.

"Language, Cassie," Soren gently scolded her. Cassie stuck her tongue out at Soren, to the amusement of several of the other audience members. She might be a (former) murderer in THAT world, but here... well, she hadn't done anything here YET.

Yet.

Onscreen-Jesse waved this off, seeming unfazed by it. " _Nah, it's okay. Believe me, if I had a tongue as foul as yours, I would've just cursed PAMA into oblivion rather than dumping water all over it._ "

Cassie made a sanctimonious little gesture in Jesse's direction, bowing a little bit with a playful sort of grin on her face. " _Fortunately for PAMA, you are an innocent little cinnamon roll._ "

" _How would that work, anyway?_ " Jesse pondered, seeming to forget the matter at hand and twisting to see Cassie better from where she was still resting her hand on Harper's shoulder, " _would you wrap the dough around me and put cinnamon on me, or...? I never get that saying._ "

" _I like it,_ " and Ivor raised his hand, lips twitching a bit as if he was hiding a smile. In fact, his face was so deadpan that Jesse was almost _certain_ that he was hiding a smile. Both the real and the onscreen one, judging by the way Onscreen-Jesse turned to give Ivor her own deadpan look.

The audience (the real one) was starting to snicker a little at this banter between them all. Even Harper was hiding a grin, regardless of the fact that she seemed to be on the verge of curling up into a ball and hiding.

" _Yeah, Jesse's pretty innocent._ " Petra solemnly patted Jesse on the back, gold eyes sparking with amusement despite the deadpan expression on the Blaze hybrid's face.

" _I agree, she's a cinnamon roll made with, like, three teaspoons of sugar._ "

" _That is way too sweet, Lukas,"_ the spider hybrid told him, turning to face him more fully at the comment that Lukas had just made. She was just doing a lot of twisting and turning at this point.

The ocelot hybrid just shrugged at the deadpan expression on Jesse's face. " _Well that's you._ "

Lizzie giggled a bit, covering her mouth. "Well, he's not _wrong_ ," she said cheerfully, hiding an even wider grin as Real-Jesse pouted playfully at the comment. Lukas was hiding his own grin quite effectively. Actually, it was a little _too_ effective, which was why most of the audience was quite certain that he was hiding a good amount of laughter as well.

Some of the townspeople towards the back were joining the audience in snickering at the banter between the hybrids, but Harry didn't seem to be deterred. " _So... what, we're just supposed to forgive her now?_ "

Harper's smile instantly fell again. Ivor scowled at Harry silently. If he ever met this man in real life, he was going to throw something at him. He almost definitely guaranteed it.

" _No,_ " the woman townsperson chuckled sarcastically, shooting Harper a look, " _I don't think so._ "

Mevia and Isa could've been fraternal twins at that moment, what with the identical irritated expressions on their faces and the way both of them seem to have started reaching for their weapons.

Another man chimed in from somewhere behind them, " _Harper stripped this place bare-_ "

Real-Harper made a sound that sounded a bit like she'd just gotten punched in the stomach. Ivor glanced over at her with concern, setting his hand on hers and giving it a gentle, reassuring squeeze, hoping that he was making his point with the squeeze.

 _It's not your fault._

Judging by the way Harper gave him a grateful expression, he was fairly certain she at least felt a little more reassured, though if his mental message had gotten through to her, he had no idea.

" _How are we supposed to rebuild?_ "

Jesse took a deep breath, the spider hybrid edging forward again so that she was standing next to Harper and attracting their attention back to the petite spider hybrid. " _Well, whatever you guys decide to do, Harper will make things right, and be able to help you clean it all up,_ " she said calmly, a serene sort of smile on her face.

"Yeah, what with how resourceful Harper is," Otto shot Harper a friendly smile, "I have no doubt that she'll be able to do it."

Ellegaard nodded as well, smiling pleasantly. "Definitely a good point. And she's _very_ smart. I'm sure she'll figure something out."

"Yes, I've gotten that impression myself," Ivor added encouragingly, making Harper's eyes flicker up from where she'd started staring at her lap silently to look at Ivor, an unmistakable blush beginning to creep over her cheeks. Though whether it was from Ivor's compliment, or just the compliments in general, it was a little difficult to tell.

" _I... I will?_ " Harper asked timidly, glancing over at Jesse with a slightly unsure expression.

" _Yeah, she will?_ " Another one of the female townspeople asked, rather flatly.

" _Of_ course _she will,_ " and Jesse shot Harper a slightly more insistent smile, her lowest elbow gently elbowing the older woman in the ribs to make her point. Harper blinked at the spider hybrid, wincing a bit at being elbowed in the ribs, before nodding and rubbing the back of her head sheepishly, looking back up at the crowd.

" _Yes. Yes I will. After I help these guys find their way home,_ " her voice gained in confidence with each passing moment, " _I'll come back, help you all find new resources, and we can fix this world right up._ "

Cassie gave a slow sort of stretch, a reluctant sort of smile tugging at her lips. " _Well, whatever Harper does, I have no doubt that she'll find_ some _way to do it. This woman is_ resourceful."

Real-Harper straightened up, blinking, before glancing in Cassie's direction. At that moment, though, there was some glare on Cassie's glasses, and it was difficult to see her eyes behind the thick lenses. Cassie's expression, from what Harper could _see_ , wasn't exactly encouraging, but it wasn't hostile, either.

Onscreen, Harper straightened up herself, blinking rapidly at Cassie with a sort of bewildered expression on her face. There was a couple moments of silence, before one of the townspeople shrugged slightly. " _Worth a shot, I guess._ "

Jesse gave her hands a little clap together, cheerfully. " _Um, well! I think that'd be our cue to set out for home..."_ she paused thoughtfully, before a sheepish grin came over her face. " _Again._ "

Facemeat snorted at that.

The spider hybrid gave a friendly sort of wave to the townspeople again, her smile growing warmer. " _Bye!_ " and the group turned around and started trotting through the sand and clay towards the portal.

" _Thanks for being so understanding,_ " Harper said quietly, making Cassie and Jesse turn to look at her more fully, " _I just hope these people can do the same when I come back again..._ "

Real-Harper gave a long, sad sort of sigh. "I hope so too..."

"Of course they can, brah! It was an accident," Nell said instantly. "'Sides, you're coming back to help, right? They'll definitely come around."

"Definitely. You're a good person..." Mevia trailed off when she realized Harper, Otto, Soren, and Isa had turned and started openly staring at her. She cleared her throat and glanced away again, slightly awkwardly.

Hadrian's eyes narrowed a bit at her. If he kept narrowing his eyes at her, he was going to just start squinting at her.

" _You helped_ free _them,_ " Jesse responded instantly, reaching out with her upper arm and giving Harper's shoulder a squeeze again. " _I'm sure they'll come around!_ "

Cassie nodded after a moment's pause, absentmindedly reaching into her pocket and pulling out a fish, making Winslow meow loudly. She held it up to her shoulder, the cat slinking over her shoulder and going for the fish. " _They'll have to live with you. I'm sure they'll get used to you again._ " Her voice was still a little cool, but nowhere near as cold as before.

Real-Harper glanced in Cassie's direction again, but Cassie had turned away just enough that Harper couldn't read her facial expression.

Maybe Harper hadn't intended to let Cassie's aunt go...

But it was going to take a longer time than that for Cassie to forgive her.

Onscreen, Cassie looked back at Winslow and pushed the fish a little closer, the calico cat immediately beginning to eat the fish. In the background, Lukas's eyes slid over absentmindedly, before he did a sort of double-take and began staring intently at the fish. It was hard to notice, but the people who _did_ notice- Jesse being one of them- started giggling a bit, garnering several confused glances from the people who didn't.

" _I'm glad you think so,_ " Harper said softly, a small smile coming over her face.

Stopping just in front of the unlit portal, Jesse turned back to face the citizens of Crown Mesa, who were beginning to break up into different groups and work at getting rid of the huge screen. " _Good luck, everyone!_ " she called to them cheerfully, the entire group following suit and waving goodbye at the townspeople.

" _Yeah, we'll need it..._ " one of the citizens muttered, slightly under their breath.

Another flailed their arm at Jesse with a grin. " _Thank you, Jesse!_ "

"Don't say you didn't really do much," Lukas warned Jesse as she opened her mouth. The short girl paused, glancing at him with her mouth still slightly ajar, and shut it again. Clearly that was what she'd been about to say.

Turning back to face the portal again onscreen, Jesse pulled out the glowing flint and steel, leaning forward so that it hovered inside the portal, and clicked the two pieces together.

A red, swirling substance burst into being in the portal doorway, and several people cheered. (Including several members of the actual audience.)

" _Finally_ , we're going home!" Lukas exclaimed, running a hand through his blonde hair and rumpling it up. "I get the feeling we've been stuck in this portal hallway for _weeks_ \- or at least quite a few days."

"I think the time frame is closer to several weeks, from what we have seen," Soren hummed, brushing back a lock of ginger hair, "but yeah."

"Well, we definitely have at least one more episode to watch," Jesse hummed, leaning into Lukas absentmindedly.

Petra blinked, leaning over to look at Jesse with an odd expression on her face. "What makes you say that?" she asked- not in a confrontational way or anything, just curiously.

"Well, we've met everyone here so far- except for Hadrian, Mevia, Otto, Slab, Facemeat, Clutch, and Nell and Em," Jesse pointed out. "If they're all from the same place, then we have at least one more episode to watch."

Hadrian glanced at Mevia, but the blue-haired woman was just nodding a bit at that, her own eyes narrowing thoughtfully. "That's a good point... and we don't know how long you'll be stuck in _our_ world."

" _See you soon, Harper!_ " one of the townspeople called, looking less annoyed than before.

Harper blinked onscreen, before slowly raising her hand and giving a rather shy, hopeful wave. " _See you soon!_ " she called back, before turning and stepping into the portal, disappearing from sight.

Ivor, Lukas, and Cassie with Winslow perched on her shoulder were quick to follow. Petra strolled up to it, before pausing right before entering it and turning to face Jesse, a lopsided grin coming over her face. " _You know, Jesse,_ " Petra said to the spider hybrid, " _for all the grief we gave each other getting to this world,_ " and she reached out and set her hand on the spider hybrid's shoulder, " _I'm really glad we came._ "

Real-Jesse glanced over at Petra, who was also looking over at the shorter girl. The two of them exchanged small smiles before returning their gaze to the screen, so as to not miss anything.

The spider hybrid smiled back, eyes crinkling up slightly. " _Yeah, Petra. Me too._ " And the two of them proceeded to step through the portal as well.

Jesse came out of the portal first, once again back in the pleasantly dim portal hallway. Jesse put her hands on her hips as she shifted aside to let Petra step through, looking around. " _Right back where we started,_ " she said mildly.

Lukas's eyebrow rose a little bit as the entire group, without any discussion, started to follow Harper down the hallway, looking around the hallway as he did so. " _Is it weird that I'm_ happy _to see this place again?_ " he asked, slightly hesitantly.

"Nope, not weird at all," Jesse said cheerfully.

Onscreen-Jesse apparently agreed with Real-Jesse, because she turned and gave him a grin. " _Nahh. I'm kinda happy too. It's great that we might be able to get home soon._ "

" _Now, when we built this place,_ " Harper started speaking, glancing over her shoulder at the rest of the group, " _we also made something that sort of acts as a compass-slash-map-slash-navigator. We called it 'the Atlas'._ "

Hadrian's eyes widened momentarily, but they went back to normal so quickly that a casual bystander would've questioned if they'd actually seen anything.

Onscreen, Cassie's gaze narrowed slightly as she considered the name for a moment. " _I don't think my aunt ever mentioned it to me... well, whatever, keep going, Harper._ "

" _It helps chart routes between the worlds,_ " Harper continued, before Petra interrupted with a rather wary question.

" _And... you_ have _this Atlas, right?_ "

"Yeah, that's a good point. Does the Redstone Heart _power_ the Atlas or something?" Stacy speculated, turning to look at Real-Harper, whose expression had become decidedly sheepish.

Mevia shook her head. "No, the Atlas functions without the Redstone Heart," she replied, automatically. "I'm not entirely sure why she said the Redstone Heart could help them find their way home. What they need is the _Atlas_ , not the Redstone Heart... and Harper doesn't have it."

Harper felt the entire audience turn their eyes to her, and resisted the urge to shrink back at their gazes. Gazes that were filled with judgement, slight disappointment.

Maybe even a bit of distrust.

Onscreen, Harper winced. " _Ahhh... no. No, I don't. But! But I know who does!_ " she said hastily, turning back to the others.

Jesse just shrugged nonchalantly, apparently not seeing a problem. " _Well, that's still better than just randomly wandering the worlds and trying to blunder our way through,_ " she hummed pleasantly. " _So I guess that's not too bad._ "

"That _is_ a good point... if Harper can _get_ them the Atlas, there shouldn't be much of a problem," Mevia said, musingly. She glanced over at Otto, who looked surprised at being directly addressed by the pale-blue-haired woman. He also noted that she'd started fading out of her 'announcer' voice lately. "And it's not like she doesn't know where to find us, right?"

Otto nodded after a moment of pause. "Yes, I do think that's correct, Mevia."

Though, now that he thought about it, he clearly hadn't gotten out of the habit yet.

" _Don't you worry!_ " Harper exclaimed, reassuringly, as they began walking through the hallway again, " _we'll just go right in, ask for the Atlas, and then you'll be home._ "

Soren, Isa, Hadrian, Mevia, Harper, Otto, and Cassie all simultaneously exchanged slightly dubious looks.

Somehow, they all _highly_ doubted that.

" _Funny,_ " Petra deadpanned, sounding as if whatever statement she was about to make was not very funny at all and perhaps even a little sarcastic, " _whenever someone says that, my instincts start screaming 'danger'._ "

Gabriel smiled wryly, reaching up and scratching his chin slightly as he considered this. "Well... she's not wrong."

"Especially when Magnus says it."

Magnus twisted around to give Soren a rather offended glare. "Hey!"

"Well, he's not wrong either," Gabriel said, sounding very cheerful as Magnus turned his offended glare to his old friend, "whenever you say that, it tends to involve lots of explosions and running away in fear instead."

"Especially when it involves monsters," Ellegaard contributed, sounding a little too eager to jump into the conversation. Magnus let out a slightly frustrated growl and turned to glare at Ellegaard as well.

"Ellie, not you too..."

Ivor chuckled unexpectedly, turning around. "As I recall, last time you said something along those lines, we ended up spending a week trapped inside a dungeon with nothing except rotten flesh to eat."

"Oh yeah. I remember that," and Soren gave Ivor a cordial grin- one that Ivor reacted to with a bit of surprise, if the way his eyes had widened a little bit was any indication. He still wasn't used to this sort of thing- as he twisted to face the potionologist. "Didn't he also nearly cave the whole thing in on top of us?"

Ivor thought about it before nodding, a smirk coming over his face as he glanced over at a pouting Magnus, "Well, he _did_ cause a skeleton to shoot an arrow and detonate a piece of TNT that was right near one of the support structures."

"That... does sound like what we know about Magnus," Olivia said, sounding as if she was hiding a grin. In fact, when everyone glanced at her, she was hiding said grin very obviously.

"Can you reminisce _after_ the episode?" Hadrian snapped as Magnus opened his mouth to protest, making Mevia and Otto glance over at the purple-clothed man in slight surprise. Now that Mevia paid him more attention, he seemed downright irritated about something.

Magnus shot the man his own irritated look, but subsided regardless.

" _Yeah, I've learned that_ nothing _is easy,_ " Jesse said easily, stretching a little bit as she agreed with Petra's statement onscreen. " _NOTHING._ "

" _Not even brewing a potion?_ " Ivor suggested. Which was a good point, since Jesse was apparently quite good with potions in that timeline, or universe, or... whatever it was.

" _Not even that if you're us and Magnus and Axel are blowing up the coffee table every other week, no,_ " Jesse responded extremely promptly, before giving Ivor a beaming, innocent grin.

Axel reached up and rubbed the back of his head sheepishly, the rest of the group on the floor breaking into helpless giggles at both the sheepish look on his face and the mock-offended one on Magnus's face. Ivor was joining them in making a very odd face in trying to keep from breaking out into hysterical laughter, Soren was carefully biting his lip and trying not to break into giggles, Ellegaard was giving Magnus a comforting pat on the back, and Gabriel had covered his mouth, disguising helpless laughter as a cough.

He coughed for a full minute.

" _True._ "

Harper looked amused by the bantering, and the amusement leaked into her voice a little as well. " _In order to find the Atlas, we're going to need to track down the rest of the... 'Old Builders'."_ Her expression soured a little as her face twisted into a distasteful one at the name. " _Still don't like that name._ "

" _Okay, well, how do we find them, then?_ " Jesse asked, patiently and almost eagerly, " _which portal do we go through?_ "

Harper blinked at that, almost in surprise. " _Oh! You don't have to go through another portal- what you're looking for has been right here the whole time!_ "

There was a literal five seconds of perfect silence in the room, and it doesn't sound like a lot, but you'd be surprised.

"Wait, let me get this straight," Petra said, sounding as if she was struggling to remain calm and barely succeeding. "We've been walking around in the... 'Old Builders'..." She purposefully used the words, somehow managing to make it sound like the worst of epithets as she spoke through gritted teeth, "... world, this _entire_ time? Wandering in and out of portals?"

Harper shrank back a little bit at the sudden glare she was receiving from the redhead. Petra might not be a blaze hybrid back in this world, but right now Harper could've _sworn_ that she saw fire blazing in her eyes. "Uhh... yes."

She really didn't know why Petra looked so furious. It hadn't been a pertinent point at the time, and it wasn't like it was _her_ fault.

Petra opened her mouth and probably would've kept speaking, except she was interrupted onscreen by the Onscreen-Harper, who had turned to the wall and slammed through a stone block, revealing a hole that extended back who-knew-how-far. " _And there you go. All it's waiting for is the key._ "

The spider hybrid paused, slowly drawing out the Redstone Heart again, which steadily pulsed away in her hands (though it did so more slowly than when it had been plugged into PAMA), before gently placing it in the hole. After a moment's pause, where she was making sure it was steady, she slid it into place with slightly overexaggerated gentleness.

Instantly the entire hallway started shaking with tremors and rumbles, making Jesse step back as if she'd done something wrong. The portal next to the recess where Jesse had placed the Redstone Heart, a fancy affair with a dull teal swirling mixture in the gateway, slid back, then down into the floor with grinding, mechanical slowness...

Revealing a long staircase that seemed to go up endlessly.

"Oh, _wow_ ," and Lukas leaned forward, blue eyes sparkling with interest. "That looks like it was _really_ hard to hook up..."

"You said it," and now Ellegaard and Olivia were leaning forward with interest as well, Ellegaard's lips twitching slightly as she considered this. "That must've taken a decent amount of redstone to hook up..."

"Tell me about it," Stampy breathed, practically sitting on the edge of the couch and leaning over to get a better look at the screen.

"A 'decent amount' is an understatement. As I recall, it took about a week to set up that whole gateway," Harper replied, eyes narrowing thoughtfully as she tried to calculate the time. "Mainly because it was a side project, compared to seeing what types of portals worked and which ones were duds."

Jesse hummed, leaning forward with glittering eyes. (Well, that might've just been her eyes reflecting the screen.) "Well, it looks really cool..."

Several members of the audience couldn't help but grin at that statement. Yes, lovely grasp of your priorities you've got there, Jesse.

" _The answers you're seeking, the Old Builder's Atlas, the way home,_ " Harper spoke, walking over to Jesse, " _they're all right up those stairs."_

The spider hybrid stepped to the base of the stairs, before tilting her head back to stare up at the seemingly endless expanse of stairs. Slowly, the screen began to zoom out, speeding up more and more to reveal more and more and more stairs, until the group seemed to be a pinprick against the rest of the screen- before the whole thing blacked out.

Ivor's voice came on, sounding a little questioning.

" _Adventure?_ "

Slowly, the main screen came back on.

"Huh. I suppose that's the end of that episode," Milo hummed, rubbing his chin thoughtfully as he considered everything that had just happened. It was... a lot to process.

"Jesse," and the petite girl looked over at Petra, who had a knowing sort of smile on her face. "You ready for that... thing?"

Gabriel, Reginald, and Isa all immediately perked up a little bit at the sound of that.

Jesse turned a little pale and let out a slightly complaining groan. "Awww, do I have to?" she complained in a long-suffering sort of way, but stood up regardless, giving Lukas's hair a pat. "I'll be back in a bit, Lukas."

"Yeah, we definitely should take a break. Like, maybe a whole day's break," Olivia suggested, and Axel immediately nodded, grinning at the dark-skinned girl.

"Yeah! That should probably do it."

Em let out a loud yawn, so loud that her jaw cracked a bit. She did move one hand to her mouth to muffle it, for the most part at least. "I'm not arguing with that," she managed, after her yawn had subsided.

"It's settled then. We'll meet back here tomorrow at..." Aiden hastily checked for a clock, and found one hanging on the wall near the exit to the room. Actually, he had to wonder how he hadn't noticed it earlier. "Uh, four or five."

"Make it five," and Nell yawned as well, reaching up and stifling it herself. "I'm kinda tired from watching the episodes, brah."

Jesse glanced around the room, making sure that this time seemed to agree with everyone, before Petra bounced to her feet with a huge grin. "C'mon, Jesse. Let's get going!" she said, oddly cheerfully.

The petite girl let out a good-hearted groan and trotted after Petra, Gabriel, Isa, and Reginald being quick to get up and follow in the ensuing flurry of people coming and going through the room.

Mevia was about to get up and go to her own room- maybe even stop by the library and get a book or two- when she suddenly felt a hand on her shoulder. Turning to see who it was, she was a little taken aback to see Hadrian staring at her with hard, almost onyx eyes.

"We need to discuss something."

* * *

 **A/N: Welp, time for everyone to start hating someone next chapter xD**

 **Also the finale for Minecraft: Story Mode Season 2 came out yesterday and it was fREAKING PERFECT I LOVED IT AND I'M ALSO SAD THAT IT'S OVER BUT MAYBE SOMEDAY THEY'LL DO A SEASON 3**

 **Also wow, can I just say that we have crossed over 114,000 views, over 70 follows and favorites, and nearly 3000 reviews on this story? Like, holy crap guys, that's a LOT! Thank you all so much! I'm surprised some of you even got past the first chapter to be honest haha such cringe**

 **Replies to reviews!**

 **Mooncake: Yes indeed!**

 **Guest: Uh, actually, it's not that chapter (though I am extremely excited about that as well!). Actually, it's a chapter where something not so good happens, but I'm excited to write it because I figure it's time to see if I've gotten any better at writing scenes like that xD / A little bit, though of course that does make things awkward with Ivor being Jesse's adopted 'dad'.**

 **Mikaza1498: Yeah, he's pretty great at it! / (laughs) It's SO good. You should really check it out, it's amazing. / (laughs) / Thank you! I"m really glad you enjoyed it.**

 **Toni42: Yes indeed! / Aww, I loved writing that part myself.**

 **KaosRuin: Thanks! / And yeah, that part always made me go "Oh boy". / Mean? Yeah, she was nicer back in the good ol' days.**

 **homeworkoverload: (laughs) / Asexual... um... I'm asexual myself, if someone ever asks, I think I'd say "someone who's not interested in doing 'it'" and leave it at that. If they ask what "it" is, I'm not going to say.**

 **Princess of Muffins: Haha, yeah. xD / Thank you! I'm glad to be back, at least for a while. / Okay, then :3**

 **Emily The Avenger: Aww, that sucks / Aww, that sucks even worse / Yay! / Aw, thanks! / Yay! Hope you enjoy it :3 / Awwwwww thanks Em :3**

 **ShiningHopeBeast: Right?! / Yeaah, it's a bit weird sometimes x3 / Oh, over my unwilling hiatus... for some reason I started shipping Jessi (female Jesse, since she's the only version I ever play with) with Stella and that happened xD**

 **Savannah-the-Caracal: (laughs) I'm mostly basing the cliffhangers off of the original Hybrid, but yes, I do like ending on cliffhangers. xD / Yeah, I'm looking forward to it, too! / Isn't he? / Yeah, you can PM me. You don't have to ask, I never mind being PMed xD And yeah, I don't mind helping!**

 **CamronXTheXGamer: For now, yep!**

 **andzhoe: Woops, too late xD / And... chapters are usually this long on average, I think.**

 **Crystal: Yep, I love those moments too x3 / Yeah, I love that part too x3**

 **PoptartCrumbs: Nah, I'm good! Thanks for being concerned!**

 **x.X. A.L. X.x**


	161. This Isn't What I Wanted

Mevia was a little confused.

Hadrian had taken ahold of Mevia's shoulder and essentially steered her through the maze-like hallways of the house, backtracking and turning and walking away whenever they encountered anyone else. She'd tried to strike up a conversation with him to find out exactly what in the world was going on, but whenever she tried he'd simply reply with a terse "Not now."

Finally, they reached a door that led outside, and Hadrian opened the door and led Mevia outside. Mevia was still quite bemused, but followed along obediently. This had to be fairly important if they couldn't discuss it in front of anybody.

And if they were walking _this_ far away from the house. Mevia had checked over her shoulder a few times upon entering the woods surrounding the house, but after a certain distance she couldn't see anything except for more trees. She hoped Hadrian knew where he was going.

Hadrian abruptly came to a halt the moment she thought that, and his hand dropped off of her shoulder as he took a step back, regarding Mevia with those hard, onyx eyes. She hadn't seen those eyes look that hard towards her- not for a while, at least.

The last time she could remember him looking that serious was when they'd found out that Soren had run off with the Command Block. After Isa, and Harper... well, that didn't matter.

"Er... what did you need to talk to me about, Hadrian?" Mevia asked, slightly awkwardly. Try as she could, she couldn't think of _anything_ that was _this_ important. And unlike with Harper, who she'd known for the _longest_ time, she didn't have that sort of mental 'connection' with Hadrian. She might be closer to him than she was to Otto, but... she'd been honestly closer with Harper.

Hadrian was regarding Mevia, staring at her with an even expression. He didn't say anything for a few moments, letting the silence stretch out awkwardly. "You've gotten close to Jesse, haven't you?" he said, at last, almost abruptly.

"Huh?"

Mevia was now officially startled. She didn't know where _that_ had come from.

Sure, she got _along_ with Jesse, but _everyone_ got along with Jesse.

And... okay, yes, she'd started getting a little attached to Jesse, but she dared _anybody_ to spend more than three days with this girl and _not_ get a little attached to her. She was a sweetheart. Even Ivor and Aiden, who, when she'd first met them, hadn't liked Jesse at _all_ , seemed to get along with her well.

Heck, Mevia was pretty sure Ivor was Jesse's adopted father at this point.

"Well... I don't... where is this coming from?" Mevia asked at last, unsure of what else to say.

Now that Mevia was looking closely, she could see Hadrian's expression wasn't just serious. It was _cold_. Hadrian hadn't looked at her that coldly... _ever_. Others, sure, occasionally Otto or- once, he'd looked at Isa that way... but he had never stared at her with such a frigid expression before.

Shivers went up her spine, and it had nothing to do with the temperature of the air around her.

"You don't care about the Redstone Heart much anymore." Hadrian spoke precisely, and even though his tone was light and casual, it was also strangely deliberate. "You seem to be more worried about Jesse." He paused, before continuing, casually, "I'm tellin' ya, Mevia, you seem... off."

Mevia couldn't say anything for a moment, mouth opening and closing like a fish out of water. She finally muttered, slightly weakly, "Well... maybe I do care about Jesse a little bit."

Hadrian kept looking at Mevia. For some reason, the pale-blue-haired Ancient Architect felt as if he was trying to take her apart with his eyes. His expression was completely unreadable, but his eyes were just... frigid. Icy.

When the Ancient Architect next spoke, he did so almost delicately, voice casual but dark and almost... threatening. "Perhaps you should... just stay away from the kid, then."

"Why?"

Mevia knew she sounded defensive and a little annoyed, but she honestly couldn't see a good reason for doing that. Caring about another person wasn't a crime.

Though... now that she was thinking about it, it _had_ been a while since she'd had that mentality, hadn't it? She hadn't cared about anyone except herself, Hadrian, and maybe Otto in a long, long, _long_ while.

And now here she was, caring about Jesse.

And she'd been talking to Harper more, hadn't she? In fact, she'd stopped talking as if she was an announcer most of the time and was just being incredibly friendly to Harper, and Otto, and whenever she bumped into Soren and Isa she'd been friendly to them, too.

Huh. That had changed.

She wasn't sure if that was a good thing or not.

"Well..." Hadrian was speaking again, and now his tone was _definitely_ threatening, casual though it was. "It's _quite_ easy for something bad to happen to a person."

Mevia's shoulders tensed, and her eyes narrowed at the other man. "... are- are you _threatening_ me, Hadrian?" she asked him at last, eyes narrowed dangerously as she regarded him.

"Oh, not _you_ ," Hadrian chuckled, waving at Mevia dismissively, "er, no, I'm just saying... well, _Jesse_ isn't exactly much of a fighter _here_ , it would be a _shame_ if she were to get hurt... or to get in an... accident."

Mevia's eyes widened. "... you're... threatening... Jesse?" she asked slowly, in slight disbelief.

"Well, she seems to be a bit of a threat, so she'll... probably get in an, ah... accident regardless," Hadrian mused, adjusting his glasses. "But... it might be better if you distance yourself from her from now on."

"Are you- are you _joking_ ," Mevia stated, staring at Hadrian in disbelief. "You're- you're going to _kill_ Jesse." Though both could've been asked as a question, neither were spoken as one.

Hadrian didn't say anything- he just smirked. "Call it insurance."

The woman scoffed in disbelief at that statement. Some insurance. "Insurance? Insurance for-?" Mevia suddenly stopped, eyes widening as what he meant hit her like a sledgehammer. "The Games... you think she's a threat to the _Games_."

Hadrian's smirk grew bigger.

Mevia exploded. "Are you _joking?!_ You're going to _kill_ Jesse just so we can keep the Games going?!" she nearly spit out, glaring at Hadrian. "This _isn't_ the Games, you know, there's _no_ respawn here, if she dies here she's dead _permanently_." Was Mevia okay with people dying in the Games? Yes, because it wasn't permanent. No one could actually get hurt in the Games permanently- if they did, they'd just respawn good as new.

But here... as far as Mevia was aware, _here_ there was no respawn. If anybody died here, it was _permanent_.

If Jesse died _here_ , she was dead for good.

"I'm aware."

"You- you're aware. You're aware." Mevia inhaled a shaky, furious breath. Exhaling it felt like she was exhaling flames, from how her throat felt like it was being seared with a burning hot iron. "Okay. You're aware. You're _aware_ , that you're planning on _murdering_ a young girl?! There are no respawn zones. This isn't the Games. People dying in the Games is one thing, because they simply respawn later," her temper was bubbling dangerously close to the surface, "but here- where there's _no_ respawn. Are you out of your _bloody mind?!_ "

Hadrian's expression turned cold again as he regarded Mevia. "I take it you don't agree, then."

She didn't know how he was sounding so calm. How he could look at her plainly without any sign of even discomfort at the idea of killing someone, especially in a place with no respawn zones.

"You bet I don't agree," Mevia practically _seethed_ , "this is- this is different. Killing people in the Games is one thing, but this... this is _murder_."

Mevia didn't know why she was getting so worked up about this. It was only one girl, after all. One girl dying, compared to dozens every time they played the Games. One young girl that Mevia actually cared about, that _people_ actually cared about. That Mevia was starting to get more attached to than she had thought. That Mevia, now that she was reacting this way, maybe cared about Jesse more than she was willing to admit.

Hadrian regarded Mevia as she continued speaking, voice trembling as she tried to keep herself from actively screaming at him. "I don't know what you think you're doing, but if you think you can just kill Jesse, you're wrong. There's no way-"

"That you'll let me?" Notch, Hadrian's voice was infuriating her.

It was strange... only an hour before, she'd still been perfectly fine with Hadrian, and now she was actively restraining herself from screaming at him in fury.

Hadrian regarded Mevia calmly as she struggled to rein her temper in because screaming at Hadrian wasn't going to fix anything, screaming at Hadrian wasn't going to fix anything, still with that cold expression on his face, and then-

A blinding pain exploded in Mevia's cheek, and Mevia staggered sideways before stumbling backwards, catching herself before she could fall to the ground using a tree and blinking away the stars that had formed in her eyes, even though it wasn't anywhere near nighttime. She reached up to cup the side of her face, feeling the numbing pain fade away to let stinging replace it, and despite everything, despite the fact that she felt more shocked and numb than anything else, she could feel tears reflexively forming in the corners of her eyes.

Hadrian had just slapped her.

Hadrian had just _slapped_ her.

They'd argued before, of course, but... he had never _hit_ her before.

"Remember," he spoke coldly, no pretense of being casual anymore, no pretense of acting friendly anymore "it's _very_ easy to hurt people. I have no intention of hurting you. But if you try to interfere with this," his gaze turned icier with each word, "I can't promise _your_ safety. Warn Jesse, try to warn her, try to keep her alive, try to keep her safe, tell _anyone_ about this, and you had better remember this," he'd started walking towards her, and now Mevia was feebly edging backwards, still in slight shock.

He leaned forward, lips right next to her ears as she weakly tried to move away from him, voice a venomous hiss, "I will kill her, and then I will kill you. And I will make sure both are slow and very, _very_ painful." A moment later, he pulled away, regarding Mevia, whose eyes were wide with fear and shock. His dark eyes were icier than Mevia had ever seen them before. It was...

Frightening.

"Understand?" he asked, slowly.

Mevia was frozen in shock, one hand still pressed over her stinging cheek as she stared at him, and his eyes darkened further. " _Understand_?" he repeated, any calm in his voice replaced with a venomous snarl.

Slowly, Mevia simply nodded. What else could she say? What else was she _supposed_ to say?

Slowly, a smile crept over Hadrian's face- one that sent chills creeping up Mevia's numb spine. "Excellent." Clapping her on the shoulder, he gave her a grin. "Don't worry. Once she's out of the way, you don't have to worry about anyone anymore."

With that, he strolled out of the woods in the direction they'd come, leaving Mevia alone and leaning against a tree with one hand cupped to her still-stinging cheek, eyes wide as she stared at nothing, an icy chill pervading her body despite the fact that it had to be mid-summer from the color the trees were showing.

Slowly, Mevia's legs gave out, and she slid to the ground, still staring silently at nothing at all.

Which was probably why she didn't notice the figure slipping through the trees back in the direction of the house, having heard the entire thing.

* * *

It had taken her half an hour, but Mevia had finally made her way back to the house, still feeling strangely numb inside.

If she so much as tried to warn Jesse about Hadrian, Jesse was going to die. If she kept her distance from Jesse, Jesse was going to die. If she did _anything_ , Jesse was going to die, and if she didn't do anything, Jesse was going to die.

Mevia was pretty sure that this is what people usually called a 'lose-lose' situation.

"Hey, Mevia!"

Mevia flinched violently at the sound of the cheerful voice- the last person she wanted to see right now. Looking up, she realized she must've accidentally wandered into the armory, instinctively looking for the one thing that could usually calm her down.

Jesse was standing- well, actually, more accurately she was sitting- in the center of the room, Petra holding out a wooden sword and turning to see Mevia with a look of slight surprise coming over her face. Nearby, Isa, Reginald, and Gabriel had similar surprised expressions on their faces as they regarded Mevia.

Clambering to her feet, Jesse gave Mevia a cheery grin. "Did you come here for more practice?" she asked, almost perkily.

Mevia felt an inexplicable jerk of pain at the idea of Jesse being silenced permanently, deep in her gut.

"Er- yes, I wanted to- to get some practice in," Mevia nodded, cursing the way her tongue stuttered a little bit. She supposed it was true. Fighting or practicing usually helped calm her down or feel better.

Jesse grinned. "Great! Then we can practice some more!"

That was the last thing Mevia wanted.

"Uhh... you guys were practicing earlier?" Petra asked, looking from Mevia to Jesse with a bewildered expression on her face. She had a look of pure confusion dancing in her eyes.

"Yep!" Jesse said cheerfully. "She's really good at fighting." Upon spotting Mevia's expression, her own smile faded a little bit. "Well, I mean, you don't have to, if you don't want to..."

"No!"

Mevia realized she'd practically shouted at Jesse just now, and felt her cheeks heat up as she coughed awkwardly, trying to sound less desperate. Swordfighting with Jesse really might help Mevia feel better. Swordfighting with ANYONE might help her feel better. "I mean... no, no, I can- I don't mind practicing with you."

Jesse regarded Mevia for a moment, her expression still a bit blank as she looked at Mevia. She clearly seemed to sense there was something wrong...

A slow, empathetic smile came over her face. "Alright, then," she said, kindly. "Let's get to practicing, then."

Petra hesitated a moment, before shrugging and holding the wooden blade in her hand out to the blue-haired Ancient Architect. Her eyes were slightly wary but still calm enough- probably the redhead saw that Jesse was really alright with sparring with Mevia.

Mevia took it, glad that her hands weren't trembling. Or, well, at least not noticeably.

Isa chuckled a bit, letting her own wooden blade rest at her side. "Don't expect her to go easy on you," she said, voice teasing and a little musical.

"Like you guys have been going easy on me?" Jesse replied cheerfully without skipping a beat, readying her own wooden sword.

Reginald chuckled. "She's got a point."

And with that, the practice match started.

Mevia ran straight at Jesse, swinging the sword with a lightning-quick series of strikes. The first time she'd tried that trick on Jesse, Jesse had actually gotten hit almost immediately, and even when they'd continued practicing, Jesse still kept getting hit-

-but now, Jesse ducked the first blow and then blocked the rest by flinging the sword up into a horizontal, blocking most of the slashing hits Mevia was trying to deal on Jesse.

Jesse's eyes lit up with excitement at being able to stop it. "Ha- I stopped it!" she squeaked, sounding excited.

 _Dead eyes._

Mevia gritted her teeth at the thought of those green eyes never lighting up like that again, and lashed out with another attack- this time trying to hit a nerve in Jesse's elbow. (This nerve was commonly known as the funny bone.) To her faint surprise, Jesse was able to dodge this attack and counterattacked, nearly smacking Mevia full in the head with the wooden sword. It was with a superb speed that Mevia's reflexes allowed her to narrowly dodge to the side, barely avoiding the sword by a hair's breadth, before thrusting at Jesse's face-

Jesse slammed the wooden blade aside, sending a firm jolting sensation up Mevia's shoulder as Jesse narrowly managed to block it and causing the pale-blue-haired woman's eyebrow to shoot up in surprise. Jesse had improved at fighting _fast_.

Jesse seemed to have the same sentiment, because she gave Mevia an excited grin.

 _A death rictus._

Mevia's jaw tightened, and now she was lashing out harder and harder against Jesse, but Jesse had gotten really _good_ , because now she was mostly dodging the crushing blows instead of instinctively trying to block them, although she also seemed to be able to understand when blocking was a good strategy.

 _Don't focus on the opponent's strengths._

Despite the fact that Mevia didn't usually hold back in a fight, she'd been holding back against Jesse because the girl wasn't really very _good_ yet, she was still a kid, she didn't know how to fight properly here, but she was now unleashing every attack she could, and Jesse seemed to be slightly off-guard now because the force and pure ferocity of these attacks were simply getting to the point where it was actually disconcerting, but Mevia didn't pull back, she didn't stop because now her brain had snapped into combat mode.

 _Focus on their weaknesses._

Jesse was still not an extremely good fighter, so when Mevia's sword whipped into a side cut, she instinctively moved to block it from the side-

Mevia swung the sword up into an overhand slash right at Jesse's head, and Jesse let out a little gasp and threw her arm up to block it instinctively. The wooden sword cracked painfully against Jesse's wrist, the force of the hit beating Jesse to her knees with a pained little cry.

But Mevia didn't stop there. She couldn't, not in the middle of combat mode, not while her emotions were swirling around in her like a tempest.

 _Make sure your opponent is thoroughly beaten._

Mevia brought the sword down again, this time hitting Jesse's forearm with a sickening amount of force. Every bystander in the room could hear something snap in Jesse's arm, and now Mevia could dully hear shouting and alarmed exclamations and another cry of pain but she wasn't done, she wasn't practicing against Jesse anymore, she was in the middle of a combat situation and she _couldn't stop_ -

 _Hit them._

Mevia lashed out with the wooden sword in her hand again, this time cracking against the top of Jesse's skull, and now she could see the girl curling up on herself into a little ball to shield herself from further attacks, and she wasn't feeling anything even though she could hear alarmed exclamations through the blood roaring through her ears.

She just knew that she was winning.

 _Hurt them._

Mevia began to bring the sword down again-

A sharp crack rang out, making her fingers spasm in pain as the wooden blade cracked angrily against her fingers, making Mevia flinch in shock. She didn't automatically release the sword, like most people would have- instead, her hand tightened on the wooden blade automatically.

A hand grabbed Mevia by the shoulder, spun her around, and Mevia hardly had time to be angry or surprised or feel _anything_ before a hand slammed into the same cheek that Hadrian had hit earlier, sending a chilling shockwave through her system and snapping her out of combat mode. Mevia blinked in surprise before looking up to see Petra glowering at Mevia and practically _seething_ with fury. " _What_ ," she demanded, "the _hell_ is _wrong with you_?!" The redhead practically _screamed_ the last few words, looking as if she could practically kill Mevia right now.

Mevia blinked again, before becoming aware that there was an almost animalistic, and very desperate keening sound.

One that she'd unfortunately heard before.

Her heart sank as she whipped back around-

Jesse was curled up in a little ball, trembling as she rocked back and forth, keening piteously with her hands clamped over her ears. She was trembling so badly she was practically vibrating as Gabriel crouched next to her and tried to coax her back out, but no matter what he tried this time she wasn't responding, she was just scooting backwards and shaking her head and trying to get away.

No.

No no _no_.

The sword dropped from Mevia's hands, and she dropped to her knees, trying to reach out to Jesse, desperately trying to calm her down because that wasn't what she'd been trying to do she hadn't realized she'd snapped into combat mode _this wasn't what she wanted-_

Isa hauled Mevia away from Jesse and back to Mevia's feet, making Mevia flinch in surprise. "Don't touch her!" Isa's voice was unexpectedly sharp as Mevia looked up at her old friend, except now Isa's eyes and facial expression was practically bubbling over with fury. "Haven't you already done enough for one day?"

Mevia opened her mouth to say something, anything-

The door banged open, and suddenly the room was getting crowded because now there was Lukas, and Ivor, and Jace, and Nell and Harper were there, and-

Mevia's heart sank again. No.

No, no, no.

The last person she wanted to see right now.

Hadrian was standing in the back, looking startled... and almost threatening at the sight of Mevia crouched on the floor near Jesse.

"What happened in here? We heard shouting-" Lukas's eyes fell on Jesse, and his face blanched a bit. "Jesse?" he went to go kneel next to her, but she just shook her head and tried to move away from him. Lukas turned to face the others, worry evident in his expression. "What happened?"

Gabriel let out a sound that was remarkably like a snarl. "We were just practicing and then Mevia came in and started practicing with Jesse and then she started- started trying to beat her with the wooden sword-"

Lukas turned on Mevia, face frozen in disbelief but eyes glinting with anger. "What?"

"Yes, _what?_ " Ivor turned to face Mevia as well, gaze turning icy and hard and threatening death and destruction if she didn't tell the truth _now_. Harper's expression became a mixture of shock and anger and... disappointment...?

Mevia could now feel every eye in the room fixed on her. And she was conscious of the fact that Hadrian's threatening expression had turned into a strange sort of smirk. The only sound in the room that was audible was Jesse's desperate keening, yet the air was so heavy it was crushing Mevia's lungs, it was crushing her because she couldn't breathe, she was suddenly frozen still, she _couldn't breathe_.

She moved so suddenly that she even surprised herself a little bit. She jerked her arm out of Isa's grip.

 _Can't stay here._

Ran past Jesse and the rest of the group for the hallway.

 _I didn't want this._

Did her best to avoid even touching Hadrian because if she did she was going to break down and she couldn't, not now, not while she couldn't inhale.

 _Can't breathe._

Raced down the hallway, dimly aware of footsteps pounding away in the hallway behind her. Someone was running after her, chasing after her, and she could dimly hear them calling after her, hear them all calling after her, hear people clamoring. Hadrian had to be running after her, or maybe he'd sent a gladiator to fetch her.

So she just kept running.

 _This isn't what I wanted._

* * *

 **A/N: Can I say this was extremely fun to write even though it was way too unhappy for it to be natural? Gah.**

 **Okay, so I've got another fanfiction I'm introducing tomorrow. Probably won't continue it for a while, but it's just one that I wanna put up for fun. And who knows, I might add it to the list of fanfictions I'm doing.**

 **Also there's going to be a thing I'm adding soon that I hope you guys will like. It will probably turn into a running joke.**

 **Responses to reviews!**

 **Destroyered: Haha, I figured she was acting like an aunt. And considering who Jesse's adopted 'dad' is, that would be awkward. xD**

 **Emily The Avenger: Glad you like it! / Haha is it really? / Yaaas**

 **KaosRuin: Even if they don't, it's still a fantastic way to close off the season and I loved it. x3 / Haha, true.**

 **Toni42: Yes, yes he is. / Haha, I agree completely. / Indeed she is! Sometimes a bit too much of one, but cinnamon rolls are awesome so I don't mind. xD**

 **Mooncake: You did, I typed a response I'm pretty sure. / (smirks)**

 **CamronXTheXGamer: Haha, I'm pretty hyped up too. / Oh, really? / I'm not going to say anything, we're not even in Season 2 yet! xD**

 **homeworkoverload: Nahh, its fine. (chuckles) / You may have to get in line for that, there seems to be quite a long one now. / No, because my Mac broke and I have to wait until I get a new one to record gameplay.**

 **J.M.M.: ?**

 **ShiningHopeBeast: You were quite correct about that. / Haha, yeees! It was so good. / Eric Stirpe said that the ending is only for now- in case they don't make a Season 3, this is still a good place to leave off. However, there are bits that you could probably draw on to create a Season 3 if they so desired. I do too. / Ahhh, you're Christian! Okay, that explains why you were uncomfortable with DanCat. I just thought you didn't like the ship xD**

 **RapidSammi: Nahh is cool, friend. x3 / Toodles!**

 **S4SH4L4SH4theGaMeR101: Me too haha**

 **andie: He did not.**

 **PuzzleMaster: Haha, I've played the last episode four times already. And I'm not making any comments on that.**

 **Princess of Muffins: Because you are a very smart person. x3 / Thanks! / Merry late Christmas!**

 **PoptartCrumbs: Unfortunately, yep.**

 **CrystalTearsofFaith: Yeah, it was fantastic! / I hope so too. A lot of people are pretty divided on if MCSM could have a Season 3 or not, but it's definitely possible. / (chuckles)**

 **Darkbeast Dend: I hope there will be! / Cake! (I am also being random)**

 **Mikaza1498: Haha, I believe you. / Yeah, they've all posted it at this point (except for me because of my DARN COMPUTER), so it's cool. / Aww, glad you thought it was 'perfect'.**

 **ZenSpider: He did not leave blue hair axe lady alone.**

 **LazuliEmbassy: Thanks! / Oh, you'd better believe it (grins) / Can do! Thank you for enjoying and reading!**

 **Rabbits rule: That's not your fault, don't apologize. / Kylik, don't be mean.**

 **EndMyLife: (pats)**

 **KillMePls: No to your username. And haha, I wouldn't say it's my OTP, but it is one of my primary ships now. x3**

 **Welp, that's all for this time. See ya, so long, and g'bye!**

 **x.X. A.L X.x**


	162. I Don't Even Know, Man

Mevia wasn't sure whether to scream, laugh, or cry. So she just sat still and stared at the wall.

She'd sprinted as far away from the armor room as possible before ducking into a nearby broom closet and shutting the door. She could hear people talking and asking questions, occasionally passing by the door she was behind but never opening the door. Honestly, her chest was starting to hurt with the amount of emotions trying to dominate her right now.

There was an almost hysterical amusement at the fact that Hadrian had threatened to kill Jesse, and then Mevia- the one who was against the idea of doing so in the first place– was the one to nearly murder Jesse. With a wooden sword, no less.

There was a sort of disgust at herself for allowing herself to get into combat mode in a practice fight. With wooden swords. Against a girl who was almost more like a little kid than, well, a seventeen-year-old young woman.

There was an intense fury directed at Hadrian for having even half a mind to kill Jesse. And the Games and the fact they existed, because if they didn't, surely Hadrian wouldn't be so intent on making sure Jesse wasn't a threat to the Games. And herself.

Mostly herself.

"Hey."

Mevia jumped and proceeded to bang her head on a low shelf that was just behind where she was sitting. Letting out a low swear, she looked up– and blinked at the sight of Nell carefully shutting the broom closet door behind her.

Mevia really didn't know Nell well– she just knew that the blonde girl was a competitor on the Green Team in the Games, and that she was oddly calm about most things. Including the Games themselves. She almost seemed to have no problem with participating in said games, despite the fact that she'd basically been kidnapped and forced into doing it.

At least Nell hadn't called her 'bro' or anything yet. If that had happened, Mevia would probably have started laughing hysterically. With how messed-up her emotions were right now, any little thing could shove her into becoming completely hysterical.

Although it had to be noted that since this was a broom closet, there was almost no room for either of them to move right now, so... that was awkward.

Nell crouched down so that she was more on Mevia's current eye level, with Mevia practically curled up on the floor as she was. "So... about what just happened in the armor room..." the blonde girl spoke, slowly.

Mevia could feel her heart sink. (Which, in itself, felt a little like a miracle... she'd started wondering if she _had_ a heart.) Of _course_ that was why Nell was in the broom closet. Nell had been _in_ the room earlier. She'd just watched Mevia tear out of the room like a bullet. She didn't know what else she'd been expecting, especially with Nell popping in here.

"I know what Hadrian said to you in the woods."

Mevia blinked at that.

Well, she didn't know what she'd been expecting but it had _definitely_ not been this.

"... what?"

A slight smirk tugged at the corner of Nell's lips, which seemed out-of-character for the blonde girl, although it didn't seem to be a victorious one or anything– just a slightly amused one. "Uh, yeah... you might wanna check the area you're about to talk in before you actually start talking, dude. Just a tip for the future."

"... oh."

Mevia didn't know what else to say in response to that. She was torn between laughing and having a mental breakdown. The laughing was because of the comment Nell had just made, and the mental breakdown was because of... well... everything else.

There was a slightly awkward silence as Nell looked at Mevia and Mevia blinked back. It wasn't like the two of them were on good terms... or any terms at all, really. Mevia had exchanged about ten words in passing with this blonde girl.

It really didn't help that she'd pretty much kidnapped the blonde girl so that she could participate in the Games.

"... I could warn Jesse and the other dudes she's with about Hadrian," Nell offered after a full minute of the awkward silence and the two of them looking at each other awkwardly within the cramped space of the broom closet without knowing what to say to each other. "It wouldn't be–"

"No."

Nell paused, blinking at Mevia in surprise. At least Mevia hadn't shouted this at the top of her lungs like back in the armor room– she was sure somebody would've heard and tried running into the broom closet if she'd yelled that. "Huh?"

"It... if Hadrian found out that you heard, he might try to make a move on Jesse more quickly." Mevia paused, realizing the awkward phrasing of what she'd just said. "Uh, you know what I mean."

Nell grinned briefly at the comment, before her face fell into a slightly thoughtful one. "Oh yeah... and he'd assume that you told her about it, too, so that would put you in danger, so that idea's a no-go."

Mevia blinked again at that, before Nell snapped her fingers as another idea entered her head. "Oh, I know. I'll just tell a couple of Jesse's brahs."

Mevia's brain (somewhat unfortunately) misinterpreted that statement for a moment, before it managed to decipher Nell's surfer talk and translate it to what Mevia considered proper English. (And into a much less... inappropriate statement, too.) "... isn't that even worse?" she asked, finally.

"No no no," and Nell's blue eyes gleamed a bit as she considered the idea. "Think about it– as long as they don't tell Jesse, they can just stick near her and make sure she's not by herself. Kinda doubt the Old Buil– uh, I mean Ancient Architect dude would go after Jesse if she has people with her."

Now Mevia was honestly considering the idea, casting her mind back to the conversation to check over the little details. It was a good point. Jesse's friends– especially Petra– were quite capable of keeping the smaller girl safe. And what Nell had just said was true– Hadrian was less likely to try to attack Jesse if he knew that there were people around her. And it wasn't like it was a suddenly noticeable difference– most of the time, Jesse's friends tended to stick around her anyways.

And when she thought about what Hadrian had said... well, Hadrian had said if _she'd_ told _Jesse._ He hadn't said anything about _Nell_ telling Jesse's _friends_.

"I think that's a good idea." Actually, Mevia was a little surprised that Nell could think up anything serious what with all the 'brah'ing and 'bro'ing and surfer talk she spouted.

Nell grinned toothily at Mevia, looking rather excited. "Great, then I'll go tell 'em now. I know where they all are anyway. You just..." Nell paused, before making a slightly awkward shooing motion in Mevia's direction. "I dunno, sulk in the closet or whatever you wanna do, brah."

Before Mevia could reply to that, Nell shoved open the closet door and was already charging down the hallway.

Mevia furiously stifled the urge to burst into slightly hysterical laughter. The 'hysterical' aspect of it was slightly lessened from before Nell's visit to the broom closet, but she didn't want anyone to find her in the broom closet yet.

Especially because she'd have to explain why she was _in_ the broom closet and why she was laughing slightly-hysterically in the broom closet as well, and that was a rather difficult answer.

* * *

"Is Jesse okay?!" Axel shouted, banging the door open so loudly that even Olivia, who was dashing in with him and looked just as panicked, recoiled in shock.

Ivor's arm made a weird circling motion as he tried to keep the potion in his hands from spilling all over Jesse, Petra jumped sideways and slammed into Lukas, and Lukas got knocked off of his chair and onto the floor. Harper, who was anxiously standing off to the side, jumped backwards and rammed her back against the wall.

"Shout louder, would you," Ivor snapped, turning to scowl at Axel once he'd made sure that none of the potion had spilled, "I don't think you woke up the dead yet."

Axel let a slightly sheepish grin cross his face. "Sorry, dude." His expression became more worried a second later. "But is Jesse okay?"

"Well, she's asleep, at least." Lukas frowned at the bed, where Jesse was nestled in a partial-cocoon of red blanket. "We couldn't even get near her for ten minutes, she just kept trying to get away from us."

"And then she calmed down?"

"Well, no, then Ivor smashed a Splash Potion of Drowsiness at her feet and she nodded off after a minute or two."

Everyone winced a little at that, before Petra's expression darkened into a glare. If looks could kill, the wall would've currently been a smoking ruin from the ferocity of the glare Petra was delivering to it. "I can't _believe_ Mevia– she just... just started hitting Jesse with that wooden sword. Even after she beat Jesse, she just kept going!"

Lukas frowned as well, clambering back into his seat and rubbing the bruise that was currently forming on his leg from when Petra had knocked him off. "Yeah... just when I thought she wasn't that bad, either."

Harper's lips twisted. "Hm."

Ivor glanced up at Harper as he regarded the healing potion in his hands, taking some gunpowder and sprinkling it in carefully at regular intervals. It looked like he was trying to make a Splash Potion of Healing so that he didn't have to wake her up and feed it to her. "Is there something wrong?" he asked her, warily.

Harper looked up at him, surprise momentarily written across her face. She seemed to have forgotten that any of them were there, and her gray eyes gleamed slightly as she quickly assessed the situation and realized that she'd just made a sound– of course they would've noticed– before relaxing again.

"Well... I haven't seen Mevia in a while, so I'm not sure if this is still applicable. But... I remember that she had this sort of automatic 'mode' she'd go into when she was in a bad mood or when she was preoccupied, or in the heat of battle. We called it 'combat mode'."

Olivia frowned. "Combat mode?" she echoed, as if she didn't really get what those two words meant.

"Combat mode is where Mevia kind of snaps from reality into the middle of fighting– if she's preoccupied enough, or in a terrible mood, or if she was in the middle of a really intense fight, or sometimes all three together–" Harper explained patiently, "she will snap into combat mode and her swordfighting training will assert itself."

"Did she get official training?" Petra asked, despite herself. Her expression seemed a little less harsh than before– it was tempered with curiosity.

"Yes, but her teacher was a little... obsessed with making sure that your opponent was beaten," Harper said, after a short hesitation. "Even if they fell, even if they surrendered, even if they looked like they were beaten– her teacher pretty much hammered the point that you had to _absolutely_ make sure that your opponent was beaten."

"How d'you do that?" Axel asked.

Harper's gray eyes flicked over to Axel, expression hardening a little. "The only way to _absolutely_ make sure that your opponent is beaten, in his opinion at least," she spoke up, slowly, as if what she was saying was so unpleasant that she had to consider every word to make sure she didn't just say something idiotic, "is to completely ensure they're out of the way."

"Okay, but how do you do that?" Axel repeated. Judging by the way Lukas was no longer worried about his bruise, and the way Olivia was blinking uncertainly at Harper, they didn't get it either.

Harper grimaced a little. She had _not_ liked that swordfighting teacher, as good as he was at it. And this wasn't a pleasant topic– even for Harper, and she was a full-grown adult. This was no topic for children.

She corrected herself. The four of them (she wasn't counting Ivor, he was an adult like her, and Jesse of course was knocked out on the bed) had helped to one of the world's worst monsters, not to mention travelling all over the worlds. They were much more than children.

"You kill them."

Lukas bolted upright in his seat, eyes bugging out of his head in surprise. "You–"

"Yeah. Mevia's kind of got that training... hammered into her head." Harper's face screwed up slightly. "So when she snaps into combat mode, her training completely takes over and she kind of... forgets what's going on around her."

Olivia scowled slightly, taking the whole idea into consideration. "So... Mevia might've snapped into combat mode?"

"Possibly." Harper shrugged apologetically, wishing that she had a better idea of what had happened in the room, with how intensely the others were staring at her. "It's definitely one of the first explanations I could think of."

"Or she's a complete jerk who enjoys Jesse's pain," Petra muttered, scowling at the wall. Judging from that little comment, Petra was still _insanely_ pissed off at Mevia.

Not that Harper could completely blame her, of course.

"... that's possible, too."

What else was possible, they'd never know, because the door banged open right behind Axel and made him jump. Once doing so, he nearly knocked into Olivia and bowled her over. As it was, Olivia still ended up on her butt, and a large majority of the gunpowder Ivor had been holding earlier had gotten all over his pants.

"Hey, Jesse awake?" Nell was standing in the doorway, leaning over and looking half-ready to leave.

Ivor sighed, absentmindedly swatting some of the gunpowder off of his pants and onto the floor. "No, although I'm surprised that you all _banging the door open_ hasn't done the job yet." He said this last part very pointedly, shooting a glare in Axel and Nell's direction.

The blonde let out a slightly sheepish laugh as she stepped inside the room, shutting the door behind her. "Heh, sorry. But listen," and Nell's eyes gleamed with a muted urgency now, smile falling so that only a shadow of it remained on her face. "I've got something I need to tell you dudes."

* * *

 **A/N: Blah this is short and terrible because I have a cold but hope you enjoy anyway**

 **Well, looks like Nell was the one who was listening in on them! Huh. Surprised nobody guessed her even as a joke xD**

 **Also, listening to the song "Purple" by Mandopony (the new version he released on YouTube), the song... is surprisingly fitting for Romeo, if you do a bit of creative interpretation of some of the lyrics.**

 **Replies to reviews!**

 **S4SH4L4SH4theGaMeR101: Well, there's still a chance... he's just gonna have to do some deep digging on his personality. REALLY deep. / What, you think I'd kill the protagonist of the story? Well, actually– ... mm. / Lol, not a bad habit xD**

 **andie: (chuckles) / (pats)**

 **Princess of Muffins: Yeah, I don't know why. I really like Mevia now. xD Because in every fanfic you read of him, he acts like an asshole? / That is an... abnormally specific number xD But sure, go ahead.**

 **Destroyered: Go ahead xD**

 **Emily The Avenger: (laughs) Yeah, I know how you feel.**

 **Toni42: You are not wrong there, my friend. xD**

 **RapidSammi: That's good! And yeah, I'm not the biggest fan of the dude myself xD / (laughs)**

 **Kairi4ever15: I mean, you totally can if you want, there's nothing stopping you xD**

 **KaosRuin: Ooh, that sounds frightening xD Good luck.**

 **AquaK13: (laughs) I figured, but still. I have to agree with you there. / Yeah, I really like Mevia as a character, honestly. Even though we didn't see enough of her in Episode 8. xD / No, she can't catch a break apparently. And she has... more than I can count because I don't remember. xD / Nope, actually, it's Nell. xD**

 **EndLifeKillPls: Oh I didn't really feel that bad for Jesse either, don't worry about it xD**

 **Mikaza1498: That reminds me, I've gotta post my playthrough... / Yeah, I'm working on making that seem more natural, honestly. Though it's hard at this moment because I hAvE A cOlD. xD / I'm never offended, especially if I get slightly lost while a person is trying to insult me. xD**

 **LunarTheMooncake: (pats)**

 **PuzzleMaster: I'm glad you like the story, though!**

 **LittleAngelbun: You have returned! / Haha, yeah, it hurt... a lot. / Nell. xD**

 **homeworkoverload: I've got a new computer, so the playthrough should be up... fairly soon, actually! / Really, anybody could do it– just think of a wooden sword as a shaped stick. / Oh, lol! / Oh, I'm sure Hadrian would _love_ to play Hide and Go Kill with you. Really, he'd adore the idea.**

 **Pogi22609: Haha, yeah. / Yeah :/ / Nell!**

 **Rabbits rule: Lol! Yeah, Hadrian's a jerk. And yeah, I feel bad for Mevia too.**

 **ZenSpider: (laughs) He'll keep that in mind.**

 **PoptartCrumbs: I mean, Mevia's mostly probably just surprised by Hadrian threatening her. Buuuut... yeah, I feel pretty bad for 'em too. Not THAT bad, mind you, since I caused them pain, but... yeah. xD**

 **EnderKitty68: Yeah, that would be cute. x3 / Pfff xD Probably not gonna happen, but that would be pretty funny.**

 **J.M.M.: Ah, I see, and apparently yes xD**

 **DarkPrincess2001: Well, _she_ knows that, but other people don't. **

**Darkbeast Dend: That sounds violent, but sad to say I think Hadrian deserves it... oh who am I kidding, I'm not sad at all xD / You spelled 'sword' wrong, by the way, but haha that's not a bad idea. I think Petra might just be tempted to do that.**

 **Shadow: (pats)**

 **Guest: The angst train is fun xD**

 **Savannah-the-Caracal: Oh, really? I thought I made it way too obvious haha / Well, yeah, but I'm not a very good teacher and I feel like I'd be acting super pretentious if I did that lol xD**

 **Welp, that's all for now! Hope to see you soon! And hope to actually turn out a non-crappy chapter when I'm not sick anymore. xD**

 **x.X. A.L. X.x**


	163. Hadrian's Smile

Mevia had come out of the closet.

... oh, you know what I mean.

After about another twenty minutes, she'd gathered up enough of her nerve to stand up and open the door. She'd accidentally opened it right as Milo was walking by and made him walk straight into the door.

She was now currently apologizing to him.

"That was– agh. Sorry." Wow. Mevia was clearly very eloquent. There was a reason Hadrian did most of the talking during the Games.

"Don't worry about it, it didn't hurt that badly," Milo assured her, although the way he kept periodically rubbing his forehead or his nose seemed to indicate otherwise. "What were you even doing in the closet?" he asked her, after a moment.

"... I was... uh... taking inventory of the closet."

... there was a reason one of Hadrian's slightly-insulting-but-mostly-joking nicknames for her was 'Pinocchio', honestly– whenever she even attempted to lie, either whatever she said was about as believable as a magical narwhal appearing in the room and doing a tap dance for them (actually, that might've been more believable than what Mevia could come up with), or what came out just didn't make sense.

Milo stared at her. You could get the feeling that he was resisting the urge to ask her if she needed some psychiatric help. "... you were taking inventory of the... closet?"

"... yeah. There's three brooms, a mop, and a chest filled with buckets of water in there." Actually, Mevia was kind of making that up because she had been paying absolutely no attention to her surroundings at the time, but you know what, it wasn't like Milo was going to check.

"... do I wish to know what you were _actually_ doing in there at the time?" Milo finally asked, still looking as if he wanted to ask her if she needed psychiatric help.

"... probably not."

Milo raised his eyes to heaven, probably regretting having even asked her what she was doing right about now. "Okay. Then I won't ask."

"Thank you."

* * *

Jesse found herself awake all of a sudden.

It was dark in the room, although she could tell it wasn't _her_ room judging by the size– she could see a long wall in the dim light spilling in from the window, and the door was further away from her bed than usual. Her wrist seemed to be numb, for some reason. She shifted and raised her arm to get a better look at it, blinking blearily. Slowly, it came into focus to show that a white bandage was wrapped around it.

Had she hurt her wrist earlie–

She remembered.

Mevia lashing out with her wooden sword.

The jarring clack of wood on wood as Jesse blocked blows.

A change in tempo.

Her wrist cracking.

Mevia starting to hit her with the wooden sword, a blankly cold expression on her face.

Curling up into a terrified ball because dad was hitting her again, dad was hitting her again and she didn't know why, but it _wasn't_ her dad and it was Mevia and it just didn't make sense _what had she done wrong this time_ –

Jesse frowned now that she recalled that, that had been a bit of weird behavior from Mevia.

Well, not that Jesse _knew_ Mevia well enough to say if it was weird behavior for the blue-haired woman usually, but from what Jesse knew of Mevia, it was weird.

And Mevia _had_ had that outburst before they'd started the practice fight...

... something was wrong with Mevia. Not, y'know, in a rude way– but _something_ had caused Mevia to suddenly start hitting her with what was essentially a slightly sharpened wooden stick, and she highly doubted it was because of her swordfighting skill, although Jesse _had_ improved by leaps and bounds since they'd started the practice sessions. Gabriel had even called her a natural a few times.

But as it was, Mevia suddenly beating Jesse with a wooden sword just didn't make sense to Jesse– not with how Mevia acted around her usually.

Carefully, Jesse shifted into a sitting position so as to avoid waking everyone up, and looked around while blinking the last little bits of sleep out of her eyes. She wasn't all that surprised to see Ivor slumped backwards in a chair next to the bed, his mouth hanging slightly open as he breathed deeply– clearly he was fast asleep.

Which was surprising, because he usually was up at night and puttering around in the dining room making a calming potion.

She seemed to be in a long room that looked like a clinic or an infirmary, with several beds along both walls and a sort of clear area for people to walk down the way and visit the person who was injured. On a nearby bed, Lukas was curled up on the bed– almost like a cat, and this thought made Jesse grin a little bit despite the way her wrist was annoyingly numb– and breathing deeply, showing that he, too, was fast asleep.

Axel and Olivia were curled up on a bed together, which was a little surprising to Jesse– until she figured that they probably did it all the time if they weren't in their own rooms and were probably adventuring. Axel was snoring slightly while Olivia was faced away from him, one arm dangling over the edge of the bed and looking like she might topple off of the bed.

On the bed across from Jesse's, Petra was sitting up in the bed, a shaft of moonlight slanting across her face. Next to her, Jace had his head resting on her shoulder and was also fast asleep, if the way his chest was steadily rising and falling was any indication. Reuben was curled up on his lap, making little snuffling sounds in his sleep.

Satisfied that all of them were asleep, Jesse carefully shifted the blankets off her legs and swung her legs to the floor smoothly. Her shoes made soft sounds on the wooden floor, but not anything very loud, and she was soon making her way out of the infirmary, determined to find Mevia. Sure, it was probably a ridiculous time at night, but she was suddenly filled with the desire to know what exactly was going on.

The door didn't squeak as she opened it, and she carefully let it shut before looking both ways down the hallway. The lack of windows in the hallways made the long walk much darker, even with redstone lamps sporadically lighting the hallway.

It took Jesse a moment of looking back and forth to get her bearings, before she smoothly turned to her left and walked along the hallway, feet padding softly as she made her way to the hallway of bedrooms– over fifty of them total. She vaguely wondered that if this was Ariza's house, how many guests did she usually have?

The moment her mind wandered, she probably made a wrong turn somewhere, because Jesse proceeded to find herself miserably, hopelessly lost. It didn't help that this part of the house appeared to be one that she didn't usually frequent, or that it was so dark that only the occasional redstone lamp lit the hallway.

"You lost, sport?"

Jesse jumped, whipping around at the sound of the voice– and letting out a relieved sigh as she saw Hadrian, standing behind her. "Hi, Mr. Hadrian. Wooooph, you scared me."

Hadrian let out a funny chuckle. "Sorry about that, kiddo. What are you doing, wandering the hallway at night?"

Jesse almost opened her mouth to tell him– that she was looking for Mevia to ask her something, that she was confused about what Mevia had done earlier today, that she'd let her mind wander and then gotten herself miserably lost– before stopping herself.

Something was whispering in her ear. _Don't trust him._

 _He's not to be trusted._

 _Run._

"I was going to the kitchen to make a calming potion because I couldn't sleep. But I'm not used to going there from the infirmary and got lost."

Jesse was stunned at how smoothly the lie came from her mouth. It wasn't a _complete_ lie, she supposed– she couldn't sleep. And she _wasn't_ used to heading to the rooms from the clinic/infirmary/whatever it was supposed to be.

Hadrian gave a light, friendly shrug, a pleasant smile still on his face. Maybe that little voice had been wrong? "I see. D'you need help getting there from here?"

Well, she couldn't refuse without looking suspicious or rude now, so she just shrugged back and returned the smile. "Sure, that would be great. Lead the way, please."

Hadrian gave her a different sort of smile– not scary, exactly, but it wasn't exactly a pleasant one either. "Right. Come along, slugger." And he started walking down the hallway, making Jesse have to follow to keep up with him– once she recognized a hallway she could probably make an excuse and slip away.

"So," he said, conversationally, as they traversed the hallways, "Jesse... is that your full name?"

Jesse frowned at the question. "Yeah... well, I think everyone's been spelling it with an 'e' and the end's supposed to be spelled with an 'i' for me, but it's similar enough, I suppose."

"Jessi... huh." Hadrian nodded as if that information told him a lot. "So, how's the wrist? I only saw the tail end of what happened with Mevia."

Jessi's eyes fell to her wrist automatically, white bandages cradling it. "Numb," she said truthfully. It wasn't like he could get anything out of that.

Hadrian let out a strange chuckle, one that made something automatically _clunk_ into her stomach– something hard. "Understandable; healing potions tend to do that when you've got a broken bone. Surprised that Mevia would do that, but I suppose there's a reason she's called 'The Enforcer' in the Games–"

Jessi didn't know what 'games' he was talking about, but she found herself defending Mevia all of a sudden. "I don't think she meant to hit me."

A pause. "No?"

"Well– not like that, anyway. Her expression was just kinda... blank. It was like she wasn't actually there," Jessi corrected herself. "She was kinda... not present halfway through it. I do see what you mean by her being the 'Enforcement'–"

"Enforcer," Hadrian corrected.

"Uh-huh. I do see what you mean, though, because she's really good at swordfighting," Jessi finished, giving a small smile.

Another pause. "Hm." That little 'hm' was thoughtful, not at all threatening in any way, and yet it still made Jessi's stomach contract in fear.

Jessi paused again, before giving him a little shrug and lapsing into silence.

Hadrian abruptly came to a stop, which forced Jessi to slow down and come to a stop as well. He still didn't face her. "I've been keeping a close eye on you, kiddo, while we've been watching the episodes."

"... okay?"

 _Run._

 _Run._

 _Run._

"You are... _very_ impressive. Very brave, very insistent on protecting her friends."

 _Run._

 _Get away._

 _You're in danger._

 _Run._

"But you're also forgiving. Merciful." A strange smile crept across Hadrian's face as he turned to face her, and now the chills that had been tingling on her spine were practically prickling dangerously as they screamed collectively in her ear, unheard by anyone else except the short girl with a numb wrist currently facing off against the man in the purple suit.

 _Run._

"Even when other people _beat_ you," and he stepped closer to her. Jessi stepped back automatically.

 _Get out of here._

"Even when they hurt you, hurt your friends," another step forward for Hadrian, another step back for Jessi.

 _You're in danger._

"You forgave them. You forgave Cassie Rose. You forgave Aiden. You even forgave Ivor." Another step forward. Another step back.

 _Why aren't you running?_

"I wonder if you'd forgive me." Another step forward. Another step back.

Jessi felt like she was walking straight into a trap, but she had to ask. "Forgive you for what?" she asked, trying to make her voice sound like firm red but instead having it come out thin blue.

 _You have to run._

Another step forward. Another step back, but now Hadrian's hand was closing on her wrist and keeping her from moving any further away. Her heart had started thumping like a jackrabbit. He leaned towards her steadily, mouth mere inches from her ear, hand in a vise on her wrist.

"I wonder if you'd forgive me if I killed your friends."

Jessi stopped breathing. For a moment, her lungs forgot how to work with that statement, air simply resting like a stone in her lungs, in her mouth, pausing halfway in her chest until a tight knot formed.

And then she started breathing again.

"Huh?" she asked, even though she knew very, very well what he was getting at, knew all too well if the way her heart was now skipping was any indication.

"I've decided that you're a threat to me, Jessi." Hadrian's voice was strangely matter-of-fact despite the fact that he still had that strange smile on his face, despite the fact that Hadrian seemed almost happy right now. "So here's the deal, bucko. If you let me kill you, I won't touch your friends."

 _Get out of here._

Jessi was frozen in place. Even if she wanted to run, she couldn't, not with her unharmed wrist trapped in his hand.

"You're wrong about me," she whispered, but she could feel an ice cube forming in her stomach.

Hadrian's smile didn't falter at all. On the contrary, it widened. "How so, sport?"

"I'm not brave," Jessi breathed, tears beginning to press on her eyeballs. "If I was brave, I would've stood up to my father. If I was brave, I would've stood up to him and fought back. If I was brave, my friend Chris would still be alive."

 _Jessi, you have to get out of here._

Hadrian's smile grew even more. "Then that makes my job much easier. You won't stand up to me. Not if you want to keep your friends alive." His voice was low but confident, an undertone of victory going through his voice.

Jessi felt tears threatening to spill out of her eyes. Fear was spreading through her, its cold hands squeezing her heart, clogging her throat, dragging its cold hands down her back. She needed help right now. She needed to run. She needed to get out of here, but she couldn't, she couldn't breathe, she was so, so scared, she needed help.

So she screamed for the person she'd come out of the infirmary to look for in the first place, the first name that came to her mind.

" _ **MEVIA**_!"

Hadrian's smile fell, and he suddenly disappeared. Jessi didn't know where he'd gone, and she didn't care as she staggered backwards and felt her back hit the wall, and she was sliding down, feeling tears beginning to stream down her cheeks as footsteps faded and then grew, and then suddenly she was looking up and Mevia was looking around frantically–

The Ancient Architect's eyes fell on Jessi.

"Mevia," Jessi said, but it came out as a whimper.

A storm of emotions passed over Mevia's face. Fear, disgust, concern, hatred, something Jessi couldn't identify– and then Mevia was kneeling next to Jessi and pulling the smaller girl into a hug. "It's fine, you're fine, you're going to be okay," she said quietly, her voice currently wavering strangely but low and soothing.

 _You're safe now._

Jessi's mind was such a confused jumble that she couldn't tell if that was Mevia or that voice she'd been hearing earlier speaking, she couldn't tell, even as more voices crowded into the hallway, lights turning on and a jumble of voices hitting her ears, but the only thing she could see was Hadrian's strange smile at the back of the crowd through the blur of faces that had suddenly entered the hallway, even as Mevia was pulled away from Jessi ( _why were they pulling her away she didn't want Mevia to leave_ ) and someone's arms wrapped shakily around her ( _who was hugging her right now she was shaking so hard_ ).

 _You're okay now._

Even as she was being led out of the hallway ( _was someone carrying her?_ ), even as she could see Ivor's face looking paler than she'd ever seen it, Mevia being told off by Isa in the back, Lukas's relieved blue eyes, Petra's worried but comforting smile, Jace and Reuben just behind Axel who was leading Jessi along ( _carrying her_ ), Olivia rattling something off, something involving Mevia, and Harper standing just behind Mevia uncomfortably, she could still see Hadrian's strange smile as he watched her leave.

 _You're safe._

He put his finger to his mouth in a shushing motion, eyes lingering on her friends' backs and then flicking back up to her eyes. His smile grew. ( _Jesse was shaking so badly._ )

 _But they're not._

* * *

 **A/N: Hadrian tried to pull his move faster than expected... and Jessi was half-ready for it.**

 **But I think if Jessi tries to tell anyone, she's going to find one of her friends dead.**

 **Yeaaaaaaaahhhh, I'll be selling tickets for kicking Hadrian in the nuts for about three dollars each, anyone want 'em? Extra five dollars to play Hide and Go Kill with him.**

 **Mevia's swordfighting teacher was not Hadrian, by the way. And it looks like Nell couldn't explain about Mevia. Either that, or they didn't quite believe her anyway.**

 **Replies to reviews!**

 **LunarTheMooncake: (giggles)**

 **Kairi4ever15: Indeed xD**

 **andie: (grins)**

 **Savannah-the-Caracal: No, I had that planned, just picked a random person that I thought nobody would expect. And I was right! xD**

 **Guest: I can see that 0-o**

 **homeworkoverload: (shrugs) Can't say, sorry. / I can't make sure until later because plot, but sure. x3 / That's nice! xD / (giggles) well, I have tickets. (Waves tickets)**

 **Emily The Avenger: xD Nice, fam.**

 **ItzJaiden: Sorryyyyy xD / Probably / And... what do you mean by why?**

 **Jo the jesus: Nice username. / (shrugs)**

 **CamronXTheXGamer: (pats) Thanks for the tissues, I am no longer sick happily.**

 **AquaK13: xD / Pfffff, now I'm remembering that too xD / She's probably taken more, honestly. / (pats)**

 **ShiningHopeBeast: (grins) Yeah, that was fun to write. / Awww, hope you feel better soon.**

 **KaosRuin: I mean, there's nothing wrong with that xD / Oh, okay xD**

 **Princess of Muffins: Thanks, I feel much better now. x3 / (laughs) Yeah, there's a lot of things I introduced in that chapter that I might never get back to. (Jk, probably'll get back around to it sometime.) / That's good! / That's to be expected xD**

 **Mikaza1498: Yeah, I was sick for a solid week, surprisingly. / Ahhh, that sucks. :/ / I'm never offended xD**

 **Guest: He does. I'm sure he'll redeem himself, he's gotta have some niceness to him deep inside of him. Deep, deep, deep, deep, deep, deep, DEEP down. / Yee x3**

 **Darkbeast Dend: (pats)**

 **J.M.M.: (smirks)**

 **ZenSpider: (laughs) / Sure, if you're willing to look deep down. Deep, deep, deep, deep, deep, deep, deep, deep, deep, deep, deep, deep, deep, DEEP, DEEP down.**

 **SiSiren: I'm glad you like it so far! Doing my best to make good content. (Not doing a great job of it but hey, I'm trying xD)**

 **Welp, that's all for this time! See ya, so long, and g'bye!**

 **x.X. A.L. X.x**


	164. A Series of Unfortunate Events

Breakfast had been a tense affair that morning, with everyone practically glaring daggers at Mevia– with the exception of Nell and Jesse and Hadrian. In fact, Hadrian had even offered to get another cup of water for her when he'd accidentally knocked it over with his elbow. Mevia had accepted the offer, slightly concerned about the fact that he was being so _nice_ after what had happened last night.

It seemed there hadn't been any need to worry, though. Hadrian had simply handed her the re-filled glass of water after going to refill it and nothing had happened beyond that.

Now if only she'd stop feeling so _sick_.

Mevia was feeling dreadful after the events of the previous day and night combined. Hearing Jesse's pleading scream for help after hours of almost no sleep, running in to see that the girl was curled up on the floor against the wall looking absolutely terrified about something, something strange and something Mevia was pretty sure she knew what it was, hugging the girl even though her instincts screamed at her not to be stupid and not to let Hadrian possibly see, everyone pulling them apart and Isa hissing angrily at her out of Jesse's earshot.

" _Haven't you caused enough damage for one day?_ "

" _Haven't you caused enough damage for one day?_ "

" _Haven't you caused enough damage for one day?_ "

Isa's furious whisper was echoing around Mevia's head as she wandered the halls, trying to remember how to get back to the dining area for lunch, because even though she'd travelled in the straightest path possible, she was feeling so sick and tired that she might as well have strolled straight into the Nether and back out in a different area, for how hard it was to find her way to the dining hall.

Isa had never sounded that furious before.

Well, there was the time someone had handed her a stack of cooked chicken, but that had been some idiot trying to play a prank, not Mevia or Harper or Otto or Hadrian or one of _them_.

Isa had never sounded so angry with any of the Ancient Architects about _anything_. A bit annoyed, sure, because sometimes she just didn't eat enough or didn't sleep enough or something, or someone did something dumb.

But she'd never glared at anyone with such undisguised anger towards them as she had with Mevia last night.

Mevia felt sick about the whole thing. She'd pretty much given Jesse a beating, and then put the small, petite girl's life in danger by hugging her the night before when Hadrian had specifically warned her not to. What Jesse had done to end up there was a mystery, but the matter remained that Mevia had just put the small girl in even _more_ danger than before.

... wow, if she was feeling this many emotions then she must be _really_ sick. She hadn't felt this awful in a long time. Physically and emotionally.

Her head pounded with each stumbling step she took along the hallway, one hand on the wall to keep her from turning around and accidentally making another wrong turn, her mouth dry, her chest aching with pain.

By the time the dining room came into sight, Mevia was sure that something was wrong. Even from a complete lack of sleep, she should not have felt so sick. Admittedly, this morning she hadn't been feeling _that_ bad. Just a little sleep-deprived, with a dose of constant worrying and fear and concern that she might've just ended up putting Jesse in danger– but not that bad at all.

In fact, she hadn't really started feeling this constant pain in her chest or her raspy, lumpy throat until sometime after breakfast–

"Mevia?"

The pale-blue-haired woman blinked blearily and looked up, still feeling like she wanted to pass out. Her vision swooped and split into twos and threes as she raised her eyes back up, only to see Jesse staring at her with concern in her eyes. The dining room was full of people, many of them still staring coldly, and the rest looking at her with concern.

Mevia couldn't be sure since the room was splitting into twos and threes and swooping up and down and all over the place with such dizzying vagueness that she couldn't quite make out their faces, but she was pretty sure that everyone in the mansion was there. Her eyes scanned the people, head mentally scrambling to put together a headcount...

... before she stalled to a halt at Ivor.

Ivor, who was standing behind Jesse, didn't look cold or concerned.

No, he looked _panicked._

"Are you okay?" the shorter girl asked, frowning at Mevia from where she was sitting and making to get out of her chair.

"No," the pale-blue haired woman gestured vaguely for Jesse to sit down. Then she realized that could be taken the wrong way and waved again. "I mean, no, you don't have to stand up, yes, I'm fine."

"No you're not," Ivor spoke, so sharply that Harper, who was seated on Jesse's left (Mevia's right), actually looked at him in surprise.

"Of course I'm fine," Mevia replied, a little more faintly. Everything had just turned blurry. And green. Was it supposed to be green? "I'm perfectly..."

There was a black spot above her head. Her eyes trailed upwards to follow it, but the spot started moving further back, and further back, and there were more spots forming–

Mevia was out before she hit the floor.

* * *

The moment Mevia's eyes started rolling up into her head, Jessi had shoved her chair back with enough force to knock it over– in fact, it did actually fall over– and raced over, diving forward in the nick of time to keep Mevia from suffering a nasty collision with the floor but also ending up with the older woman lying on top of her with her elbow smarting from where she'd just banged it on the floor and the taste of blood in her mouth– she'd bitten her tongue by accident.

Ivor was the next person over, helping shift Mevia off of Jessi. "We need to get her to the infirmary."

"Can't we just take her back to her room? It's closer, and I'm sure she just didn't get enough sleep," Cassie meekly contributed. "I mean, I definitely didn't after–"

" _No_." Ivor's voice was sharper than a dagger. "We need to get her to the infirmary, _now_."

Jessi looked up at her foster father, now realizing that his face was a little paler than it had been before and his jaw was tight. "D– Ivor? What's wrong?" she asked, feeling a little lost because she didn't know why he looked as if he was about to panic as he leaned over Mevia, eyes narrowing as he examined her quickly.

"She's been poisoned."

Jessi felt her shoulders tense at that.

"Poisoned?" Otto sounded alarmed here. "Are you certain?"

Isa sounded uncertain when she spoke. "She just looked a bit tired to me... I think it might just be–"

Ivor sighed with annoyance and glanced at Jessi. "Jessi, look." He pulled back a shut eyelid to reveal Mevia's eye, the iris mostly rolled back in her skull. But now that Jesse looked at it, the pupil took up most of the iris, leaving only a small rim of dark brown in its place.

Jessi wasn't sure what Ivor was getting at with that, but she could tell he was expecting something, so she said at last, "Her eyes are still dilated?"

He nodded, still looking at her as if he was expecting something.

Jessi stared at Mevia– and then it hit her. "It's the middle of the day. There's light pouring in everywhere. Her eyes shouldn't be dilated."

"Bingo. For some reason, Mevia's system isn't reacting to stimuli the way it should," Ivor agreed instantly, pointing at Jessi slightly. "Not to mention, she's breathing very shallowly for some reason, so–"

As if on cue, Mevia gave a shuddering gasp, before her breathing went back to the shallow inhales that had been so quiet that Jessi hadn't been able to hear them.

"Most people don't breathe like that, even if they pass out from sleep deprivation," Ivor continued, as if he'd actually said something, absentmindedly testing Mevia's pulse– and then his face went even _paler_.

He abruptly stood up, looking at Gabriel. "Get her to the infirmary. I have to get the heavy duty potion stand." And the man started towards the last place the heavy-duty potion stand had been, which was the basement.

Gabriel hesitated for only a second– and then Ivor turned to look over his shoulder and shot him an acidic glare. " _Now._ "

"What? What's going on? What's wrong now?" Lukas asked, simply looking totally bewildered from where he'd been sitting near Jessi before she'd jumped up and run over to keep Mevia from banging her head.

"Well, if we don't give her an antidote in the next ten minutes, she's going to die," Ivor replied, tersely.

He proceeded to take advantage of the stunned silence that filled the room to slip out and head for the basement to get the heavy-duty potion stand.

Jessi stayed kneeling on the floor next to Mevia, blinking several times in shock, before turning to look over her shoulder.

Soren looked as if someone had just cracked a wooden sword over his head, he was so stunned. Isa was looking at Milo with such a lost look on her face that she could've sworn that Isa was actually, physically lost. Cassie was blinking rapidly as she tried to process this fact, Harper was half-out of her chair and looked totally confused, Otto looked as if he wanted to grab someone...

Hadrian was smiling slightly.

He noticed that Jessi was staring at him, and his lips curved into a smirk.

 _That makes my job much easier._

 _You won't stand up to me._

 _Not if you want to keep your friends alive._

She'd stood up to him. Maybe in a bit of a cowardly way, in screaming for help instead of fighting him back, instead of yelling and bringing everyone running, instead of finding a way to out him.

But she'd stood up to him.

And now she was paying the price.

* * *

Olivia strode through the hallway rapidly.

She couldn't believe it. Mevia had beat Jesse up– had even convinced Nell and even _Jesse_ , who was the one who'd been getting beaten up in the first place, that she hadn't _meant_ to do it– and now she was poisoned.

She didn't feel _happy_ about that exactly... but she didn't feel as upset about it as Jesse did.

Her fists curled up at her sides. Ivor had managed to wrestle out the heavy-duty potion stand and whip something up to expel most of the poison from Mevia's system, although it had mostly come up in the form of Mevia coughing blood that was tinted a nasty, dark green. Olivia had _seen_ potions of poison before...

But the poison that had been in Mevia's system had to be the worst Olivia had ever seen.

At least Mevia would probably survive a little longer and give Ivor more time to figure out exactly how much of the antidote he had to give her to expel the poison from her system entirely.

Aiden had asked why they couldn't just give her a huge amount of the antidote to expel the potion, and Ivor had stared at him before saying, as if stating the obvious, "Because in overly large doses, the antidote that Mevia needs for the poison in her system is more dangerous than the poison itself. It'd end up killing her."

So that was a bit of a nuisance.

Jesse had gotten really upset about Mevia getting poisoned. It was almost like Axel, or Lukas, or Petra or Jace or Olivia or _Ivor_ had gotten poisoned– and if Jesse continued denying that the two of them were like a little makeshift family at this point, Olivia was going to punch the girl in the shoulder and shake her to her senses– and not someone who'd tried to hurt her yesterday, someone who'd nearly _killed_ her.

Olivia suddenly realized someone was standing behind her.

It wasn't even a smooth transition to realization– she just shook herself out of her deep thoughts and realized that there was someone standing behind her, just as she prepared to head down the stairs.

She didn't even have time to turn to see who it was before a pair of hands slammed into her shoulders and knocked her forwards, off-balance. Olivia instinctively stepped forward to keep herself from falling– before realizing she'd _just prepared to head down the stairs_ and the spot where there would've been more floor to catch her was thin air.

The foot she'd used to try to catch her twisted badly as it landed on the stair, and the dark-haired girl stumbled before she suddenly toppled forward, letting out a yell of fear as she threw her arms over her head to keep herself from any fatal injuries.

Her ribs slammed into the staircase below and the curly-haired redstone-engineer-in-training let out a gasp of pain as acid seemed to flood into her rib cage, pain spreading up her side.

She barely had time to process that before her elbow clipped a stair, her twisted ankle took advantage of the momentum to throw her body forward again, and then she couldn't tell what was up or down or right or left, she just knew that the stairs were battering her, her head ramming full into one stair and jolting something loose in her head, her kneecap cracking uncomfortably as it collided with the wall, her twisted ankle twisting even worse as it smashed into the wall–

Olivia suddenly realized she wasn't being battered by the stairs anymore, lying on her back with pain flooding her ribs like someone had just dumped acid on that area. Her elbow was oddly warm and also felt like it had been dipped in acid, while her kneecap stung with a vengeance and her ankle was throbbing. She felt as if someone had just finished giving her a beating with a wooden club.

She kept her eyes shut, not daring to open them– with how badly her head was throbbing, she was sure she was going to start hallucinating if she opened her eyes.

"Olivia? Olivia?!"

The girl let out an incoherent groan and let her eyes flutter open against her will. Axel looked as if he was about to have a panic attack. At least he cared. Olivia smiled– and immediately regretted it as something in her jaw proceeded to complain vocally. "Ow."

"Dude, what _happened?!_ " Axel exclaimed, looking as if he was trying to figure out how to pick her up without causing her injury. "Did you trip down the stairs?"

"No... pushed," Olivia managed through what felt like a red-hot wire being threaded through her jawbone.

"You were pushed?"

Olivia managed a grunting sound– and bit her tongue so hard she tasted blood when Axel scooped her up to keep herself from screaming, because it hurt, it hurt _so much_ –

She forced herself to stare at the top of the staircase, pain making her eyesight fuzzy.

But she didn't see anyone.

* * *

"Jesse?" Lukas called, looking around for the girl as he walked down the hallway.

She'd disappeared somewhere after Gabriel had carried Mevia away, and even Reuben hadn't been able to find her. Said little pig was with Jace right now. He, Petra, and Lukas were all currently searching for the petite girl.

"C'mon, Jesse, Mevia'll be fine."

 _Not that I care that much_ , something muttered inside his chest.

And then he proceeded to feel guilty.

Sure, the Old– Ancient Architect _had_ beat Jesse up, but Harper's explanation about Mevia's weird training made sense. And Nell had even come over to them and told them that it was an accident, and warned them to keep Jesse away from Hadrian.

The entire group hadn't taken it seriously– they just thought that Mevia had managed to fool Nell into thinking that she wasn't at fault for the incident. But after Mevia had gotten _poisoned_ this morning... well, Lukas was starting to debate that Nell had actually been right.

He couldn't imagine anyone in the group of watchers having the mental capacity to poison someone– heck, to basically _kill_ them, because if Ivor hadn't managed to whip up an antidote Mevia would probably be flat-out deader than a doornail right about now.

 _And I'm supposed to keep an open mind until there's solid proof of something_ , he thought gloomily.

But he hadn't done a very good job of that so far; lashing out Jesse for no reason earlier during the seventh episode and not even allowing himself to think that Nell had actually been right. That she hadn't just been fooled into thinking Mevia wasn't at fault.

He sighed a little as he turned a corner into another hallway. Some open-minded guy he was.

"Jesse? Y'there?" he called out, cupping one hand to his mouth to try to amplify the call–

Something caught his toe, knocking him forward awkwardly. Lukas gasped and tried to twist around to catch himself, but his center of gravity had already moved past the point of no return and the ankle of his foot that had tripped on whatever it was was twisting awkwardly as it didn't turn the way Lukas had expected it to–

Something whipped past his ear, missing it by a literal inch, and Lukas looked up just as his ankle fully twisted and he landed flat on his back with a yelp of pain.

The blonde gasped for breath and out of slight pain as he scanned the hallway, but there didn't seem to be anyone in sight.

On the wall, opposite where his head had been seconds before, was an ominously quivering hammer, the sharp prongs that people used to pry nails up with embedded in the wall.

Lukas gulped nervously, feeling a bubble of air travel down his esophagus and a dull pain throbbing in his ankle.

He wasn't sure if that was just a thing in the house that had already been there, or if it had to do with Mevia's poisoning, or even if this had been set up by one of the watchers– for all he knew, it had been set up by Ariza or Gommie or Red or _someone,_ _any_ of the previous inhabitants of this house.

But he was suddenly feeling much more ready to believe Nell about Mevia.

Clambering to his feet and leaning most of his weight onto his not-twisted ankle, he started limping towards the infirmary as fast as he could.

He had the uncomfortable feeling that someone else was there, even though he was standing in the hallway and there was absolutely nobody in either direction.

He didn't know where they were. But he did know that he didn't want to be caught alone with whoever it was.

* * *

 **A/N: Mevia, Lukas, Olivia... three of Jesse's friends have suffered some... unfortunate incidents.**

 **Hmm, wonder who could be behind this? (stares at Hadrian thoughtfully)**

 **Okay, so here's the deal– I've changed my update schedule (yet again). I'm currently focusing on my story The Fairytale Curse, which is... actually, I'm really proud of that. If you like my writing, please check that one out– it does start sort of slow, but my boyfriend (x3) Toni42 has been spoiled to a little bit of it and he said it gets really awesome later on.**

 **So if you liked Hybrid, you should probably check that out, because I'm really proud of what I've got planned for the story, even though I'm still in the middle of the first episode.**

 **Basically I update that until I get bored of it, then I update this story until I get bored, then I update Composite until I get bored, and then I update Minecraft: Normal Mode and Just a Game until I get bored, then I go back to The Fairytale Curse... so on so forth.**

 **Responses to reviews!**

 **LunarTheMooncake: (laughs) I don't think he'd like that very much.**

 **NoItsBecky: (snorts) (laughs) You're the first person to pay, so you get to be first in beating Hadrian up.**

 **Savannah-the-Caracal: Only for people who know Jesse's name is spelled 'Jessi', so only from Jessi's POV or from maybe Hadrian's. Later Ivor might pop into the list. / Hehehe**

 **Kairi4ever15: Haha, true! / If this was actually real, I think I'd be rich by now. xD**

 **Emily The Avenger: Oof indeed xD**

 **AquaK13: (takes your 8 dollars) / I don't think Hadrian wants to play the game, but too bad for him. I'm making him play the game anyway xD / I just know that that's funny. I don't know if there's supposed to be something inappropriate about it. xD / I try to avoid making Undertale jokes at the moment just because I feel like legit every reader would point it out. xD / Ye :3**

 **ItzJaiden: So far I have... 148 dollars from opening up this 'kill Hadrian' thing. xD**

 **Toni42: Actually, only Jessi's POV will be spelled 'Jessi' since nobody else knows it's 'Jesse'– eventually everyone will realize her name's spelled with an 'i' and not an 'e' and the chapter will change accordingly. x3 / Haha, yes he is, Tonibear.**

 **KaosRuin: True, your statement is.**

 **andie: (laughs)**

 **french pizza: (smiles) Oh, I'm not going to even ATTEMPT to kill Jessi. She already stood up to Hadrian, even if it wasn't in the bravest way. Now, Jessi's FRIENDS... well, that's a little more up in the air at this point. They'd better watch out, never mind if Jessi cries, because even if she begs and pleads, Hadrian might just cause them to die. (... whoops, just made a dark version of that song 'Santa Claus is Comin' to Town' xD)**

 **SiSiren: (laughs) / Okey :3**

 **Destroyered: (takes your 20 dollars) / (laughs) Hadrian's going to be quite mauled after this is all over.**

 **Guest: (shrugs) / Oh, I watched it the day it came out! It's really nice. Very nostalgia-inducing x3 / (watches as Hadrian runs away)**

 **ShiningHopeBeast: It's not AS sudden as some people seem to be thinking it's gonna be– I'm not just suddenly going to start spelling Jesse's name 'Jessi' since most of the watchers don't know that's how her name is actually spelled. / Jessi has surprisingly good intuition. / I hope so! xD**

 **CamronXTheXGamer: Sure, knock yourself out xD**

 **NovaAurora10: Either it's her intuition, or... something else. / Very generous of you xD**

 **Mikaza1498: Ahhh, that sucks. / Not that unique, I think it's an existing name, but I like it xD / (laughs) I think if we were at the games he would've died, like... fifteen times already. / Quite soon, actually!**

 **J.M.M.: Two kids, one adult so far... (squints) let's see, there's seven or eight total that Hadrian could go for...**

 **EnderKitty68: 0-0 uhh, save some of that money for later xD**

 **Guest: Currently I have, courtesy of most of it being from NovaAurora10, 1000000000000000000000000213 dollars from opening this 'Injure Hadrian' thing, and a few other ambiguous amounts of money. xD xD**

 **EllieRose27: I'm glad you like it! / Nah, that's cool! / Sure thing :3**

 **Darkbeast Dend: Sure, here you go. / xD Y'all are violent**

 **Rabbits rule: (hands you tickets) That's fine, and don't worry about it– you don't have to review. It's not an obligation. xD / (chuckles) / Uhhh, I think most of the money I already have covers it, so... sure. xD**

 **Shadow: Jessi doesn't need to do so much of the watching out. Her friends, now... that's a different story.**

 **Raven: (hands you about 70 dollars worth of tickets) I'd give you more, but I think I should leave some for the other people. xD**

 **Guest: Nice. :3**

 **Guest: (squints) What exactly is stolen? You need to be clear when typing reviews, it's a bit troublesome to go back to the chapter you review on and reread the whole thing to figure out what you're talking about– especially because sometimes I still can't figure it out once I've reread it.**

 **Crystal: Don't throw your phone!**

 **Guest: Sure :3**

 **Princess of Muffins: (laughs) Uh, sure. / Yeah, he doesn't particularly... like it. Too bad for him. xD / (laughs)**

 **Guest: Ahh, yes. That one was great. xD**

 **Guest: (snorts)**

 **THEOVERPOWEREDBLADE: Aw, I'm sorry to hear that. / (giggles) Very true.**

 **Oh, also, I mentioned this on The Fairytale Curse, but... last week, I told my crush I liked him, and he and I are dating now, and a week after the fact, I'm still so happy about it.**

 **I love you, Toni. :3**

 **x.X. A.L. X.x**


	165. Twenty Questions

Mevia blinked her eyes open, grimacing at the sour taste in her mouth and the way her entire body felt sore as she squinted against the late afternoon sun shining through the windows. She might've slept tensed up...

Wait, hadn't it been morning earlier?

Wait, hadn't she been heading to lunch?

She bolted straight upright- and instantly regretted it as bile formed in her throat, head swimming as if someone had cut open her head, yanked her brain out, and tossed it into a pool.

Great, she'd needed that mental image in her head...

"Oh, good, you're awake."

Mevia blinked a nasty shade of green out of her eyes- not green like Jesse's eyes or Otto's robes, just this really sickly, yucky green- to see Ivor looking over his shoulder, hands working over a potion without him even having to look at it. "I thought I might have to make another dose of the antidote, but now that you're up your system should just expel it out of your body on its own." He paused, lips pursing momentarily. "Well, assuming that your body system is working properly."

Mevia blinked again, before glancing around. She appeared to be in the infirmary, although she wasn't alone. On another bed was Olivia, sitting up and wincing with bandages wrapping around her elbow, her knee, her ankle, and possibly her ribcage, from how gingerly she seemed to be holding herself. Axel sat next to her, fussing over her like he was her mother or something. On a chair nearby was Lukas, holding a bag of ice to a swollen ankle with a healing potion on the table next to him and Petra double and triple-checking his ankle, to his seeming amusement. Jace sat next to Petra, squinting at Lukas with this half-joking jealousy.

"... what happened to you two?"

Lukas glanced up at Mevia and gave a tiny, albeit reluctant smile. "We could ask the same of you." The smile faded a moment later. "Someone pushed Olivia down the stairs, and I tripped on a tripwire and twisted my ankle." He paused. "Which actually might've saved my life because a hammer missed my head by an _inch_."

" _What_ -!?"

"And you were apparently poisoned, according to Ivor."

Mevia stopped mid-question, dark eyes wide as she stared at the blonde boy and the redhead and the brunette staring back at her. When a long enough moment had passed that she realized he wasn't kidding, that they were all dead serious, she blinked rapidly. " _What?_ " she repeated, voice drenched in disbelief.

"You were poisoned," Ivor repeated what Lukas had said, "by a Potion of Poison that is one of the most lethal ones I'd ever seen. I had to administer three increasingly large doses of the antidote because the Potion of Poison just would not exit your system properly."

"But I didn't intentionally _take_ a Potion of Poison," Mevia replied indignantly- she was, after all, not stupid and knew what a Potion of Poison looked like- "and I was feeling perfectly fine until-"

Mevia stopped abruptly.

Her water cup had gotten knocked over this morning.

Hadrian had done it with his elbow by accident.

Not a hard thing to do by accident, but very easy to fake an accident while doing it on purpose.

He'd offered to refill it. He could've put _anything_ in there during that time.

Mevia hadn't paid the water close attention. Tasted fine enough, although there was a weird taste that made her assume it came straight from a tap or something.

But Potions of Poison could be adjusted to suit whatever liquid it was slipped into.

She hadn't started feeling so horrible until a short time after breakfast.

" _Merde!_ " Mevia snapped loudly, making several of the occupants of the room jump several inches- Axel almost knocked his chair over backwards- feeling like she wanted to _slap_ herself. She could've just taken a stick and whacked the thing across her face, she could've just _killed_ herself. She pretty much nearly HAD by just letting Hadrian go _refill her water cup_.

"Don't say that in front of Jesse, she's going to ask what it means," Ivor said absentmindedly, before turning to look at her with narrowed eyes. "Did you figure out how you got poisoned?"

Mevia automatically was about to open her mouth and tell them _exactly_ who poisoned her, _exactly_ how that had happened-

 _Tell anyone about this, and you had better remember this, I will kill her, and then I will kill you._

 _I will kill her._

Mevia sat there for a moment, eyes wide as she stared at the expectant eyes of everyone in the infirmary. She could tell them now. She could tell them everything.

But then Jesse was going to die.

As if that was some sort of dramatic cue, the doors to the infirmary were thrown open with a shocking bang, and Jesse burst through the doors into the room, green eyes glimmering with tears. "Are you guys okay?!" she burst out, looking as if she might just break down in tears any second.

Harper trailed through a little behind her.

"Yeah, just a twisted ankle," Lukas said easily, putting his hands up in a comforting way and giving Jesse a calming smile.

Olivia shifted a bit and winced. "I mean, I could do without the pain in my ribcage, but yeah, it could've been a lot worse." She gave Jesse a smile of her own.

Despite what they were saying, Jesse still looked like she was going to start crying.

"It's really fine, I don't- ohhh everything's turning green again," Mevia muttered, her face probably turning the same shade that everything had just taken the ugly hue of. She'd tried to shift up into a different position, but her stomach had complained vocally.

Jesse's eyes screwed up a little, tears forming in the corner of her eyes and threatening to pour down her cheeks like a leaky faucet. "It's all my fault," she whispered.

"Oh- Jesse, no," Petra groaned, quickly shifting off the chair she'd been resting on and moving over to Jesse, squeezing the smaller girl's shoulder. "It's not your fault, it could've happened to anyone, it's not because we came looking for you... I mean, look, Axel, Jace, and I are fine."

"My fault," Jesse repeated, reaching up and covering her eyes as if she wanted to hide her face. "It's my fault."

"Dude, it's not your fault," Axel said comfortingly, getting up himself and wrapping both Petra and Jesse in a tight group hug. "It's not like you caused those things to happen."

"No. Someone else did," Olivia said, her voice growing stricter and tighter. "I mean, someone else had to set up that thing where the hammer almost hit Lukas, and it's not like you pushed me down the stairs."

"And it's not like _you_ poisoned me," Mevia said, staring at Jesse directly and trying to fight down the rising queasiness in her system, trying to communicate what she was thinking to the girl through her eyes.

Jesse lifted teary eyes from her covered face and stared straight at Mevia, giving a tiny, stiff nod in response to the steady gaze that the older woman was sending her.

 _I know._

"Did Mevia figure out who poisoned her?" Harper asked, glancing at Ivor as Mevia tried to decipher that practically telepathic statement. Did that mean Jesse knew that Hadrian had threatened to _kill_ her, or did that mean Jesse knew that Hadrian had poisoned Mevia? Or did it mean both?

"Yes, but she hasn't said who yet, and we've all just been trying to think of someone who would be willing to try to murder her, or hurt Olivia, or hurt Lukas," Ivor sighed, corking the potion bottle he'd been working on.

"I mean... I can't really see anybody in the whole group trying to hurt people like that. I mean, some of those incidents could've been _lethal_ if they'd gone wrong," Jace mumbled, frowning slightly.

Harper's gaze went a little harder as she considered this for a moment. Sometimes when Harper was thinking, Mevia couldn't tell if the other woman was angry or not. Her gaze would go hard and her brow would furrow and she'd just stare at you for a moment.

"Let's play Twenty Questions."

"Wh-?" Mevia blinked at the comment, which had come completely out of left field.

"Mevia, if you're not just outright telling us, then it has to be something that you're not comfortable with saying outright, so I'm going to guess." Harper dragged one of the chairs over and dropped into it, crossing her arms and letting a small smirk cross her face. "And I'm not taking no for an answer."

Mevia opened her mouth to protest- and then she stopped.

She wouldn't be _telling_ anybody that Hadrian had threatened to kill Jesse.

Had threatened to kill _her_ if she so much as breathed a _word_ to Jesse, or anybody else.

They'd be guessing.

"I- I think that's a good idea," Jesse contributed, meekly.

"... go ahead, then." Mevia shifted slightly, trying to figure out a position where she could inhale and not turn a shade of green that only cabbages should take.

"Okay, first question... does everyone here _know_ the person?"

"Yes." That was a quick answer.

Ivor frowned when Harper looked at him expectantly, before he slowly added, "Is this person responsible for Lukas and Olivia's 'incidents' as well?"

Mevia automatically glanced at Jesse, whose worried smile had melted into pure anxiety at that question.

 _Her friends_.

 _Weak point._

 _Focus on their weaknesses._

 _Hurt them._

"I think so," Mevia said at last, looking back from Jesse to the others.

Petra let out a nearly feral snarl. "Oh great. If we actually figure out who this person is I'm going to fu-"

" _Petra_ ," Ivor growled, eyes narrowing as they darted to Jesse and back.

"-zzing kill them," Petra finished, eyes momentarily widening as she changed the curse at the speed of light.

"Guys, I already know swear words..."

"You're too young for swear words."

"Ivor, I'm seventeen!"

"Still not a legal adult."

Harper made this odd sound in the back of her throat, repressing a huge grin at this as she glanced at Petra. "Er, Petra, do you want to ask a question?" she hastily interposed, before Jesse and Ivor could start arguing about Jesse's ability to use cuss words.

"What? Oh, sure." The redhead relaxed slightly, looking back at Mevia. "Third question, hm... is this person male or female?"

"Male."

This time Jace was the one to ask the question, although he was pondering the possibilities out loud. "Okay, so they're male, we know them... are they one of the watchers? One of the people in the audience? 'Cause even if we do all know them, it could be someone we saw onscreen or- uh- yeah."

"Yes." Mevia was wondering why her answers had started becoming monosyllabic. Maybe because she was worried that Hadrian was going to walk through the doors any second now.

Olivia made a thoughtful humming sound, crossing her arms- and immediately wincing, letting them go back to her side. She'd apparently forgotten about the bandage on her elbow and her broken ribs. (Or cracked. Mevia wasn't sure what was up with her ribs.) "Fifth question... it's not Soren, right? I don't care about him lying about the Ender Dragon, but I can't see him attempting to try to kill people."

"Of course it's not Soren, the man cries when he kills an ant," Ivor muttered.

Mevia almost snorted at that. That was true. Once Soren had stepped on an Endermite and killed it by accident. He'd panicked and tried to 'fix' it, before having to run away from the horde of vengeful mites that chased him for about a mile.

"No, it's not Soren."

Olivia looked at Axel, who had gotten the gist of the game by now and started pondering the possibilities. "So it's not Soren, I don't think it's Gabriel, can't be Magnus, obviously... what about that Slap guy?"

"Slab," Jesse corrected mildly.

"Yeah, that. He the guy that did it?"

Mevia paused here. Now, this was tough, because for all she knew Hadrian had ordered the gladiators to shove Olivia down the stairs or to set up that trap for Lukas. But he wasn't the one responsible for her poisoning, and she didn't know that for sure, so she decided on a simple, "No, he's not responsible for it."

Lukas picked up the question-asking next. "Seventh question... well, I can't see Milo or Reginald doing it... I could _maybe_ see Cassie doing it but Mevia just said it's a guy..." He pinched his bottom lip thoughtfully, before speaking slowly, "what about that other gladiator guy- uh, Facemeat."

"No, he's not the guy who did it either."

Everyone looked at Jesse, waiting for her to ask a question. She noticed the looks and made a little motion with her hand. "Uhm, you don't- you can skip me," she said quickly, looking at Mevia again. Her eyes had a faint glint of fear shining through.

Mevia didn't really have time to try to think about that when Harper took the dropped question and began to try to keep working through the question, her brow furrowing slightly. "It's not Otto, is it? He's too focused on rules and- he's an honorable person, he wouldn't sneak up behind someone and shove them down the stairs, he wouldn't poison you, he wouldn't-" Harper stopped herself, frowning slightly as a dark flush creeps over her cheeks. Ivor's brow was faintly creased at that little outflow of information.

Mevia blinked at Harper, the almost desperate tone her voice had just taken.

PAMA had taken away everything Harper could trust.

Ripped it away from her.

She didn't want to think that one of the few people she thought she could trust wasn't there at all.

"No, it wasn't Otto. He's too against doing stuff like that to even try it. I mean," Mevia rolled her eyes, a grin forming on her lips, "you're talking about the guy who lost a game where everyone else was cheating because he refused to break the rules even though everybody else was doing it left and right."

A look of mixed relief, amusement, and scolding formed on Harper's face. "Don't tell him you eliminated him from the list just because of that one game of Mafia that we played that one time."

"Wouldn't imagine it." Mevia glanced at Ivor next, shifting again and feeling her stomach start whining that she needed to throw up, but she sucked it up. "Your turn."

Ivor blinked, before clearing his throat awkwardly. "Ah... okay, we're on the... the ninth question?"

When everyone nodded, he continued, "Okay... is it one of the YouTubers? Sparklez, Stampy, Dan...?"

"Can you seriously imagine Stampy hurting someone?" Petra asked, frowning.

"I mean, he _did_ keep that flint and steel thing a secret," Axel offered.

Jace's lips pursed up as he considered that. "Well, but it's not like he was actually actively _trying_ to hurt people."

"No, it's not any of them," Mevia interrupted before the debate could go on for too much longer, scratching her cheek awkwardly.

"Tenth question... well, it's definitely not one of us- oh, is it Aiden?" Petra asked, snapping her fingers slightly as the idea occurred to her.

Lukas looked very uncomfortable when that came up. Mevia was starting to wonder if Aiden and Lukas had actually talked to each other about the whole matter yet. Jesse didn't seem too upset with him at the moment, though.

"... no," Mevia said at last, unsure whether she was supposed to feel relieved or annoyed that they'd gotten extremely close to Hadrian and were now moving away from him.

Everyone glanced at Jace, who seemed to be considering something. His face was blank as he thought for a minute, eyes staring blankly- and then his brow furrowed, lowering deep over his eyes as he mused over the idea for a moment... before he lifted his head to look between Mevia and Jesse.

"It's Hadrian, isn't it?"

Mevia blinked at the sudden declaration, while Jesse's head snapped around to look at the male, eyes widening. The idea seemed to have snapped from one spectrum to the other entirely, completely out of nowhere.

But he wasn't wrong.

"Yes."

Several sets of eyes snapped to Mevia in that instant, widening. Mevia was still frowning at Jace, though, and she crossed her arms, ignoring the way everyone was now gaping at her in shock. "How did you figure that out?"

Jace simply shrugged a little. "Well, the original question was asking who poisoned you. And Hadrian knocked over your water and went to refill it earlier. You seemed okay up 'til then, so either it was a really slow working potion of poison, or he had something to do with it."

"... very astute, Jace."

"Thanks, I try." Jace briefly grinned, before he glanced up at Jesse, a warm, calming grin on his face. "See, it's not your fault, Jesse." Even though his voice was calm and gentle, if you looked closely you could see his cheek twitching.

Mevia got the feeling that Jace was tempted to go whack Hadrian with something.

Jesse didn't look comforted at all, tears forming in her eyes again. She looked like she wanted to protest, but didn't, lips pressing together as silvery clear liquid shimmered in her eyes.

Mevia's eyes narrowed for a moment- and then she understood.

"It really isn't your fault, Jesse," she said, as reassuringly as she could with her stomach vocally asking to please vomit up everything she'd eaten in the past ten days. "Hadrian's... very good at finding someone's weak points and using those to get what he wants."

Now the short girl's head jerked up, and she stared at Mevia, with wide, tear-filled eyes. A moment of understanding passed between the two of them.

"Oh, am I now?"

Jesse's face drained of color, and she whipped around, everyone automatically looking up at the voice, Mevia's stomach threatening to regurgitate everything and anything that was currently in her body.

Hadrian stood in the doorway, smiling pleasantly at all of them.

But it never reached his eyes.

Those were filled with a frozen danger.

* * *

 **A/N: Back from a long hiatus; sure, a cliffhanger's the best place to leave off.**

 **If you read 'Just a Game', you guys will know that the main reason I haven't written anything for about a month is because I've been working on something special and awesome, so you guys should expect that to come out soon! (We're doing a couple of test runs to see how it turned out.)**

 **Anyway, long time no see! I'm gonna try to get back into an update schedule so... yee. Composite's probably next.**

 **Responses to reviews!**

 **THEOVERPOWEREDBLADE: Haha, I love that moment too!**

 **KaosRuin: Lol did I? / Well, they do now. Keep in mind, Hadrian is very subtle with displeasure and other stuff; plus no one really knows what he's like outside of the Old Builders. Plus, Otto probably doesn't want to believe the worst about his friends, and Harper would be a little rattled at the idea.**

 **Destroyer: You. I like you.**

 **Kairi4ever15: I think everyone agrees with you, he deserves such hell (and will probably receive it because we have a pissed off Petra in the room with him now).**

 **LunarTheMooncake: Uhh**

 **ItzJaiden: That... would be interesting xD**

 **Toni42: He's exposed to a small group of people... in a room... away from the others... all of them being people Jesse cares about... ... this actually might not end well... / Safe to say it's PROBABLY Hadrian... / Awww, I love you too bear x3**

 **Guest: He really does deserve it xD / They don't suspect him because in public he just acts very amiable and calm. He's very rarely acting like he does with Mevia and Jesse.**

 **SiSiren: Considering everyone wants to do worse to him, I'd say it depends on your perspective xD / Here is the next chapter and oh boy this will either be great or horrible.**

 **homeworkoverload: Ahh, I see. / ... Hadrian's died at least fifty times by now. At LEAST. / I'm rich from all the people who wanna kill Hadrian xD**

 **ShiningHopeBeast: Glad you think so, and no, it's not gonna be like his books xD / True that xD / Yeah, I'm really happy. x3**

 **EllieRose27: Totally understandable, I'd probably do the same.**

 **Emily the Avenger: He's always been a b*tch, always will be. Maybe. xD**

 **Mikaza1498: ... I feel like everyone else shipped me and Toni together before I honestly even realized I LIKED him... / Hehehe x3 / Haha, really, all of us are just waiting for karma to hit Hadrian. And believe you me, it will hit him _hard_. x3 / Yes, yes he will. x3 / I did not update soon, but have an update x3**

 **Darkbeast Dend: (smirks) He deserves it. / Fish are nice xD / UPDATE! / Aww, that sucks.**

 **CamronXTheXGamer: (thumbs up) (leaves the room) (locks the door)**

 **J.M.M.: Nope, it's within a larger series of 'games'. / (shrugs) / Yep / Sort of.**

 **ZenSpider: xD / Yeet x3**

 **skaardvark: SURPRISE, I didn't abandon it! Just took an impromptu hiatus xD**

 **KittenKrap24: Haha, glad you like it.**

 **CatCrap39: Yep! / I think so xD**

 **Large Baguette: (snorts) Same.**

 **That's about all for now... so see ya, so long, and g'bye!**

 **x.X. A.L. X.x**


	166. Breaking

Jesse didn't move a muscle, staring at Hadrian with wide eyes. She looked like a (very timid) wild ocelot, measuring against an opponent before deciding to either A) run the heck away or B) fight this guy.

Petra saved her from having to make that decision.

With a furious _scream_ of anger, Petra unsheathed her sword. The sword glinted in the light, she was already leaping forward to strike at him-

Hadrian blocked.

Somehow, in a display of the quickest reflexes anyone (maybe minus Mevia and Harper) in that room had ever seen before, Hadrian had managed to draw his sword, block Petra's sweeping blade, and shut the infirmary door behind him, the latch making a soft click as the door's latch engaged.

Blocking off the exit.

They were trapped.

No way out.

For a moment, there was an impasse as Petra refused to slide the blade away, glaring at Hadrian. He glared right back, his own blade pressing up against Petra's with enough force that the two swords were trembling.

And then that moment passed.

Petra angled the blade slightly and let Hadrian's sword skid off, before doubling back forward and swinging her sword in a rough overhand blow at Hadrian's head.

Ivor grabbed Jesse by the shoulders and yanked her back to a safe distance as Hadrian managed to dodge the blow, Petra's sword cutting into the wall and sticking, refusing to budge from where it was now very much stuck.

Petra gave it an experimental yank, trying to tug it out of the wall, before ducking as Hadrian lunged forward and stabbed the sword through where Petra's head had been, the blade clipping off about half a centimeter of hair.

"You're a lot faster than I thought you'd be," Petra muttered from where she'd ducked under the stab, before grabbing the purple-clothed man's sword with her gloved hand (everyone in the room instantly understood the reason that her gloves were made of leather and why she wore them ALL THE TIME) and shoving it aside, making Hadrian stumble off-balance in surprise.

The redhead took the opportunity to seize the hilt of her own sword, squeezing it tightly and giving it another heave. This time, the sword jerked out of the wall, momentarily knocking Petra off balance, but she used the momentum to whirl herself around to face Hadrian, raise her blade-

And promptly block a side cut that Hadrian had lashed out with, metal clanging on metal and making a jarring ringing sound.

"I've had some practice," the older man muttered back, dark eyes darkening even further- even more dangerously- than before, before he lunged back as Petra flicked her sword at his head, barely avoiding getting an ear sliced off in a single move.

Everyone was totally frozen in place as they watched the two fighting- Petra with her rougher, quick yet more forceful style, Hadrian with his precise, sharp movements that were almost quicker than Petra's.

Ivor's fingers were digging into Jesse's shoulders, Harper's fingers were twitching as if she wanted to intervene but was holding back, Mevia had tried to jump out and help Petra but ended up kneeling on the floor and trying not to vomit up every single last thing in her stomach, Lukas was frozen where he was still trying to ice his ankle, Olivia's eyes were flickering from Petra to Hadrian and back, Axel was half out of his chair, and Jace was doing a very good imitation of Lukas.

Part of the problem was that the people who wanted to fight were indisposed. Ivor was trying to keep Jesse out of harm's way, Mevia was still dealing with the effects of the poison, Lukas's ankle was twisted, and Olivia's ribs were wrapped. Even the people who COULD fight either didn't have the right equipment (Axel), didn't actually know if they should intervene (Harper), or was just completely frozen (Jace).

Jesse looked like she wanted to get past them, open the door, get _out of there_ , but Hadrian was standing right in front of the door and every couple of seconds there was a violent flurry of metal against metal and trying to get past those would be like trying to dodge blender blades.

The fighting slowly grew sloppier and more violent. Hadrian nearly stabbed his blade through Petra's eye with Petra barely lunging out of the way in the nick of time to only receive a scratch to the cheek, Hadrian's sleeve got torn when he ducked under Petra's sweeping blade, opening a tiny cut on his shoulder, the older man narrowly missed getting his head lopped straight off by the younger redhead.

Mevia could see Hadrian's face and he was tiring. Not as quickly as Petra might've been, because her motions were less controlled and more wild, but enough that a single mistake could really cost him.

"Look out!" Jace suddenly screamed.

Hadrian's blade had just been diverted to the floor, but now it was sweeping up at Petra's ribs in a dangerous upwards-swinging cut-

Petra managed to flick her blade into a clumsy block thanks to Jace's warning, but she was already off-balance from a previous attack and the alarmed scream and she was jarred backwards, stepping backwards to try to compensate for her lost balance-

Hadrian lashed out again. Petra staggered back, throwing up her sword purely defensively, and his clashed against hers in a way that made Petra's teeth clack together- she stepped back again-

Another sweeping blow, and Petra's sword went flying out of her hand and embedded itself in the wall next to Olivia's head, the other girl flinching with a yelp and then wincing as her ribs screamed in pain. The redhead's back slammed into the wall as she was knocked back from Hadrian's attack, letting out a grunt as all the breath was knocked clean away.

"Petra!" Lukas leapt to his feet to help Petra, but only managed to make it a step forward before his twisted ankle gave out beneath him and dumped him onto the ground, knee cracking as it struck the wood. He gritted his teeth with a repressed sound, hand reflexively squeezing at his ankle.

"Lukas!" Jesse managed to wrench her shoulder out of Ivor's grip, the black-haired man letting out a shout at his adopted daughter as she tried to move to help Lukas-

A hand closed on her arm and jerked her back, slamming her into Hadrian's chest and then jerking her off of her feet, a hand pressing against her throat to keep her suspended in the air before she felt something cold press against her neck.

"Don't come any closer."

Jesse would've protested at having Hadrian's voice being inches from her ear, but she was now trying to focus on not choking to death. The way Hadrian was keeping her in front of him, sword touching her throat and hand keeping her trapped in place _right on her throat_ , her feet were hanging inches off of the floor and she couldn't breathe, not without the air swirling and pressing desperately against the barrier Hadrian had just put in place.

Jesse made a little gasping sound, trying to pull Hadrian's arm off of her throat, but he was pressing so hard that she would've had better luck getting a building off of her. Thankfully, she could still breathe a _little_ bit, or the odds were that she'd end up choking to death, but still- her lungs were protesting vocally at the air she was receiving, or more accurately the LACK of air she was receiving.

Mevia, now that she had her stomach under control, glanced up at Hadrian, trying to blink the green film that had started tainting everything out of her eyes.

Ivor was frozen mid-movement to grab Jesse away from Hadrian, hand twitching as if he was debating between yanking Jesse away from Hadrian _right now_ or just leaving it be until Jesse choked to death. Lukas had leapt to his feet again and ended up crumpled at Petra's feet, the redhead gaping in dismay at where Jesse was being pretty much strangled to death. Even with the little air that was she was currently able to breathe, if nobody did anything soon, if Hadrian didn't slit her throat, she'd die from asphyxiation.

Ivor finally gritted his teeth, taking a reluctant step back. His eyes were locked on Jesse, who was weakly trying to pull Hadrian off of her and clawing at his arm frailly. Harper was frozen behind Ivor, eyes flickering from Hadrian to Jesse to Ivor and back to Hadrian again.

"... you little _bi_ -" And now everyone was learning exactly how many swear words Ivor knew, because he was swearing in about twenty different languages at the moment, with an occasional English cuss word thrown in for good measure. Most of them sounded French or Spanish though. (Although Petra swore he spoke in Cantonese at some point.) He actually sounded remarkably like Cassie Rose at that moment.

Hadrian's eyebrow went up. He hadn't realized Ivor knew that many swears.

"What the _hell_ are you doing this for- _why the hell_ are you doing this?!" the potionologist barked, dark blue eyes blazing with fury. "It's not like she _did_ anything to you-"

"The Games."

Everyone glanced at Mevia, who'd finally regained control of her body and stood back up, one hand hovering a few inches away from her mouth. She seemed to be preparing herself to vomit. "He's- he thinks Jesse's a threat to the Games."

"The _what_?" Olivia exclaimed, but Harper's mouth had dropped into a little 'o' of understanding, and Hadrian's eyes had darkened even further.

"The Games are-" Abruptly, another wave of nausea hit Mevia, and she automatically clapped her hand to her stomach with a little gag, trying to force the bile rising back down her throat so she didn't just vomit.

Jesse managed to gurgle something through the chokehold she was being held in. Hadrian glanced down at Jesse, eyebrow going up. He seemed to be wondering whether or not it was worth letting her down to figure out what she was saying, or just keep her in the chokehold.

He finally loosened his grip slightly, allowing Jesse's feet to barely touch the ground. "What?" he asked.

"Are the games... whatever they are... really that important? For you to kill me over it?" Jesse managed, in between desperate little gasps for air. Her hands were still tugging at his arms in an attempt to pull him off, but it seemed more hesitant now.

He scowled at the girl, hand tightening again. "You wouldn't understand."

"Of course I wouldn't, you haven't explained anything." If this had been anyone else, the comment would probably have sounded flippant or annoyed, but Jesse just sounded bemused. And a little strangled, since Hadrian was starting to choke her again.

Hadrian's eyes glinted with a darkness that Mevia had only seen once or twice before, and his teeth gritted slightly. "Alright, you little _brat_ -" Hadrian backed up two steps, jerking Jesse along with him, so that he was almost pressing his back into the door and Jesse was yanked off of her feet yet again. Ivor's hands twitched, but he could only stand and watch helplessly. "You want me to _explain_ , then by all means, I'll _explain_.

"Do you know what it's like to watch people do the same things over, and over, _and over_ without ever changing? Without ever having a different response to _anything_? Watch people make the same mistakes hundreds of times and never _change_? It gets _boring_. It gets so _boring_ to watch people make the same actions, do the same things, end up with the _same damn result every time._ It was fun at first, but after the _three hundredth time_ of watching people do the same stupid _sh*t_ over and over again, well... _I'm sorry_. It collectively kills everybody's brain cells."

Hadrian's expression was darkening even further, an icy chill taking ahold of his eyes. "Everything became so _boring_. Same books. Same people. Same conversations. Same _everything_. Over and _over_ and **_over_** again, basically wash, rinse, repeat for about two _f*cking_ _hundred years._ "

His words were coming out bitter, cold, venomous. He was practically spitting each word out, grip tightening on Jesse to the point where everyone in the room was starting to worry that Jesse was just going to get strangled to death, never mind getting asphyxiated or stabbed.

"The Games is _literally_ one of the only things keeping me from getting so bored that I _snap_ -" His grip tightened so much that it forced a gasp out of Jesse as he crushed the air out of her lungs. "And I'll be _damned_ if a kid, if a _little girl_ is going to take away one of the only things that's keeping me _sane_."

Jesse choked something out, something totally unidentifiable because the Old Build- _Ancient Architect_ was crushing her vocal cords and her throat and there was no way she could eke it out past that.

Hadrian rolled his eyes with a sigh and let his grip slacken dramatically, Jesse heaving in a lungful of air so fast that it was a wonder that such a small body (and therefore, a small pair of lungs) could actually suck in that much air. " _What?_ " he snapped.

"Well, if you're really that-" Jesse coughed a little, rubbing their throat slightly to try to alleviate the strangled feeling that you get when someone blocks off your air flow. "That bored, why don't you just do something else?"

He sneered at her sarcastically. "Oh wow, why didn't _I_ think of that? You're a _f*cking_ genius. You don't think I've _tried_ to do other _sh*t_ , _bucko?_ " He spit out the pet name so vehemently that Jesse flinched. "Because believe me, I _have_. It just ends up all blurring together and becomes just as _boring_ as _every other f*cking_ thing in the universe."

Jesse blinked at him, still being held in a chokehold (though thankfully, it was _much_ looser than it had been before, so there wasn't too much threat to her dying via strangulation or asphyxiation).

"Why do you think I'd be a threat to the Games?"

Hadrian blinked as well, the topic having done a total 180. "What?"

"Why do you think I'd be a threat to the Games? If anything, all I've done is stop things that seem to be bad, like the Witherstorm, Aiden going crazy, Cassie's, um, murder attempts, PAMA, so... are the Games bad? Is there something wrong with them?" Jesse asked, simply.

Harper was the one to reply to this, surprisingly enough. "It's... it's not right. The participants of the Games are forced to be there." She sent Mevia and Hadrian a surprisingly cold look. "Hadrian and Mevia started pitting people against each other just for sport."

Jesse made a soft humming sound of comprehension, thinking for a moment.

Then she started speaking, facing away from Hadrian but directing her words towards him carefully, with a softness to them that made it clear just how delicately she was treading. She was practically walking on eggshells right now.

"If you think I'm that much of a threat to the Games, even before I knew _anything_ about it, then that says something about how good you think it is." Jesse frowned slightly, voice still oddly quiet and a little choked from his grip on her. "And if something that's not very good is the only thing keeping you _sane_ , then maybe you're not actually sane anymore. You just think you are."

Hadrian's grip loosened a little more.

Jesse kept talking, still with that carefulness, crafting every word and weighing it before letting it slip out of her mouth. "I think you're trying too hard to be sane. And I think that you putting so much effort into it might actually be making you go crazy." Jesse turned their head to try to meet his eyes, hesitant because she was scared. She wasn't afraid to admit it; she was terrified that she'd look at him, meet his eyes, and see something there she didn't want to see.

But she tried anyway.

"But I don't think insanity is the problem."

Hadrian didn't say anything. He didn't try to meet their eyes. He was looking at Jesse, but his gaze was far away, and he didn't seem to be actually seeing the petite girl in front of him.

"I think the problem is that insane people are the people who break. They end up broken, and go totally crazy, and yet they still think that they're sane. They still think they're... normal."

Jesse's head tilted forward as they slowly considered their words. "So then the question here isn't if I'm going to mess up the only thing keeping you 'sane'. I think the real question is... what makes you think you're still not broken? What makes you think you're still sane?"

"And if you take that away, then what does that leave you with?"

The air itself was frozen perfectly still. Nobody wanted to say a single word for fear that something would go wrong.

Hadrian's face was totally blank.

His hands slowly dropped away, the sword dropping to his side before his fingers stopped strangling the hilt. The echo of metal on the floor clanging solidly filled the room.

Jesse stayed still, not daring to turn and look at Hadrian.

The door unlatched.

The latch reengaged a moment later.

After a few more moments of that crushing, suspense-filled silence, Jesse slowly turned to look behind her.

Hadrian was gone.

Slowly, Jesse turned back to face the rest of the people in the room.

"What just happened?"

* * *

 **A/N: Yes I know I've been AWOL for about a month; I'm really sorry about that aaaah**

 **I'll try to get back into a regular update schedule, but because of something that I'm working on, this might end up being a little difficult. So because, I've got a question for you all:**

 **Would you rather have updates whenever I can have them out, or a scheduled update every once a week? (And if you prefer the second option, what day of the week would you prefer?)**

 **Wow, only about a month left until school's out for me! That means things'll get busy, so. xD Yay xD**

 **Responses to reviews!**

 **Destroyer: xD Probably no need to kill Hadrian. Probably. I'm not entirely sure what just happened.**

 **Kairi4ever15: Pffft xD I've got my handcuffs right here!**

 **Pogi22609: He didn't... kill them, so that's something. xD**

 **KaosRuin: Things happened! Nobody died! Hadrian... did something (I'm not totally sure what happened honestly xD)**

 **Emily The Avenger: Yes ma'am**

 **SiSiren: Here you go! About a month late xD**

 **AquaK13: Same, fam. Same xD / Hehe, yes she did xD / Oh wow. I didn't start using curse words until high school xD / Well, nobody got... killed? I guess xD**

 **Princess of Muffins: Yes, it has been a while. Wonder when the next one will show up, hmm x3**

 **LunarTheMooncake: I do not know, Lunar x3 / Pfffft. Craziness is great in small amounts. xD**

 **ShiningHopeBeast: Bleeeh. xD / Yeah, I'm good at schedules. xD**

 **SoundMusician60: I get to keep my glorious crown as the queen of Cliffhangers xD / Ye :3**

 **ChocoDrake: By... doing something xD / No. No death. xD**

 **Mikaza1498: Pfffttt, I'm glad that it got everyone fired up. xD / No killing, thank you xD / Exciting is putting it rather mildly, I think xD**

 **FallenAngle928: Ah, I'm not sure that'll be necessary...**

 **Toni42: Heehee x3 / It was my type of cliffhanger xD**

 **Savannah-the-Caracal: Oh boy. That's a lotta rereading xD**

 **RavenBlaze4850: Fair enough, dude. xD / Smiting him with his traps is fair xD / Indeed xD / Yes, very much so. Elimination and roundabout methods are great. xD / PFFFFT XD / I did shock my beloved with this chapter xD**

 **Rabbits rule: You and everyone else, I think. xD**

 **Darkbeast Dend: (thumbs up)**

 **homeworkoverload: Lol xD / Ooh, I did something! xD**

 **Shadow: Uhhh, I don't think we've gotta... do that now...**

 **NoItsBecky: I do not have a chainsaw; I apologize xD**

 **ZenSpider: She has no idea that this is going on, so while it is, she wouldn't get here in time. But it's okay, 'cause Jesse... handled it. Sort of. xD / When did this happen?! xD / Yeah, Danganronpa is great x3**

 **Well, that's it for now! See ya, so long, and g'bye!**

 **x.X. A.L. X.x**


	167. A Very Awkward Interlude

There was a good amount of chaos for the next half an hour or so.

Jessi had heard Otto shouting when Mevia told him through the door, Isa had given her head a shake in disbelief, and Soren was who-knows-where. Ivor had insisted on checking Jessi over three times to make sure Hadrian hadn't dealt any damage, Harper had continued trying to patch up the three invalids, and Reuben was just sort of bouncing around trying to cheer people up.

Eventually the whole mess died down a little bit, and there was some mumbling about getting on and watching the next episode but Hadrian still hadn't turned up.

So that was why Jessi was now poking her head into random closets to see if he was in there for some reason.

"Hadrian? You in there?" Jessi poked her head inside the broom closet, wrinkling her nose slightly at the smell of mildew. Upon receiving no response and not spotting anybody or anything out of the ordinary except for what looked like a broken painting, she shut the door and moved onto the next one.

"Hadrian? You in here?" The next closet seemed to be more like a pantry, judging by the snacks poked onto the shelves. However, Hadrian wasn't in this closet/pantry/whatever it was either, so Jessi shut the door again and continued moving along the hallway. Really, there were a _lot_ of closets in this house, weren't there?

"Hadrian? You there?" Jessi was starting to feel a parrot as she poked her head through the door, eyes scanning the contents of the closet- actually, this closet was empty. What was supposed to even be in here? Certainly not Hadrian, seeing as he wasn't in here. With that, Jessi pulled back, shut the door firmly, and went on to poke around the closets some more.

"Are you in here, Hadrian?" Jessi asked, poking her head in and looking around this closet quickly. Upon seeing nothing but buckets, a few cauldrons, and Hadrian sitting on an apparently broken chair in the corner, she shut the door and moved onto the next closet.

...

Wait.

Jessi reopened the closet door and poked her head back in, confirming that yes, that was Hadrian sitting on the broken chair and blinking at her in surprise. "Oh. Whoops. I guess I got into the habit of not expecting you to be there."

Hadrian said nothing.

"Uh... we're getting ready to watch the eighth episode," Jessi said, poking her thumb into the closet and gesturing over her shoulder with it so Hadrian could see the gesture. "I mean, I think. We were really only talking about it."

Still nothing.

"We figured you should come see it too; I mean you _are_ here for a reason, I guess."

Still nothing. He was just staring at her.

"Um, you understand what I'm saying or did I slip into a different language or something? I do that sometimes." Jessi paused before hastily amending, "I mean I'm not _fluent_ in languages or anything but occasionally I'll start talking in a mix of Spanish or Chinese or French and English and apparently I get really incomprehensible then."

She paused a moment later, another thought occurring to her. "Or maybe I'm hallucinating and you're not actually there. Am I hallucinating, Reuben?" Jesse asked, looking down at the tiny pink pig that had wormed his way into the closet.

He gave a shake of his head and an oink.

"Okay, that's good." Jessi looked back up at Hadrian. "I'm not speaking in a different language then, am I?"

Hadrian's brow creased in what _looked_ like confusion, but he gave a slight shake of the head.

Jessi paused. Then she gave a little nod. "Right."

Still no response. At least he understood what she was saying.

Jessi shifted so that she wasn't practically horizontal in an effort to have her head through the door. "Um... then do you want to come? Or... well... I guess I could order you to come, but then you wouldn't listen and besides ordering people around is rude. Or, well, I find it rude. I'm sure other people don't find it rude. I'm rambling, aren't I? I'll shut up now."

At least Hadrian seemed to be smirking at Jessi's rambling mouth now and not just staring blankly at her like she'd grown an extra head.

... well it was hard to tell, really. The corner of his lip was barely even twitching up.

Jessi waited for him to get up, but he stayed seated.

"... you know, this door is kinda heavy and it's starting to hurt to be squished into the wall like this. Can we at least go somewhere else?"

Jessi's not lying. With the many bruises and cuts from _that_ on their back, and the fact that they're already way smaller than most people they're age, and the fact that this closet door actually takes a good amount of energy to get open in the first place, it actually _really_ hurts to be using their body as a doorstop.

Hadrian stared at her for a second longer, before getting up from the chair and pushing the door open enough so that she's at least not using her body as the world's largest functioning doorstop. Jessi rubbed her shoulder with a slight wince. "Thank you."

Still no response. Jessi was starting to wonder if something was wrong. She hadn't seen this man just _not_ respond when someone asked him a question.

Well, unless it was Otto, but then again usually Otto was just talking and Hadrian seemed to be nodding and listening whenever that happened, so it wasn't even like he was just being silent.

"... you know what, this is a really awkward quiet, I'm going to talk, you can punch me if I get annoying or something. I dunno." Jessi decided that awkward silences were too awkward for her so _you know what_ now it was time to be really peppy and chatty and annoying. She could be annoying if she really wanted to. She usually _didn't_ want to but she'd been told her perky attitude could get really grating on the nerves so it was _time to test that claim_.

* * *

Hadrian was trying not to stare at the tiny (no, seriously, Jessi was tiny as heck) girl prattling on about spiders walking next to him. Occasionally she'd hop a few steps and then resume talking as if nothing had happened, and she had a mild smile on her face- well, whenever she wasn't gesticulating wildly and straying away from Hadrian. Judging by how she'd drift right back to about a foot away from him after this wild gesturing, he could only assume that she kept straying to avoid smacking him by accident while she gestured.

She wasn't _stupid_. He knew that she wasn't. Oftentimes oblivious, yes, but not _stupid_.

So _why was she just chattering away as if nothing had happened earlier._

Yes, he'd been sitting in a closet; mostly to clear his mind and think- or, well, perhaps try _not_ to think about what she'd said earlier, with a sword hovering at her throat and her toes barely touching the ground. But it wasn't like he was having a mental breakdown or anything in particular.

And then she popped her head in and now they were walking along as if the whole 'trying to kill her in front of her family'- no, _friends_ , Ivor acted like her father but the bruises on her back testified that he wasn't biologically, and Jace and Jessi weren't related as far as he knew, and Lukas was dating Jessi- hadn't happened.

"- and I'm really not _that_ creeped out about spiders because they're _super_ cool, they're pretty happy to just sit there and won't go poking you if you don't go poke them, unless it's nighttime because then I guess they see you as a threat because what _logical_ person goes wandering into a spider nest at midnight and they probably think you have bad intentions, which sucks because some spiders are nice," Jessi was saying cheerfully, her train of thought meandering up and down and all over the place.

If he could actually _see_ this train of thought, Hadrian wouldn't have been surprised to see a loop-de-loop in it.

"You are a very weird kid," he spoke up suddenly, mouth working against his will and interrupting her train of thought about spiders. (How _had_ she gotten on this topic? He had no idea.)

Traitorous mouth.

Jessi stopped mid-sentence and gave him a quizzical smile. "Uh... yeah, I'm a pretty weird person, I guess. I can make puns if you'd like."

"Dear Notch, do not. Mevia's bad enough."

Jessi's smile turned positively impish. "Ooh, Mevia makes puns?" she asked, green eyes suddenly sparkling.

Dear _Notch_ this child was starting to send shivers up his spine from that mischievous tone in her voice. It was incredibly reminiscent of Harper whenever she'd set up a particularly good prank. And Harper's pranks were practically _legendary_. If that griefer (Magnus?) could outprank Harper, he would've been _incredibly_ impressed.

"She doesn't get a good response most of the time so she's stopped. Don't make her pick up the habit again," he muttered in response to Jessi's 'innocent' question.

"Make her start making lots of puns again? Got it!" Jessi said cheerfully, making Hadrian put his gloved hand to his forehead and give a grumble. Traitor mouth for giving her that idea.

Jessi's smile was practically devilish at this point, yet he could practically _see_ the halo hovering above this tiny girl's head. "That's gonna be your _pun_ -ishment, then, Hadrian."

She was sure to emphasize the pun as much as possible so that the Ancient Architect couldn't possibly miss it, unless he was denser than a piece of lead. Unfortunately for Hadrian, he was _not_ denser than a piece of lead, and he picked up that pun loud and clear. Heck, he would've picked up the pun even if she _hadn't_ emphasized it so much that it was screaming obvious.

The Ancient Architect was tempted to snap his glasses in half. He settled for letting out a somewhat halfhearted, very drawn-out groan that told of all the pain and suffering he was going to endure from this child and Mevia for the next who-knows-how-many weeks.

"Dear Notch, this is my punishment for trying to kill you, huh..."

Jessi was silent for a moment, but when she spoke again you could still hear the beaming smile in her voice. "No, that's your _pun_ ishment for trying to kill Mevia. Your _pun_ ishment for trying to kill _me_ is that I get to make fun of you as much I want _and_ make lots of puns whenever you're in the vicinity, _and_ you have to apologize to everybody that you messed with."

The man let out a heavy sigh, gloved hand pressing into the bridge of his nose heavily. He could feel a headache coming on. "... fair enough I suppose."

Actually, it really wasn't, considering nearly _killing_ someone being countered with a bunch of puns and almost childish insults, coupled with him apologizing to everyone, really wasn't an equal trade-off.

"And you have to call me Master for a month."

"Wh-!?"

Jessi giggled when his head snapped up, eyebrow shooting up as he tried to discern if she was actually serious. "Kidding. That would be _super_ awkward to deal with, although it'd be super funny the first few times. I'm just going to punch you really hard right now."

"... what?"

He'd barely finished the word when a blow hit him directly in the stomach, and even though it was a tiny girl half his size delivering his hit, he felt all of the air he could hold in his body being knocked clean away. A moment later, pain belatedly flashed in his gut, and he staggered backwards, slammed into a wall, and made an incoherent gasping sound like a dying fish as he tried to keep himself from sliding down the wall.

Jessi's smile was gone. Her expression was blanker than a sheet of paper, green eyes staring emptily at him. No, they weren't _empty_ \- just so unreadable that Hadrian might as well have been trying to read a book in Sanskrit.

"Don't try anything like that again, please."

(Holy Notch, even her _voice_ didn't hold anything in it. Even her vocal cords didn't betray any emotion. It was like reading a teleprompter without any context.)

He almost wished that she'd look furious. This totally emotionless version of Jessi was more unsettling than the one where she was super cheerful or super upset or super bouncy and weird or super mischievous.

Jessi kept regarding him, staring at Hadrian impassively, mouth slowly forming words and releasing them. "Because if you do that, I'll have to hurt you."

She was speaking so steadily all of a sudden. This was the point where she should be seething, glaring at him, hissing at him, acting furious, fury evident in her voice even if it wasn't in her voice, but it had changed from a peppy, perky voice that rambled on and on to steady words that were simple but slow and somehow scarier than if she'd just exploded on him.

Jessi was a fairly predictable person. Her behavior was almost Mary-Sue-ish at times, she acted like a little kid, she was cheerful and loved making puns and couldn't cook and was easily scared. Hadrian and Mevia could both read people like books at this point. Otto didn't really have any interest in doing that, but they were good at reading people, they knew how to, and the two of them combined- heck, the two of them _separated_ could dissect and predict everything everyone here could do at this point.

"I don't want to hurt you."

But not Jessi. Not right now.

"Not really."

Right now, her blank expression showed no emotion, her eyes didn't even betray anything, her body wasn't even tensed or relaxed- she was so blank that there seemed to be absolutely nothing inside the tiny frame of a person that was Jessi, nothing that made Jessi Jessi and not some other tiny person, nothing that betrayed anything about how she was really feeling except for slow, steady words that filtered through the pain numbing his center.

"But if you try to hurt my friends again..."

He couldn't read her at this moment.

"I will most certainly do it."

And that was more unsettling than anything else she could've done.

"If you hurt my friends again, I will be sure to return the favor."

* * *

Jesse popped into the room, beaming. "Found him!" she said, chirpily.

Lukas looked up from where Ivor was figuring out the best potion to heal his ankle without it setting weirdly, giving Jesse a small smile. "Oh- that was... kinda quick. Any trouble?"

"Nope!" Jesse beamed. "Are we going to head over and start the next episode soon, or what?"

Mevia glanced up from her bucket. Her face was still oddly green, but at least she was more pale and less green. "Uh... I think so. We're just making sure we're not about to throw up or drop dead randomly in the middle of the episode, and then we can go."

"Oh, cool." Jesse's expression changed as she looked at Mevia, worry becoming evident on her face. "You're... okay, right? For the most part?"

Mevia pressed her palm to her forehead, feeling bile churning in her chest. "Uh... well, I don't feel like I'm about to flop over dead or anything. I guess I'll be fine."

Jesse's relief was obvious in her smile. "Ohhhh, that's good." She glanced over her shoulder, and then glanced back at them. "Um, I talked to Hadrian a bit earlier. I've learned that he really _really_ doesn't like puns. Sooo I'm just going to _pun_ -ish him with some puns."

Lukas's smile immediately dropped off of his face, mock-horror coming over his face. "Jesse. Jesse no."

Mevia's nausea has suddenly lessened in favor of the evil grin spreading over her own features. "Oh, you're planning on doing so, huh? Well... _toucan_ play at that game."

Mevia swears she hears a light groan from outside the door that sounds suspiciously like Hadrian. Really, this is _fun_. She can't remember for the life of her why she'd stopped back then.

 _Let's dial it up._

"You know, I would make reservations at the nearest library to find more puns, but they're-"

" _No_ -" That's from Lukas. Mevia continues, her evil grin suddenly growing evil to the point where it looks scary.

"- _completely booked._ "

Jesse gives an innocent smile. "I could totally ask one of the 25 letters of the alphabet that I'm close friends with to hook us up, but I don't know _y_."

"I'm a masochist. I'm a complete masochist. Why am I dating this monster," Lukas groaned, pressing his palms into his eyes.

"Oh, I've got a good one, but it always makes me grouchy 'cause I never have candy to suppress the urge. What do you call a bear with no teeth?"

Mevia swore she could see sparkles bouncing around Jesse and that halo of hers in that moment. Really, you could _never_ see this girl doing _anything_ horrible. "Hmm, I don't know, Mevia. What _ever_ do you call it?"

"A _gummy bear._ "

This actually elicits a snort from Ivor. "Oh no, there's two of you now."

Jesse beams at him. "We're making a-" She points at a set of glasses on a table nearby. Now that Mevia looks closer, they seem to be Harper's reading glasses. " _-spectacle_ of ourselves, Dad."

"I'm starting to wonder why I was scared of you earlier..." Hadrian's voice comes through the door, rather muffled.

Jesse _beams_ at the door. "You know, if you were a knight, Hadrian, I would've thought you were named _Sir Render._ "

"... I take that back."

* * *

 **A/N: EY THE PUN MASTER IS BACK :D**

 **Also, no, Jessi didn't necessarily forgive Hadrian, but she's not a drama-baby so she don't wanna cause more drama xD**

 **Ugh. Hi. Long time no see. xD**

 **So (shamelessplugcough) actually please check out The Fairytale Curse. That's my favorite fic to work on and I feel like the quality of my writing is actually consistent in that story xD**

 **Okay, so two announcements.**

 **1) HCM's update schedule is once every week on Sundays, while Mondays are Tumblr updates (except for this week because people keep asking me to update), Wednesdays are fanfiction updates, and Fridays are YouTube postings. So please stop asking me to update; I'll be doing my best around my schedule to actually update.**

 **2) You guys remember Phantasmagoria, right? Yeah... I'm making it into a visual novel game! (Also renamed it to Fata Morgana haha) Please check out the development of it at the Tumblr and possibly YouTube or Twitter later on:**

 **astralautumngames . tumblr . com**

 **Just paste that and get rid of the spaces and the link should work!**

 **Responses to reviews!**

 **LunarTheMooncake: YEAH xD**

 **Destroyer: Fair enough! It was fun to write Jessi sort of flipping out on him this chapter xD**

 **Kairi4ever15: Pfffft, more of a halfling really, as this chapter seems to prove xD**

 **Rwbyroxx: Yes indeed, bow to me peasants (I'm just kidding don't actually bow xD) / Mondays do not work because of the Tumblr updates and asks xD**

 **EmLee: Pft, sure xD / Ah, I'm glad you like it. And it's nice to be back!**

 **ShiningHopeBeast: Haha, I know the feeling xD / Oh no I was giggling like a maniac while I typed up the chapter, haha xD / (shrugs) Probably he'll be ostracized. And will probably be hit or kicked at random intervals. / Next chapter, yes xD / (thumbs up) / I now have no school... well I have art camp next month. Never mind. xD / (thumbs up) / No idea if I already explained this; it changes with each person who sees her. If they KNOW her name is spelled with an 'i', it'll be spelled 'Jessi', otherwise it's 'Jesse'.**

 **KaosRuin: Yeah, that was pretty much what I figured most people's reactions to that chapter was gonna be xD**

 **andie: Lol, nah you're good.**

 **Savannah-the-Caracal: Pft, he might not actually realize. Though yes, I do agree he's cuckoo. / A broom closet apparently xD / Lol, actually Ivor probably got it from somewhere else.**

 **homeworkoverload: He's literally had many more years to go more insane, so that's understandable xD / (squints) You'd better, missy. (Jk jk xD) / No, I don't watch that show, but in all honesty I've been too busy to check out much more than what I already watch. / Lol, it's fine. / PFFFFFT xD**

 **MiekoHiroshima: (thumbs up)**

 **IMA BANANA: That's not their character personalities, so unless there was an AU like that I wouldn't be able to write something like that. Sorry!**

 **MCSMFanatic: The child is unhurt!**

 **Darkbeast Dend: Why would I let Hadrian kill Jesse xD**

 **Rabbits rule: Cool. / (chuckles)**

 **Milo the Rebel: That's probably true, honestly. xD**

 **TheLegend27: I'm glad you like it! Also, nice username. xD / I'll do my best :) / Here is the next update xD**

 **Guest: When you 'nuke' something, in terms of cooking, it just means to microwave it. Mevia's basically saying that they used the furnace to microwave the pie.**

 **Leedle Leedle: What bit are you talking about...? xD**

 **Guest: I'm glad you like it, but I hope you're not just reading it for the sake of the ships... xD**

 **Misa For Life: Honestly, I feel like Reginald would just consider Isa to be his boss or a really close friend, so he'd feel sort of awkward dating her if he WAS interested.**

 **I'm Milo: Pft xD**

 **RavenBlaze4850: Hehehe, it's fine, I haven't really been active on this story anyways xD / Pfffft, did it really? I wasn't too sure xD / I'm glad you liked it! I had to rewrite it twice lol / Stuff! xD / Slightly sympathetic. At least make him less of a schizophrenic psychopath. / Pfffft, it was either that or have her cry xD / Not necessarily. Who knows, Ivor probably knows a lot of swears on his own. / (thumbs up)**

 **ZenSpider: No, he just left the room. I don't think you can lock that door.**

 **Shadow: Pffft, I'm not THAT cruel. I'm the Cliffhanger Queen, not the Angst Queen. xD**

 **EnderKitty68: Pft xD / (stares blankly) Who said Jessi's not a part of their dimension?**

 **Guest: Right? Honestly, I kinda feel the same way, mainly since Mevia didn't have much active antagonism in Episode 8 and so her personality was a blank slate for the most part. Hadrian, on the other hand, was pretty much a jerk the whole time.**

 **LegendEmpress: I'm really glad you like it! It's definitely one of my longest stories, if not necessarily my favorite.**

 **Guest: Pffft, you will hear no arguments from me on that xD**

 **Guest: Here.**

 **Peach: Oh wow, that's impressive xD I'm really glad you like it!**

 **Guest: Please don't ask me for updates twice. Once is fine; I will update when I can update. Actually, the more people actively ask me to update, the less inclined I feel to do it at times. I did whip up a chapter because I felt like it'd been too long, but please don't ask me in the future when the next update will be- the most likely answers are either 'Next Sunday' or 'I don't know.'**

 **Well, that's it for now. See ya, so long, and g'bye!**

 **x.X. A.L. X.x**


	168. So

**Uh... hi guys.**

 **So I know technically A/Ns are forbidden as... as chapters, so at the end I'll stick in a little bit of story previews and things so I'm not technically breaking the rules.**

 **I know I've been off for a long time. Not just HCM, but Fanfiction as well. The reason for that was because I was in a summer program for art- basically I learned how to do animation, do more creative writing, and do movie special effects in the programs that I picked. So I wasn't very productive during the month where I was in the program, and I'm sorry for not being on Fanfiction.**

 **But I need to talk to you guys about Hybrid: Cinematic Mode.**

 **It's... it's definitely a story that I've loved writing. I love seeing all your feedback on it and I really enjoy being able to share my writing with people, but... this type of story isn't one I enjoy writing. I lose some creative liberties with this type of writing in describing and thought processes, and writing a reaction to a story I was already planning on rewriting just... kind of made this feel boring to me.**

 **I really love this community, and I'm really glad I got to share this, but a lot of my fanfiction career on here has been becoming focused on a story that I haven't enjoyed writing for a few months now. I've tried to get back into it, but I end up turning out stuff I'm not happy with and I really don't want to keep doing this. I like writing. I love it.**

 **But I don't love writing this fic anymore, and it's just not something I enjoy doing, and I feel bad for giving you guys chapters that I'm nowhere near happy with.**

 **I'm discontinuing Hybrid: Cinematic Mode.**

 **I'll keep it up on the site, but I'm not going to update it anymore. I won't respond to reviews on it. I won't do anything with it anymore except leave it to eventually fade away in the archive, because it's not a story I've been happy with for a while now, and I don't want to give you guys something I'm not happy with.**

 **I hope you guys'll stay with me for my other stories and not just this one. I really do love seeing your feedback, and I want to see your guys' reaction to something that I'm actually proud of writing and not just an old one that's based off of one of my old stories.**

 **So I hope I'll see you guys on some of my other stories. I'll stick 'previews' and stuff below the A/N so you can take a look and see if you actually want to check it out.**

 **Oh, and I develop original English language visual novels (OELVN) now as well. I guess I'll stick some of those previews at the bottom too.**

 **Thank you guys for sticking with me on this story, and I hope I'll see you elsewhere.**

 **See ya, so long, and g'bye on this story for the last time,**

 **x.X. A.L. X.x**

* * *

Jesse decided to make herself crystal clear, climbing to her feet as well. "Just. Drop. It," she repeated, emphasizing each word with such force that Lukas actually stepped back a little, blinking in surprise.

Instead, Axel turned to the blonde with a cold expression on his face. "Haven't you done enough damage for one day?" And he gave Lukas such a forceful shove that the blonde staggered and fell to the ground, something slipping out of his pocket and falling at Jesse's feet as he landed. "Petra might be _dead_ because of you."

Jesse clapped her hands to her mouth with an alarmed gasp.

"You're taking this too far, Axel!" Olivia exclaimed, startled.

Lukas didn't say anything, his shoulders beginning to tremble from where he was kneeling on the ground, hands and knees pressed into the dirt floor.

Jesse looked at the item at her feet. It was an ocelot plushie, with green beads for eyes and fluffy gold fur with darker circles decorating it. She bent down and picked it up, turning it over in her hands to get a better look at it, the fluffy tail flopping over in her hands. She was pretty sure it was her imagination, but the plushie ocelot was looking at her.

Then, in a perfect imitation of Lukas's voice, the ocelot said, "Hello."

 **The Fairytale Curse**

* * *

"Cassie, they flirt with each other all the time; I think they could be hanging over an active volcano and they'd still try to score a point against each other," Reuben replied to Cassie's question as his big brown eyes darted over one zombie, evaluating it quickly, before he sprinted forward and sent a side kick at the zombie's knee.

With the kick, the zombie's knee bent backwards, making it stagger- and then Reuben grabbed ahold of the zombie's hand and drove its clawed fingers through its own head, making it explode into a column of dust.

"... that was really gross."

Jesse stifled a snort at that, turning back to her own zombies (there were two of them) and driving her sword into the nearest one without skipping a beat.

The moment the zombie's decaying vocal cords let out a groan in complaint, Jesse spun around and slammed her lower arms into the zombie's chest, knocking it off of her sword and straight into the other zombie, which unsteadily caught itself. Before either could regain what little balance they had, Jesse's sword had darted in a straight horizontal line.

Both zombies now found it rather difficult to regain any balance that they might've had, as they no longer had heads.

 **Composite**

* * *

"... no, Magnus and I never... uh..." Gabriel coughed awkwardly, and now Evie was paying attention to what he was actually saying rather than her own inner pondering, she could see that his cheeks were darkening awkwardly. "We didn't... ah... next question!" he blurted at last, looking _incredibly_ awkward.

Evie had to wonder what the question had been.

"Um, you! With the..." Gabriel paused, eyes falling on Evie. There was a few seconds of pause. "... bleeding... elbow."

Evie blinked before checking her elbow. Yep- the arm she'd raised to get his attention was the one she'd bruised/gashed on the anvil in the basement. Quickly, she put her arm down again, giving a slightly awkward cough. "Oh. Uh," she paused, not sure exactly how to phrase this. She could hardly say, "There's a creepy guy in the basement of this building who's planning on doing bad stuff and we need to stop him."

"... pardon?"

... had she just said that aloud?

 **Minecraft: Normal Mode**

* * *

"What will not-?" Jesse's question was cut off and answered simultaneously when something thudded onto her head, coming down over her eyes so that everything was pitch black. She nearly jumped, but at the last second remembered Ariza's warning and froze stock still. She didn't know what would happen if she _did_ move, but she wasn't ready to risk it being something bad.

A moment of nothing but darkness and soft whirring in her ears, and the odd feeling of... tilting?

And then something appeared in the darkness.

 _Name?_

Almost as soon as it was onscreen, it was replaced by another message: _N/A for this round._

 _Welcome, Jesse._

 _Appearance?_

 _N/A for this round._

Jesse's picture flickered into being for a moment, a window nearly opening before closing itself and the picture blinking out of sight. Jesse could barely keep track of everything. It was honestly a little dizzying.

More things began to click and whir, a rapid succession of images switching and clicking into place on the side.

 _Touch: OK._

 _Sight: OK._

 _Audio: OK._

 _Taste: OK._

 _Smell: OK._

The moment everything was clicked in on the side, they swiped off.

And then everything was a little too bright, Jesse making a soft sound as she raised her hand to block her eyes, the long sleeve on her arm sliding down a bit-

Wait.

She was wearing a t-shirt, wasn't she?

 **Just a Game**

* * *

"I think you know who the killer is, right?"

Detective Adams tilted her head slightly, black hair slipping off her shoulder a bit as she regarded Officer Davis. Otherwise known as Clive. "... I don't _know_ who the killer is, but I have a pretty good idea."

"Then... can I get a hint?" A sheepish grin spread over Clive's tanned skin, his caramel hair shifting as he reached up and adjusted his dark blue hat. He could feel heat threatening to flood his cheeks, but he managed to repress it. Last thing he needed was to blush like an idiot in front of the detective that might determine a huge choice in his whole career.

She nodded, gold eyes meeting his cyan as she straightened up, crossing her arms slightly. "Alright. What is the specific time of death?"

He waited.

She waited.

Clive finally allowed his eyebrow to go up a little bit, a flicker of confusion darting across his features for a few moments. "... that's my hint?"

Detective Adams gave a simple nod in response to the question. "That's your hint."

 **Riddle Me This (game, published 2018)**

* * *

"You always yelled at everyone if they tried to do anything with your hair, though..."

Ivor blinked at Jesse, who was still seated next to him. "I never yelled at _you_."

Jesse reached up and scratched the back of their head awkwardly, giving Ivor a sheepish grin. "'Cuz I never tried..."

"So, uh..." Aiden interjected, arching his eyebrow as both Ivor and Jesse turned to look at him, "the only people you don't yell at are the ones you consider family?"

"That would then exclude everyone except for Harper and me," Jesse pointed out, glancing at Aiden.

Ivor looked as though he were about to protest, but then faltered. Looking over at Jesse and Harper, he regarded them for a moment before sighing. "Yes, it would appear that is the case..."

Jesse was silent for a moment.

"So if that's the case, does that mean Harper's my _mom_ now, or...?"

Both Ivor and Harper's faces promptly burned bright red at that.

 **Trust Fall (MCSM fangame, published 2018)**

* * *

"Ah, here's one of our prospective buyers for the doll now." The Dollmaker inclined her head at Alister politely, before turning to the cloaked wizard who'd just returned to the shop and giving him a warm smile. "Hello, Evan. I wasn't sure you'd come back."

Evan gave his shoulders a shrug, regarding the Dollmaker with a coolly aloof look. "What can I say? I'm full of surprises. That, and I honestly have little else to do with my time as of the moment."

The Dollmaker hummed, tilting her head at her... friend? Acquaintance? "I see..." Her face and tone didn't change as she mused, mildly, "Well, if you're so indifferent about the doll, perhaps I'll sell it to one of the other two gentlemen who wish to buy it—"

"Ah, there's- there's no need for _that_ now, Dollmaker!" Evan burst out, looking rather alarmed at the declaration.

Her lips quirked into a teasing smirk. "Ah, so you _do_ want the doll, after all?" she asked, voice lilting up a bit at the end in a musical tease.

"Well, uh- I-" Evan stammered, looking progressively flustered, before he scowled at the still-smiling Dollmaker. "Ugh… may we proceed, please?"

She held up her finger in the universal 'please wait'. "One moment, Evan. I am still waiting for another of our prospective buyers of the doll to arrive—"

The door jingled again, and Dylan practically burst through the door, panic in his eyes as the bell jingled pleasantly outside of the door practically exploding open. "I- I'm here! I'm here, mi- miss. Uhm…" Upon seeing the two other men, Dylan faltered, embarrassed. The Dollmaker beckoned him to the counter kindly.

"Hello again, Dylan! You didn't need to run here. I would've waited for you to arrive." She inclined her head politely at the other two, gesturing at them with one hand as well. "These two are the two other prospective buyers for Emily."

All three of the other men instantly stiffened a little bit nervously.

"… Emily?" Evan asked a moment later, rather slowly.

The Dollmaker shrugged, seeming to be oblivious to the sudden apprehension in the room. "The doll with the star pin, of course. I name all of my dolls, Evan."

 **Desruc Dolls (?)**

* * *

 _Stupid._

 _It is absolutely appalling that I could be this_ stupid.

 _I'm a Kira-Bot._

 _The AKUMA's control room is wired in such a way that an entering Kira-Bot can be charged and, if need be,_ recoded.

Against the Kira-Bot's will, their robotic fingers twitched.

 _I am being recoded._

 **Attack of the Kira-Bots (?)**

* * *

One of the ghosts, a male with weapons _literally sticking through him_ gave a loud sigh and placed his hands on his hips. "Welp. F*ck this, f*ck that, f*ck you, I want chocolate now."

Another ghost, a woman with bouncy dark brown hair (at least, I could only assume it had been dark brown in life) rolled her eyes at the other one. "Ye be an idiot, ye know that?"

The guy, who looked very much like some sort of dead pirate, sounded almost British. The girl, on the other hand, was speaking in a very much stereotypical pirate accent. It was kinda cool, actually. But that wasn't exactly the important bit as the dead pirate boy shrugged.

"Well, yes, I know that I am very idiotic, but that doesn't mean I'm _intellectually_ idiotic." He gave her a devil-may-care smirk a moment later. "Now _you_ on the other hand, that's a completely different story."

" _Ye be asking fer a mutiny 'ere, ya picaroon!_ "

 **Fata Morgana (game, projected release 2020)**


End file.
